An American Flag

When our class started talking about the American flag last week, I immediately thought of my boyfriend's house in Evanston.  His family has a huge flag draped over the front porch.  This picture is of the flag along with a United States Marine Corps sign on their lawn.  In this situation, his family chooses to display the flag to show support for their son.  They are not necessarily supportive of the war and US military but the flag represents their son's contribution to the United States.  Especially because of the sign that says "THE PROUD FAMILY OF A U.S. MARINE" in bold letters, onlookers understand the reason behind this family's display of the American flag.

Updates on Junior Theme

For a few days I felt like things were moving very slowly with my Junior Theme.  However, today I had a breakthrough after adjusting my why question from "why are spousal abuse cases treated with more leniency than other violent cases in the judicial system?" to "why do so few spousal abuse cases go to court?"  I felt like this was more appropriate and that I could include more of my research in my paper.  Now I need to set up my interview, but am having a little trouble coming up with questions to ask. Any suggestions?

Junior Theme

For the past week, our class has been researching topics for our Junior Theme papers.  We were asked to come up with a "why" question.  I tried to think of things that were current issues in our country today and thought of things like the military, mental illness, and the economy.  However, none of these ideas really interested me to the point where I would want to research and write about them for a month... So I finally settled on an topic: spousal abuse.  My "why" question made this topic a lot more specific: "Why are spousal abuse cases treated with more leniency than other violent cases in the judicial system?" I went to Borders to find a book and searched with an employee there until I was satisfied with my choice.  I settled on a book called Violent Partners: A Breakthrough Plan for Ending the Cycle of Abuse by Linda G. Mills.  This book includes the author's personal accounts, reasons behind, approaches to, and political encounters with spousal abuse.  I really want to look into court cases concerning spousal abuse, but it has been difficult to find this.  Also, while researching the judicial aspect of my junior theme, I've run into problems.  Any suggestions for articles or books dealing with the court system and how they deal with spousal abuse cases?

Take the Chance

Earlier this week I was reading Maddie's blog called "What If" about questioning ideas and the past. She mentioned a few "what if" situations and how they would have made an impact if different actions had been taken. I feel very differently about asking "what ifs" all the time.  How can you make progress if you're always second guessing?  In order to further yourself or a situation, you need to take risks and stop worrying about all the negatives or dwelling on pessimistic possibilities.  I'm not saying decisions should be made impulsively at all.  In fact, I believe they should be thought through thoroughly.  However, wondering what if this happens or what if that happens all the time just holds back progress.  It is very difficult to get anywhere without making a few mistakes here and there.  Instead of dreading the worst, take the jump and learn from your mistakes to improve plans for the future.

Spring Break Socializing

For me, spring break is supposed to be a time to relax and forget about all the stress going on.  This doesn't really apply for the people who go away on vacation but those at home don't seem to be using this as a break at all!! I feel like most people are going nonstop during their spring break at home! My friends seem to be making 10 different plans at once and going all over the place from when they wake up until when they go home to go to sleep.  I've been chilling out a great amount during this week and still have time to see my friends without overwhelming myself.  I don't completely understand this mad rush to hang out with as many people and do as many things as possible during spring break though.  I know I would get exhausted if I was running around half as much as some of my friends do! Do you use spring break as a time to sit back and relax, a time to be with friends as much as humanly possible, or somewhere in between?

Reconstruction

The week before spring break, our class worked on Reconstruction projects for the south.  Some classmates felt that in present times, the south and north are well integrated.  However, some also felt the opposite. In my opinion, the south and north distance themselves from each other and biases, culture, and more tend to be very different between the two.  I also feel that there seems to be a feeling of superiority in both the north and the south.  The south has this idea that "everything is bigger in texas" and that they are better than northerners, while the north believes that they are the more superior ones and that southerners are hicks or hillbillies.  In the book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, Ted Rall, a liberal in the north even stated: "We eat better, travel more, dress better, watch cooler movies, earn better salaries, meet more interesting people, listen to better music and know more about what's going on in the world.  If you voted for Bush, we accept that we have to share the country with you. We're adjusting to the possibility that there may be more of you than there are of us. By don't demand our respect." I do think that the north and south are more integrated than the time period around the civil war. Yet, there is obviously some separation and pride issues between the two. 

Surfs Up!

I spent the last week in San Diego and Los Angeles, California.  I loved the atmosphere there, but I couldn't help but notice how different it was from Chicago and other cities I have visited.   Many people know about the laid back California stereotype.  Some think of California as all surfers or stoners.  But really it was all sorts of different people.  Yet every single person I met seemed so carefree!  I knew that California was known for being relaxed, but every single person seemed to just go with the laid back flow of the environment. Coming from the stressful life I lead balancing school, friends, family, and other day to day obligations I was blown away with how people in California balance all these tasks and still seem to handle life with a laid back attitude.  Although I am able to balance these things and still hold a positive attitude, being in California just really changed my views on things. It made me take my life into perspective. Have you ever been somewhere that had an atmosphere very different from what you were used to?  Did you realize anything about your own life after noticing how people in that atmosphere lived?

The "Reliable" Speaker

A couple weeks ago in class we discussed the "reliable narrator." I was thinking about this idea while living my daily life.  I realized this is something that people are judged on all the time when they are speaking, if not every single thing they say.  It is not only being a "reliable narrator," but being a reliable speaker as well. When listening to person talk, others are always deciding whether that person is reliable or not.  Are they speaking under self-interest, outside influence, inexperience, or ignorance?  A listener had to interpret a person's speech and think about if they can truly believe what they are saying.  I know that I definitely do this whenever I am listening to someone.  Do you think that when you listen to people around you, you are deciding whether or not they are a reliable source?

What is Race?

Most people THINK they know their own ideas about race and that they could say what they consider race.  However, when actually faced with this question confusion arises.  Is race just a skin color? Is it physical traits? Is it culture?  Birthplace? Genetics? What IS race? It is hard to say. For many years, it was strongly believed that people in certain "races" were genetically similar.  It was thought that one race would have an advantage over another because of a difference in chromosomes.  Blacks were said to have an extra muscle in their legs which made them better athletes, but at the same time, they were said to be diseased and unhealthy.  These genetic ideas about race are very inaccurate.  In fact, genetic variation is much higher (85%) within a race.  Race is simply a social idea.  Stereotypes are created about people who fall under socially-invented "races."  People are placed in categories by skin color, body form, eye shape, hair type, and other physical characteristics.  Walking on a street, a person could not just look at someone and know their personality exactly and what kind of person they are.  However, people are automatically stereotyped and judged based on their physical traits.  People try to connect race to genetics and make it into a scientific idea.  Searches continue for genetic similarities in specific "races" so that there will be an excuse for this categorizing.  For me, race is a judgmental, stereotypical and social idea.  What is race for you?

Gay Pride

Recently, three of my friends have come out as being gay or lesbian.  Although I was surprised, I do not have a problem with it at all and I'm proud that they are comfortable enough to come out. I told each of them that I supported them and that they were still the exact same person to me.  However, some of my other friends didn't take the news so lightly.  When it doesn't concern them, they claim that they are fine with homosexuality.  This didn't seem to be the case when they found out about their friends.  One of my friends said he felt as if his friend had "just died" and that he would "never look at him the same."  Another explained that "it was okay," but she did not want to "be around it or hear about it."  Why are people accepting of homosexuality in general but then when it directly relates to them suddenly it's a different story?