Last Journal Titled "This Class Rocked"

I really enjoyed this semester, and after ENC1101, I was totally pumped about what ENC 1102 was all about, I just hoped it wasn’t as boring as the first round. To my surprise, not only did I get a professor that I admired, but I was also in for an exciting adventure. As soon as I saw the video selection, and found out we were going to be building a blog, I was already totally stoked. This was my first blog ever. I knew blogging had become popular a few years back, but I really had no interest. More recently family members had been blogging, and I was thinking, what is this blog thing really all about. This semester I learned. First off it was simple, building and maintaining was so simple, just a few clicks here, and a few clicks a week, and I to had my very own, not bad looking blog. I was impressed. With almost no effort I was able to build a sharing house for others that was approachable and useful. Needless to say, I’ll probably be using this in the future. I am a bit of a media junky, I love watching meaningful documentaries, not only did I get the chance to watch movies in class, but I had the opportunity to write about what I watched, and share my thoughts with the entire class. Reading classmates responses gave me a feeling of empowerment. I felt more inclined to make my responses meaningful and in the process, I got to know some of my classmates on a more personal level. In college, for me at least, your not always given the opportunity to get to know your neighbor, but this proved to be an excellent experiment in sharing and getting to know one another, as well as getting to know yourself and your writing style in a different way, a good way. With the wave of the future and all it social media outlets, this was most defiantly a valuable experience I look forward to using in the future. I hope this approach is well received, I don’t know who would trade this in for a “traditional” ENC1102 class. The combination was just the right balance. Thank You!

Freedom in Forgiveness

Forgiving Dr.Mengele was challenging in a variety of ways. The holocaust can be a heavy subject to say the least. Kidnapping people, including children, and then roasting them to death because their not your idea of the ideal race is almost unforgivable. Today injustices are occurring on a global scale, perhaps not to this dramatic magnitude, but I believe in the future you will here of other stories with similarities of injustice, just the same you will be moved, and left with the question, why? Why and how did this happen. What can we do to prevent this from happening again? What we see here is a powerful movement by a single individual who experienced unimaginable, relentless torture, but by sole determination of single survivor who chose not to forget, but to personally forgive the men responsible, explain her position, and attempt to relate her process of forgiveness, and the power behind forgiveness.  

This is a story that should be told. The holocaust was more than real. As Americans we sometimes feel depressed, or suppressed, or oppressed or whatever, but you tell me how bad you feel after watching this documentary. Most know not of real cruelty, and not to this magnitude. Eva Mozes Kor was chosen specifically to endure repeated medical experimentation along with her twin sister, Miriam, by the then death monster, Dr. Joseph Mengele. Dr. Mengele purpose, in my interpretation, was to take subjects, twins in this case, and attempt to see how he could alter the specific group by injections of chemical combinations, see the reactions, document findings, and leave subjects for dead. The experiments often proved to be fatal, Mendele was just interested in human life, just his crazes experiments and how they could further his cause. He was given high authority at the camp to perform such exercises, and so he ran free to ruin lives in an indescribable fashion. Out of the twins, Eva specifically vowed to not die, she refused, this was not an option for her, and she needed to be their for her sister.

Eva and her sister, unlike many, survived the nightmare. They were freed by the soviets after nine months, close to a year after being held captive. The camp had a profound life long effect on the girls, but after being released and set free, the young girls tried to move on with their lives. Eva fell in love with a fellow survivor, married and had two kids. No time to really reflect on her past, or maybe not wanting to deal with such tragedy, she raised a family and came to find a life as close to normal as she could find. Eva later in life decided that the weight of memories and what happened in those camps was to heavy a burden to carry. She wanted to forgive the doctor responsible, and reached out to people who were their at the time, at the same time she was. Eva’s daughter described her mother as unhesitant. She was going up against everyone at this point. Fellow survivors, scholars, people today wanting to preserve the memory of the holocaust. Some felt like this was not Eva’s place to forgive, and others shook their head in disbelief, attesting that in no way did this one individual have any right to move forward with forgiveness, especially in the case of non survivors that were unable to speak for themselves.

