Self-reflection

To be honest, I only finish my second draft of my RP so far. The difference between junior RP and sophmore RP is that we need to collect firsthand data this year. I think it is interesting when you design a questionnaire or interview with someone, but it is also time-consuming. I am glad that I choose a hot topic and I really learn a lot. About the weblog activities, I always cannot finish each activity in time. I know it is my own problem. If I do follow the processes of weblog activities, I think it is helpful and I will have more time to work on my RP. However, I think this system is not easy to use. Sometimes, it is really slow and when I paste words from my Word file, something will be missing or the format will change.

Argumentation

Reasons that we don’t need it
1. From the environmental protection aspect
l The planned route will pass through seventeen sensitive ecological areas, including 太魯閣 and 七星潭.
l More tunnels, more possibility of landslide
l It will cause air, earth, water and noise pollution.
l The route will also pass near some ruins of aboriginal tribes.
2. From the tourism aspect
l Overwhelming visitors lead to a crowded environment.
l The business of hotel in Hualien will shrink because of one-day trips.
l Shorter journey causes one-site consumption.
e.g. 羅東 and 坪林
3. From future development aspect
l Hualien residents may prefer leaving Hualien and working in other cities because of rapid transportation.
l The Expressway is beneficial for the business of concrete and sandstone which is not a good news.
Why other people urge to build…
l The Expressway will save time and money.
Refutation: 1.The tilted train is working now.
2. It costs huge amount of money to maintain the Expressway.
l More companies will expand their business into Hualien which brings more job opportunities.
Refutation: Convenient transportation does not bring more job opportunities necessarily.
e.g. Ruhr in Germany
l The Expressway will promote the tourism of Hualien.
Refutation: What kind of tourism do we want? Domestic or international?

RP outline revision

A Highway That We Do Not Need- the Suao-Hualien Expressway
Thesis: The argument for constructing the Suao-Hualien Expressway has continued for many years. Hualien residents, scholars, government officials have different ideas and opinions. As a Taiwanese, all the islanders should concern about it, even for those who are not residents in Hualien. In my opinion, we do not need the Suao-Hualien Expressway.
I. The background information of the Suao-Hualien Expressway.
A. The history
1. The project was commenced by the Ministry of Transportation and communications in 1994 and agreed by the Executive Yuan in 1998.
2. Currently, the project of the Suao-Hualien Expressway is included in the Challenge 2008- the Six-year National Development Plan formulated by the Executive Yuan in May 2002.
3. However, the Suao-Hualien Expressway has not been built so far because of administrative and financial problems of government and dispute from some antagonists.
B. The route and facilities
1. The route of the Suao-Hualien Expressway begins from Suao to Chian.
2. Totally, the new 4-lane Expressway is 86 km long with seven interchanges.
II. The reasons that we do not need it
A. From the environmental protection aspect
1. The planned route will pass through seventeen sensitive ecological areas.
2. Building tunnels will also loose layer structure which may increase the possibility of landslide.
3. If the Expressway is constructed, traffic will be heavier and cause more serious air pollution.
4. When constructing, the waste dirt and chemicals will filter into earth and influence water quality directly.
5. Viaducts of the Expressway will pass above three elementary schools which may endanger students and affect the quality of education.
6. The Expressway will also pass near some ruins of aboriginal tribes.
B. From the tourism aspect
1. The government has to spend extra money on making facilities of tourist attractions complete, such as parking spaces and visitor centers.
2. Visitors will definitely drive their cars to Hualien which may lead to a crowded environment.
3. It is possible that visitors make a one-day trip rather than staying in Hualien for few days.
4. In fact, what Hualien needs is the number of steady visitors from Monday to Friday.
C. From future development aspect
1. Hualien residents prefer leaving Hualien and working in other cities because of rapid transportation.
2. Convenient transportation does not bring more job opportunities necessarily. 3. The Expressway is good for the business of concrete and sandstone.
III. The better way for Hualien
A. More and more people stand out to oppose this construction.
B. A better way for Hualien is to develop its own characteristic and then become a worldwide tourist attraction.
C. When Hualien residents know if those money can be moved to basic constructions, there are only thirty four percent of people who are in favor of this project.
D. We should strengthen the basic constructions in Hualien first, such as building tramcar system and providing sufficient medical resources.

