The Open Road

I have spent the last week or so trying to come up with a good topic for this blog post, and up until yesterday had absolutely no clue what I was going to write about. I decided to open up our Beyond Words book and try to find an article that interested me, and that I could write a blog about. After a few minutes I came across one of the clusters that we talked about in class a while back entitled Roads We Travel. This cluster focuses on experiences that people have when traveling on long road trips. It explains that many people are affected by road trips in different ways and that road trips can mean a variety of different things to an individual.

The article uses college kids as an example for the kinds of people that may take long road trips to different places. Of course when most of us think of road trips we think of driving somewhere for spring break, or some other vacation. The article says that many people our age view road trips as a rite of passage and that they symbolize our transition from kids to adults. It also mentions how there have been many movies made that use the idea of road trips as their plot. The movie Road Trip is used as a specific example.

However another part of the cluster consists of several articles that talk about a deeper meaning to the idea of road trips. These articles include, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, and On My Road, by Holland Cotter. They focus more on how the road shapes us and how it makes us who we are. For instance, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, talks about the journey that many people had to make across the country in order to find jobs and have better lives during the 1930's. Then, in Holland Cotter's On My Road, he talks about what he experienced while driving through America during the 1950's, when the United States was being torn apart by racism.

So, my questions for everybody is what are some of the things that you have experienced while taking a road trip? Is there a particular road trip that is memorable to you? If so where did you go and what made it so memorable?

No More Dinosaurs or Dancing in New York City Tests

          We have all heard of at least one controversial book that parents or educators disliked so it became banned. When I was in seventh grade this one book was banned because it was too direct about female puberty. The book was about this thirteen year old girl that was going through what every girl goes through and at one point needed to buy her first bra and she talked about having crushes on boys and all those weird things girls like in middle school. This one mom believed that the book was too graphic for her son. First off, why would her son read about a girl going through puberty?  Secondly, everything mentioned in the book and more her son would learn when the nurses would come every year to teach us our yearly sex education class. So this is about a book and other books have gone through the same scrutiny but did you ever think “loaded” words other than curse words or derogatory terms would be banned from an educational system?

Well, the city of New York has developed a very long and interesting list of words they believe should be banned from the city’s standardized test. They have decided to create a list because they believe some words may evoke feelings that my upset certain students from certain backgrounds, demographics, or religious beliefs. The city of New York does defend its odd actions by saying that they are not the first to do this. They state that California avoids using the word “weed” in their test (like any state would talk about weed in a standardized test) and Florida avoids using the words “hurricanes” and “wildfires.” The only difference between these two states and New York is that New York has created a list with 50 words including words such as religion, politics, and dinosaurs! When asked by reporters why dinosaurs were being banned they casually replied that dinosaurs brings to mind evolution and may upset fundamentalist. Even though I thought standardized test could not get any worse, New York City students are going to have extremely boring standardized test.

Here are some of the words being banned:

·         Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)

·         Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs

·         Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)

·         Bodily functions

·         Cancer (and other diseases)

·         Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)

·         Celebrities

·         Children dealing with serious issues

·         Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)

·         Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)

·         Crime

·         Death and disease

·         Divorce

·         Evolution (Dinosaurs)

·         Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes

·         Gambling involving money

·         Halloween

·         Homelessness

·         Homes with swimming pools

·         Hunting

·         Junk food

·         In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge

·         Loss of employment

·         Nuclear weapons

·         Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)

·         Parapsychology

·         Politics

·         Pornography

·         Poverty

·         Rap Music

·         Religion

·         Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)

·         Rock-and-Roll music

·         Running away

·         Sex

·         Slavery

·         Terrorism

·         Television and video games (excessive use)

·         Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)

·         Vermin (rats and roaches)

·         Violence

·         War and bloodshed

·         Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)

·         Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

Do you think that the city of New York has a valid point in banning these words? Could keeping these words possibly cause some type of obstruction to the test taking skills of students? Comment away.

Tattoos and Piercings

Around the beginning of the semester we had to read a story in Beyond Words called “The Body Piercing Project.” I don’t know if most of you read it, but I actually found it a little interesting. After reading the story it got me thinking about the way society views piercings and tattoos.

Older generations tend to think very strongly about tattoos and piercings. They think that they are disgusting and not acceptable. Most believe that it is just a ‘rebellious thing’ that young people do. Some religious folk say that getting a tattoo is a sin.