To me, this is where the real story begins, a story of extreme survival, and extreme forgiveness. Against all odds, not only surviving the time, but building a life after such unthinkable acts of violence and violation. Treated like a worthless insect for experiments only, and overcoming at all cost. This is Eva’s story of triumph over tragedy, and this was her message. She met with one particular leader, who she made amends with, and even visited the camps with. Eva turned a cruel absolute nightmare into a story of survival, forgiveness, and sharing the hope that she found through forgiveness. There is now a museum like area set up thanks to Eva’s dedication to spreading her story; it’s implications, and how to perhaps cope with devastating life circumstances of this magnitude. She gives speeches and talks around the world, and she has created a legacy that will live on, and hopefully a message that will continue to resonate for years to come.

Pictures say a thousand words, and I am grateful that we have these as a reminder. This unthinkable, insufferable story is in all fact true, and as true as the act of relentless torture, is the supreme act of forgiveness. As difficult as forgiveness maybe, the payoff is, at least according to Eva, the ultimate freedom. Amnesty at its best is life changing. Pain occurs in many ways, but to hold pain and carry pain can be the biggest mistake of someone’s life. Think about your life, your burdens, and imagine the amount of weight that could possibly be lifted by shifting your thoughts, your mind, and your heart in the direction of forgives. This story inspires yes, but more importantly is the lesson. When you learn to truly let go, you learn what it feels to be truly free. 

Journal Waiting for Superman

Education is extremely inconsistent in America, and thus detrimental to the educational health of our children. Depending on the demographic or area you live in determines what kind of education you recieve. It once was thought that failing schools were the reason for failing education, but know they say that the failing neighborhoods yield bad schools.  I was astonished to learn that Washington had the lowest proficiency in math and reading. The no child left behind program looks like a joke after watching the film waiting for superman. To learn that more money is spent on jails than on education each year is a tradegy and must be completely revamped. 

Female Equality 2013?

                                                                                                                                                      

Christopher Gass

Professor Kelly Warren

ENC 1102

April 2nd, 2013

Female Equality 2013?

The beauty in Documentaries is you often either learn something you didn’t know before, or it gives you a different perspective on something maybe you’ve thought of before, but never really knew to much about. The documentary “Miss Representation” takes you on a journey through the eyes of a cast of character we know from mainstream media, and the double standards that women face still today. The film calls you to action on so many levels, and I recommend anyone from anywhere to watch this film at any time. ”Miss Representation” brings home a number of issues that need to be met at the dinner table. The double standard in the work place, over sexualizing of women, and the market of conditioning women to meet a picture perfection image are just a few of the highlights.

Short of turning this into a man bashing session, equality for women needs help. The expectations are completely different for the sexes, and women frankly have more roles they are expected to fill. You could be the smartest girl in the room, and be magical in many ways, but if you have “sex appeal” that still trumps most markets. Sex sells everywhere. When I asked a girlfriend about her feelings of female equality, she responded it’s a mental thing. I don’t think the media is doing a good job selling the idea of “it’s all mental”.

This problem we have with over sexualizing women is a product of media enterprises around the world that have sold ideas of women that aren’t really representing women. How do you stop a shift that has been consistently dominating media corporations for years. This snowball effect has now become a daily dose of what our minds are used to consuming. I’m sick of the young minds that are warped and dissolution with the exact opposite of what we should be teaching not only young girls, but boys alike. Mutual respect is the common place. This is pressure after pressure with foolish unrealistic expectations of what and, who women are. We say media, but we often take on character roles and reinforce this type of behavior without a second thought. To give you an idea, only seven percent of women are directors of feature films. Many times men are still making these decisions that paint women in a light where lets just say there not shinning their brightest.

If this continues we are destroying what it means to even be human. When image is the main attraction, and no appreciation of ones intellect or talent, that becomes dangerous, and the lines are blurred. Consciousness is partially made up of what we watch on a daily basis, no change will occur if the same groups of people continue to have the last say. In addition, and I’ll end with this, movies or film are most certainly nothing like the originals. Blockbusters run together, I feel like I’m watching the same thing on replay, where is the substance? I have not seen a better portrayal of the President of the United States of America than When Geena Davis led the country in Commander and chief. Perhaps this is a good time to consider multiple shifts in consciousness. Let’s start with mutual respect.

We the media have cheeped hooked women into objects of a haunting, and horrific nature. Misrepresentation exploits the abuse in a straightforward informative fashion, but more importantly inspires you to action. By the end of the film you want to stand up, stand tall and stand for something. This film made it to Sundance for good reason. Call yourself and the ones around you to action, let them know that equality has not yet been met. 

