ENGL 420 Blog Topic - Fair Trade

Hey guys, this is an update on the topic I have chosen for the semester to blog about. 

I have decided on Fair Trade as my topic, because I am currently interning as a web manager/graphic designer with a local Fair Trade business. I am also interested in sustainability, green thinking and development, and Eco-friendly products and services.

United Students for Fair Trade Organic Reusable Bags

I will start to blog about recent news, businesses, organizations, non-profits, groups, and other things related to Fair Trade, as well as selfishly promote the business I intern with. Hopefully, through my blog posts, I will be able to create a movement to support Fair Trade within the course and the university.

To start, the Fair Trade Federation lists the Fair Trade Principles as:

• Creat[ing] Opportunities for Economically and Socially Marginalized Producers
• Develop[ing] Transparent and Accountable Relationships
• Build[ing] Capacity
• Promot[ing] Fair Trade
• Pay[ing] Promptly and Fairly
• Support[ing] Safe and Empowering Working Conditions
• Ensur[ing] the Rights of Children
• Cultivat[ing] Environmental Stewardship, and
• Respect[ing] Cultural Identity

If anyone is interested in learning about the business I work for, please visit ShopMira.com. Maybe you'll get ideas for gifts for the holidays or other occasions, and I can offer promo codes!

Intro Blog - ENGL 420

Hello ENGL 420 coursemates!

This is my introductory blog post for the semester. I'm not exactly sure what I will be posting about, but I hope that my topic will be interesting enough to sustain 15-16 blog posts.

To start off, I will introduce myself and provide some background and useless information. 

My name is Sara and I attend Penn State Greater Allegheny. This is my third year of college, but I am technically a senior because of the crapload of credits I have accumulated. At first, I was in DUS because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Eventually, I decided I wanted to go into Arts Management via the Integrative Arts program at UP because I had a background in theater from my high school Stage Crew days. 
Unfortunately, the bureaucracy that is Penn State screwed me over and I decided to just get my Bachelor's at Greater Allegheny. Since GA is not known for its arts-oriented courses, I enrolled in the Communications major and am taking as many courses as I can to justify a Graphic Communications major. For the last two years, I have been the Production (Layout/Design) Editor for ABSENCE, GA's literary & visual art magazine. I currently have an internship with Mira Fair Trade, a local Fair Trade business, for which I provide web, design, and PR/marketing services. 

My hobbies include collecting a varied assortment of art and craft supplies with which I pretend I will eventually get around to using and creating things out of; also collecting coupons that I will probably never organize or use; watching particularly interesting shows (The Newsroom, Sherlock, Supernatural, Top Gear, Breaking Bad, Weeds); reading when I get around to procrastinating on homework; and randomly surfing the web.
I enjoy listening to Lady Gaga, 30 Seconds to Mars, Muse, Rammstein, Shiny Toy Guns, Pearl Jam, BIGBANG, and other awesome musical artists. I love to bake, and I was actually a cake decorator at Giant Eagle for six months.

I'm not actually as exciting in real life as my blog makes me out to be. Enough about boring me. On to the fun part!

I still have no idea what topic to blog about for the entire semester. I will eventually work up to that in my next post.

I hope you all have a great semester! I'm definitely aiming for one.