Most of our generation either currently has a tattoo or is planning on getting one. And piercings are accepted and encouraged. It is now believed that doing things to your body gives you ‘self empowerment’ and helps you get a sense of who you really are. We all know that tattoos are permanent and to some people it is something no one can ever take away from them. I personally believe that tattoos and some piercings are okay and shouldn’t be so frowned upon. I currently have a tattoo and plan on getting others as I get older. But I don’t plan on going crazy and covering my body.

I think that the only time your piercings or tattoos should matte to someone other than yourself r is when you are applying for a job. No one wants to hire someone with a tattoo covering their face, it’s as simple as that. And when you have a nose piercing that makes you look like a bull you shouldn’t expect to get a job anywhere else but maybe at starbucks. I know it sounds bad but unfortunately that is just how it is.

Do any of you guys have the same feelings about tattoos that older generations are? If so, why? And what do you think about the way tattoos and piercings are viewed?

Favorite Movies

There is always that one movie for everyone. The best movie they have ever seen… in their opinion. What is it that makes a movie appealing? Is it the action, the actor, the writing, or message that makes the movie great?

My favorite movie, which led to a series of movies, is Dirty Harry. A rough movie about an investigator named Harry Callahan working in San Francisco in the early 1970’s. He is notorious known on the force as Dirty Harry for a number of reasons such as how he goes outside the lines of the law, or his relations with women. He carries with him at all times a Smith & Wesson .44 magnum. It is a large, powerful handgun unlike any other at the time.

The movie opens with a man using a high-powered rifle to murder a woman swimming in a pool on top of a building. Later, a note is sent to the police by the self-named killer, Scorpio, demanding $100,000 or more killings will come. Harry is put on the case and throughout the movie stops all forms of crime while chasing down Scorpio. He at times breaks the law in order to provide justice and security for the people of San Francisco. He ultimately brings down Scorpio illegally, and simply tosses away his badge, knowing he would at least go down for the right reasons.

These movies are by far my favorite movies because of the character portrayed and the actor playing the role, Clint Eastwood. It would be safe to claim that Eastwood is a conservative actor. Most people today remember him best for his role in Gran Torino. He played the no nonsense old guy that longed for the days of manners and a safe neighborhood. Eastwood made his name, and a cult following, for his roles in “spaghetti westerns” such as The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. These westerns earned their name for being filmed in Italy.

Back to the subject of Eastwood, he remains to be my favorite actor not only for his ability and the roles he plays, but what he stands for in every movie he acts or directs in. He always takes a stance for justice and patriotism, and if the movie he has a role in has nothing to do with the two, then he always plays the good guy. He may be the gun wielding man with no name providing safety for a small town, or the rough boxing coach that generously shares his knowledge with an up and coming female boxer. Even with the long career he has yet to end after over 40 years, it is hard to find one movie out of the over 40 he has had a role in that he doesn’t take on those roles or stances.

As left leaning, and crazy some of the people in Hollywood get, it’s refreshing to have an actor of Eastwood’s caliber with a stable head on his shoulders. He never makes a scene or runs his mouth for tabloids to jump all over. He keeps to himself and causes no controversies. I couldn’t tell you what his political preferences are and I could care less. He does not use it to get attention or make a name for himself. Eastwood simply lets his acting do the talking and tries his best to simply be a normal person off camera. That trait is what appeals greatly to me and a lot of people in Hollywood should take note of.

It would be safe to say that the actor greatly helps make a movie great for me. Both how they behave on and off the screen. Someone who I can be proud to claim as someone I look up to. So what part of a movie helps make a movie from just being good, to being your all time favorite? Is it also the actor? Director? Or is there simply a favorite actor you want to talk about? Maybe it’s the cool lines that will be remembered and recreated for moviegoers to come… above are some from Clint.

Summer Time

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Okay so we all know our first year in college is coming to an end. It is now spring semester with only a few weeks left of school. How exciting right!? Everyone is starting to stress about finals and making sure his or her grades are in good shape. It seems like everyone is just studying for the finals too. My weekends and weekdays have been consumed with studying (especially chemistry) and that’s about it. Yes I still have time to go out and do fun and exciting things but my grades are my top priority right now. And I don’t know about you guys but my motivation has become one thin line.

Our G.P.A is a very important number and basically will either make you or brake you. If your G.P.A is fairly low, say goodbye to FSU! With that in mind, taking five classes and them not being easy has really taken a toll on my G.P.A this semester. One way to help rebuild your G.P.A up is taking summer classes. Taking summer classes can help you get ahead in your major too. Also if you know you have a hard class ahead of you, you could take that hard class or classes over the summer. I think that’s a great idea because you won’t have to worry studying on top of you other three classes. You can spend all you time on your one hard class, therefore making a better grade. Another thing too is, since you took the hard class over the summer, your fall schedule wont be as stressful. And who doesn’t want a non-stressful schedule? I know I do!