Bibliography and references

Chang, Ya-ling. 陳雅玲. “Da Jiang She! Da Beng Huai!”<大建設！大崩壞！>[Big constructions, big destroy!]. Business Weekly <<商業周刊>>. March 19, 2007.
Kao, You-jhih. 高有智. “Stanley C. Yen, Lin Hwai-min, and Hou Hsiao-hsien oppose building the Suao-Hualien Expressway.” China Times January 18, 2007: A8.
Li, Yu-hao. 李育豪. “Hualien Jhen De Syu Yao Su Hua Gao Ma?” <花蓮真的需要蘇花高嗎？>[Does Hualien really need the Suao-Hualien Expressway?]. Common Wealth <<天下雜誌>>. March 14, 2007:184-89.
Wang, Yi-cheng. 王宜誠. 蘇花高速公路議題探討　March 3, 2005. March 30, 2007<>.

First-hand data collection

I plan to make questionnaires and interview with a engineer.

First-hand data collection

I plan to make questionnaires and interview with a engineer.

RP introduction

For decades, the mountainous area of eastern Taiwan has been less developed than the western part of Taiwan, mainly due to the fact that provincial highway No.9 between Suao and Hualien is constantly blocked during the typhoon and rainy seasons. In addition, restricted alignment often causes high traffic accident rate in this area, as a result Hualien residents have always wanted to have a safer, time-saving and all-weather alternative highway. In order to achieve social justice and fulfill the need of local residents, the Suao- Hualien Expressway project has been set up. The project was commenced by the Ministry of Transportation and communications in 1994 and agreed by the Executive Yuan in 1998. Then, the work of planning and Environmental Impact Assessment was started almost immediately. Currently, the project of the Suao-Hualien Expressway is included in the Challenge 2008- the Six-year National Development Plan formulated by the Executive Yuan in May 2002. The route of the Suao-Hualien Expressway begins at the end of the Taipei-Ilan Expressway. From Suao to Chungte, the Expressway passes through the eastern part of the Central Mountain Rang tunnel by tunnel, and goes nearby the existing railway. After the tunnel section, the expressway runs along the coast between Chungte and Hsinchen, and then travels the western side of the Chiashan Air Base and Hualien City, then ends at Chian. Totally, the new 4-lane Expressway is 86 km long. Besides the main route mentioned above, the project includes seven interchanges located at Tungao, Nanao, Hoping, Tarako, Hsincheng, Hualien, and Chian, each containing its own toll plaza with the electrical toll system, and three service areas located at Suao, Nanao, and Chungte. Between Suao and Chungte, the Expressway is designed of 10 tunnels totaling 40 km long and 15 bridges for 16km.
However, the Suao-Hualien Expressway has not been built so far because of administrative and financial problems of government and dispute from some antagonists. The argument for constructing the Suao-Hualien Expressway has continued for many years. Hualien residents, scholars, government officials have different ideas and opinions. As a Taiwanese, all the islanders should concern about it, even for those who are not residents in Hualien. In my opinion, we do not need the Suao-Hualien Expressway.

article review (work cited)

李順德。「政策環評報院 蘇花高可望敗部復活」。聯合報，第A10版，2006年12月24日。
陳信利。「我國重大公共建設決策過程中民意因素之研究-以國道五號公路蘇澳花蓮段興建案為例」。國立東華大學公共行政研究所，碩士論文，2006年。
“Suao-Hualien Section, Eastern Expressway” Ministry of Transportation and communications National Expressway Engineering Bureau December 28, 2006< http://egip.taneeb.gov.tw/ ct.asp?xItem=14653&ctNode=2691>.

