At first glance, Carter Lavin (SFS ’10) and Dan English (MSB ’10) look like polar opposites. Lavin is a member of EcoAction, Georgetown’s environmental club, and Energia, Georgetown’s energy issues club. English works for the Credit Union and is on the board of GU Right to Life.

Lavin’s goal is to one day own an international energy company. English, on the other hand, wants to work in business and then run for political office as a Republican.

Lavin’s favorite Web site is TreeHugger.com, while English says he is “addicted to Drudge Report.”

Yet Lavin and English have one thing in common: They are both bloggers. Both students run their own Web sites and add their thoughts about the issues they care about on an almost daily basis.

Lavin’s blog, which he created just three weeks ago, is called “Energy Matters.” It can be found at http://indianhillmediaworks.typepad.com/energy_matters/.

In the blog, Lavin writes about energy-related topics, from the fuel efficiency of cars in China to blackouts in South Africa.

“This is what I care about and what personally I think everyone should care about,” Lavin says.

Lavin, a Science Technology and International Affairs major, says that he first became interested in energy and the environment while working on a research project in the ninth grade. He decided to research nanosolar power and soon realized his passion for the subject. He still gets excited when he talks about the findings of that research project today.

“Theoretically, if you have solar panels that are infinitesimally small and extremely strong, you can pave roads with them and generate power that way, and that would be cool,” he says.

Lavin’s family also played a role in bringing about his blog. His parents have both been blogging for about a year and a half on all kinds of subjects. They have a blog about Lavin’s grandfather, the photographer Arthur Shay, as well as blogs devoted to television, knitting, pool maintenance and gardening, among others. Lavin says that he and his parents blog mainly as a hobby — they enjoy writing about other subjects that interest them.

Lavin, who has worked for the Department of Energy and a solar panel manufacturing firm, also keeps track of how many people view his “Energy Matters” blog. So far, Lavin’s site has received about 200 views, which averages out to about 10 views per day.

“It’s flattering to see that so many people click through, and I would like to see that number increase,” Lavin says. “I would also appreciate more comments on the site of a constructive variety.”
He adds that working on the blog is not a major time commitment.

“Each day, if I’m procrastinating, I’ll check out some Web comics, I’ll look at Facebook, I’ll check out some blogs, and I’ll post something,” Lavin says. “And then I do homework.”

In a recent post entitled “Sacrifices,” Lavin wrote about a museum that he visited that had an exhibit on America during World War II. He pointed out that Americans were asked to make sacrifices in order to support the war effort.

“And you know what? The American people answered the call and reduced, reused and recycled to win the war,” Lavin wrote. “Why aren’t we being asked to do this now? Not just to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but to fight the War Against Global Warming?”

English, on the other hand, decided to discuss the controversy over Barack Obama’s pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in a recent post. “It seems to me that Barack is either sympathetic to Wright’s views, or too meek to rise up in opposition — both qualities that American’s don’t want in the White House,” English wrote.

English’s blog can be found at DanEnglish.com. Though he started the blog this past October, he has owned DanEnglish.com since 1999. English’s father is a software engineer and came up with the idea to purchase the domain name. He did the same thing for English’s brothers and mother.

English got the idea of starting a blog after he was required to make four blog posts a week for his U.S. Political Systems class last year.

“Unlike most of the other kids in the class, I actually enjoyed writing the posts,” he says. He says he is obsessed with politics and calls himself a “news freak.”

“It’s a lot of my own opinion,” he says about his blog. “Most of what I do is find an article that either intrigues me or makes me really angry. Then I usually write my reaction to the story and post a link so that the reader can see where I’m coming from.”

He says the audience consists of his friends from home, his Georgetown friends and his relatives.

“A lot of my friends aren’t as interested in news as I am, so it’s actually a way for them to figure out what’s going on and learn about some things they might not have known about otherwise,” he says.

Like Lavin, he says that the blog does not take up much of his time.

“I generally am in the habit of writing it before I go to bed,” he says. “I usually will have already read the political stories during the day. I have all my political thoughts in my head already, so it doesn’t take much to just type them out really quickly.”

English’s blog inspired his neighbor, Ryan Gofus (COL ’10), to start his own blog at RyanGofus.com. Though Gofus has not made much progress on his blog yet, he plans on using it to keep in touch with friends and family while he is studying abroad in Milan next semester.

One thing is certain: it is not very hard to start blogging.

“I’m technically deficient,” English says. “If I can do it, anyone can do it.”

“Anyone at Georgetown can be a blogger,” Lavin says. “Georgetown has a very interesting group of people and everyone has unique interests. Everyone has a unique take on something.”