The only bad thing about taking summer classes is losing a big chunk of your summer, which is a bummer. Summertime is meant to be with your friends, being carefree, and going to awesome pool parties at West 10. School is not supposed to be on your mind because you spent the last ten months in school and studying your brains off. But if you slack off during the school year, you have to pay the consequences. And the consequence of slacking off is summer classes. This summer I plan on taking chemistry 2 and retake statistics. I chose to take chemistry 2 this summer because I know it will be hard and want to get it out of the way because the next chemistry class I have to take is organic. And the only thing on my mind about chemistry is, the faster I get it done the better! This year statistics has really taken a toll on me. My instructor was and is awful therefore I don’t understand one damn thing!

So my question to the class is, do you think taking summer classes is a good idea and what are the advantages/disadvantages? Do you plan on taking summer classes? Why or why not?

I hope you guys have an awesome weekend! J

            

International Civility

Spring Break was last week and we have all had time to relax with our friends and family. Whether you went on vacation or stayed at home each and everyone of us spent an amount of time out in public interacting with people at the beach or at the store. Over my Spring Break I spent time in Dubai visiting family. After spending a week over seas, coming back to the United States I find myself asking has something changed? Have people always been this way? So what has changed?

A few weeks ago someone posted a blog entitled “ Politeness A Thing of the Past”. At the time I just couldn’t agree with the point of view expressed in this post, but after coming back to the U.S from the U.A.E. the points expressed in that blog have seemingly become real.

During the time I spent in Dubai I saw it all good and bad; but the overwhelming impression that I got from the experience is that the people as a whole are generally more caring and considerate than the people back at home. To me, the amount of order and civility came as a shock. On my very first day there my sister and I visited the Dubai Mall. Still jetlagged and without a watch my sister asked someone for the time. Instead of smugly telling her the time or even ignoring her as I have come to expect from someone at home, the man actually offered my sister his watch. Now this was an extremely generous act, but was it just a fluke? Just a one in a million chance we would asked the worlds most generous man for the time?  To me it didn’t seem like this was the case. Over the next few days we were treated kindly and respectfully by almost everyone we met. On another occasion my family and I witnessed a man drop some money. Before we could blink, a local man picked the money up and chased someone halfway down the street to return it.

In just a week I feel like I have gone from being skeptical about the intentions of the people around me to feeling safer than I ever have in the United States. So just what is it? In all of Dubai and the U.A.E. only fifteen percent of people are citizens. The rest of the population is composed of foreigners from Asia, Africa, and Europe. In my own mind, a country with such diversity and so many cultures wouldn’t be nearly as safe as the U.S., but oddly I felt more at home there than I do here. I’m no expert on this matter, but from what I understand the crime rate is low because the penalties are much greater for crimes there then they are in the United States. As a result drug problems are non-existent and alcohol is highly regulated.

Arriving back into the United States, came as another shock. Having been acclimated to the civility of the U.A.E., I was greeted by surly TSA workers at JFK, who just didn’t seem to like people. This came as a huge disappointment to me. Having lived in the United States my entire life I knew that this was not right. The way the TSA workers were treating people would horrify most Americans. Unfortunately, for so many foreign travelers this was, and will continue to be the first impression that people from an American, an idea that truly disturbs me.

All this being said, there is no were I would rather live than the United States, and I realize that nine out of ten people will always do the right thing. This being said, my question is what do you think about the civility in the U.S.? Have you ever been to another country and noticed a change in the way people treat each other? And finally, do you think that the U.S. should have greater penalties for crimes? Or do you think that greater penalties would infringe on our constitutional rights?

Greek Life

14% of undergraduate students at FSU, male and female, are currently involved in a fraternity or sorority. Many stereotypes of fraternities may be that they drink too much or they party too much. That one spends money to make friends or that its a waste of time. Many stereotypes of sororities include that they dumb or very promiscuous.

I am part of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and I can say that it has made me a better person. As for sororities, they have many standards that they have to keep up with, much like fraternities, such as gpa, involvement among the organization, and involvement on campus within a school organized group.

My question to you is if you would ever consider joining a fraternity or sorority? If you are already involved in a fraternity or sorority, why did you decide to join one? If you aren't, why didn't you join one? Do you think that the stereotypes are accurate or is it just another stereotype?

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