RP outline draft 2

The Suao-Hualien Expressway- to build or not to build?
Thesis: The argument for constructing the Suao-Hualien Expressway has continued for many years. There are people who are in favor of it and some oppose it. As a Taiwanese, all the islanders should concern about it, even for those who are not residents in Hualien.
I. The dispute history of the Suao-Hualien Expressway
A. In 1990, the idea of the Suao-Hualien Expressway was brought out by the Ministry of Communication.
B. In March of 2000, the environmental valuation toward the Suao-Hualien Expressway was adopted.
C. In July of 2000, the project was stopped temperately because of financial problem.
D. In 2001, Environment Protection Agency indicated that the Suao-Hualien Expressway may have cause huge impact on landscape of Hualien.
E. In 2003, the Prime Minister Yo announced the construction should be stopped and slowed down.
F. After that, the dispute between the government and approvers has continued.
G. In 2004, the government announced the project would start at the end of 2004.
H. However, it is controversial and the project has not started yet.
II. The reasons of pro side
A. From the future development aspect
1. Less time-spending on traffic will attract more tourists.
2. If the expressway is accomplished, more corporations would be willing to invest in Hualien and local people would have more job opportunities.
B. From the environmental protection aspect
1. The engineering company indicates that they use ecotechnology and reduce the damage to the least.
2. The engineering company also promises that they will combine local culture into their designing ideas.
III. The reasons of con side
A. From future development aspect
1. Without expressway, the tourism could still be prosperous, such as Vancouver.
2. More tourists cause more problems, such as garbage, pollutions, and heavy traffics.
3. Hotel business in Hualien would be affected because tourists could go and return home in a day.
4. Once the construction completes, the concrete factories benefits the most.
5. The characteristics of Hualien, including beautiful sceneries and local cultures, would change.
B. From the environmental protection aspect
1. Effects on natural landscape
2. Effects on air pollution
3. Effects on water resources
4. Effects on the quality of school education
5. Effects on aborigines’ culture
IV. Analysis of Related news and interview
A. Recent news
B. Questionnaires
C. Interview with an engineer who was responsible for constructing The Suao-Hualien Expressway.
V. This construction is necessary
 No one can make sure that building the Suao-Hualien Expressway or not may be the best idea. However, Western Taiwan is over-crowded and highly-developed. Some years later, moving to Eastern Taiwan and developing there are necessary. With this expressway, it will be more convenient and make Hualien more prosperous at the same time.

I THINK THIS WILL BE OKAY

Last week, when I was worried about my topic, I asked my mother for help. Then, she came up with somthing about Suao-Hualien Expressway construction. She thought of it because my father is an engineer and he has a friend who should work on this project few years ago. Now, this construction is still controversial and has not started yet. After considering, I think this is suitable as my topic. The construction will not only has impact on Hualien but also the whole Taiwan, such as tourism, economy, environment protection, and future development. Although I am not a Hualien resident, I think we also should think about it carefully. ~2006/10/26

Something comes to my mind

My mother likes to drink coffee. She needs it almost everyday. She told me some benefits about coffee. But I always tell her that drinking too much coffee does harm to our body, especially women. That is the reson why the government classified caffeine per cup of coffee. Actually, there are some arguments drinking it or not. However, after finding some materials, I found that drinking coffee does good or not only depends on how much you drink. If you drink less than one cup of coffee, that is acceptable and brings some advantages. If you drink too much per day, that will be some troubles. Therefore, doctors suggest we should limit the amount of coffee that we drink per day.
So, I think this topic has nothing to argue about. I still have to figure out another topic.~2006/10/23

I STILL DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO WRITE

I have been thinking my topic for two weeks, but I still have no ideas. ~2006/10/20

first time

so excited