Writing Well

I think I write well and others have echoed that sentiment. I always got high marks in composition because I considered writing a craft. That trait came from my Mother who wrote two novels. In high school and college, writing was tedious because how we had to type/retype our work. Computers and word processing made writing much easier. Drafts and revisions became a cake walk and I take advantage of them. The day of my last bike/car collision I had revised a paper for the umpteenth time and still decided to go for a ride before looking at it one more time. I ended up submitting it from the Grady Hospital ICU but that's another story.

Graduate school introduced a level of writing that reduced me to a rookie; academic and research writing is a new experience. Over the last year I had to improve those composition skills. I have relied on several books to improve my writing. The recent go to book has been The Craft of Research It was written in 1995 by three professors; it's in its 4th edition with two more editors. If you need to write a research paper this book is a must read.

There are three other books that I have relied on over time.


The Elements of Style, Strunk and White: First edition 1959 (Strunk originally published a version 1920). This was my first English composition book. My current copy is the 4th edition. Still use it today although not as much as my first time in college.


On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to writing Nonfiction, Zinsser: First edition 1976. Covers writing about everything from people, places even yourself, just to name a few.



On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephan King, First edition 2000. Mainly about writing fiction from one of America's most popular fiction writers. The title says it all. King recommends every aspiring writer start with The Elements of Style.


I am not suggesting these are the only good books on writing; they just happen to be ones I like.

3 Minute Thesis Competition

Recently I entered the 3 Minute Thesis Competition at Georgia State. The initial step was submitting an abstract (250 word limit) outlining my thesis. From those submissions, Masters and PHD students were selected for a preliminary round competition. In this competition students have three minutes to outline their thesis. The rules were pretty simple: One static power point illustration, otherwise no notes, props or animation allowed, going over three minutes is automatic disqualification. I made it through the preliminary round to the finals. Placed third in the finals among masters students.

Thesis Title: Comparison of aerobic and cardiovascular changes occurring in older adults engaging in diverse types of stationary cycling

Presentation

"Good afternoon. As people age, a considerable number become less active and sedentary. This reduced physical activity can lead to chronic metabolic conditions like high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. However, research has documented the benefits older adults can derive from stationary cycling. In one example a four month study involving healthy older men and women showed an overall 12% improvement in measured peak VO2 and a 13% improvement in anaerobic threshold. VO2 measures how efficiently oxygen is used while anaerobic threshold can measure energy production. These are two common measurements of physical fitness.
Studies suggest that High Intensity Interval Training exercise can increase fitness and cardiovascular health compared to Continuous Moderate exercise. However, these studies involve younger individuals. and diverse types of exercise. Most research involving stationary cycling and older adults has focused on sample populations who have a chronic metabolic condition, injury, or illness. There is no research comparing the results between stationary cycling involving older healthy adults engaging in different exercise intensities.
My research will explore how stationary cycling intensities may help older adults achieve and maintain cardiorespiratory fitness which can help them perform activities of daily living and improve their quality of life. The study will compare cardiovascular and aerobic changes between two groups. Participants will be sedentary but otherwise healthy males and females over 60 years old with medical clearance. One group will engage in Continuous Moderate Exercise stationary cycling while the other group will engage in High Intensity Interval stationary cycling. Individuals in both groups will ride twice a week over 12 weeks. Sessions for both groups will start at 20 minutes increasing to 40 minutes during the study.
Besides workload, data involving heart rate, blood pressure and VO2 max will be collected for each participant before, during and after every session. The expectation is that while both groups will experience improvement in aerobic and cardiovascular function, the High Intensity Interval group will experience a greater improvement than the Continuous Moderate Exercise group. My hope is this research will provide incentive and motivation for older adults to use high intensity interval training as a regular part of their exercise program. Thank you."