Journal 6 Miss Representation

We the media have cheeped hooked women into objects of a haunting, and horrific nature. Misrepresentation exploits the abuse in a straightforward informative fashion, but it more importantly inspires you to action. By the end of the film you want to stand up, stand tall and stand for something. This problem we have with over sexualizing women is a product of media enterprises around the world that have sold ideas of women that aren’t who women really are. How do you stop a shift that has been consistently dominating the media corporations for years. This snowball effect has now become a daily dose of what are minds are consuming. I’m sick over the young minds that are warped and dissolution with the exact opposite of what we should be teaching not only young girls, but boys alike. Mutual respect is the common place. This is pressure after pressure with foolish unrealistic expectations of what and who women are. We say media, but we often take on character roles and reinforce this type of behavior without a second thought, it has become second nature. Many times men are still making these decisions that paint women in a light where lets just say there not shinning their brightest. If this continues we are destroying what it means to even be human. When image is the main attraction, and no appreciation of ones intellect or talent, that becomes dangerous, and the lines are blurred. Consciousness is partially made up of what we watch on a daily basis, no change will occur if the same groups of people continue to have the last say. In addition, and I’ll end with this, movies or film are most certainly nothing like the originals. Blockbusters run together, I feel like I’m watching the same thing on replay, where is the substance? I have not seen a better portrayal of the President of the United States of America than When Geena Davis led the country in Commander and chief. Perhaps this is a good time to consider multiple shifts in consciousness. Let’s start with mutual respect.

Birth From a Dumpster

The documentary “Dive” has the potential to be life transforming, and alone stands as a resource and movement towards education, and habit change. The movie starts out with young adults diving in dumpsters behind food stores to find food with hope to feed their hungry families. The truth is that its rare for the average person to stop to think about where their un-bought, or unused food is going. Nearly half of all food being produced right now around the world is going to complete waste. The documentary “Dive”, shot in Los Angeles California, follows a young group of twenty something’s as they discover the enormous wealth in dumpsters. After watching this eye opening film, serious questions start to arise about respecting earth, and you begin to think of the high price asscociated with this type of growth. Also the issue of serious malnutrition, even in America, suddenly becomes even more apparent after viewing some of the footage. In such uncertain financial times, this story of stretching the dollar moves to another level. Re-thinking your food consumption, and what you can maybe do personally to make a shift towards the rapidly growing problem becomes a duty. Food responsibility is important, and spreading the word is crucial in making the necessary shift to revamp the sad system that  currently lies in place currently.

Indeed, the world as we know it today seems to magically and consistently provide everything we need at precisely the time we need it. Food is no exception. At anytime we can practically walk around the corner for any immediate purchase, weather it’s ingredients for a special meal, or to stock up for a year on your food supply. Instant access spoils even the most regimented of food responsible individuals. Having a healthy diet is an extension of food responsibility. We are living in a time of magnanimous mass production, having food in a matter of seconds, no question of availability, no wait, just point and click. It proves hard to place blame on the masses because many people are obliviously unaware.  Food education, proper habits were not a regular part of open dialogue growing up. Food education doesn’t include teaching our children about misuse or unused food. Once you know however, it changes the expectation. Changes and simple awareness need to be made in order to ensure the future of our children. This may sound cliché, but earth as we know it, with all seven billion people roaming the planet, cannot continue to sustain a limitless amount of food, especially good food. We have to start thinking ahead to new ways on food production consumption and conservation. Maybe we should consider the nutricianlal values first,without beign food snobs, and take what is available, just because it doesn’t look pretty.  we are food snobs, evnenif it doesn’t look pretty. This is a good time to start searching for local produce and meats if possible, and by local, I mean farmed or grown in your city. There is of course the issue of cost, and again, in the financial climate of now, price is huge factor. It is the responsibility of each person to take all aspects into consideration, and make adjustments that are attainable.

On the subject, Malnutrition is a devastating truth that effects millions. You often hear about the starving children in third world countries, and that is true, but there are people in your city that are going to bed hungry at night. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but this is everyday truth. When I volunteer to feed the hungry, it never fails; I am shocked at the amount of people there to eat, only there for a meal, food is all they want, they are hungry. I think, we have food, food is available, hungry souls waiting to be filled with whatever the local food bank has to offer. The food is available, it’s a matter of moblelizing the proper food chains and agency’s and bringing food to the people. Thousands of people die of starvation each day. We can make small changes, change the mindset of your American neighbor, start to fix a problem that is out of control, feed the hungry. It’s not hard to become passionate about this subject, but once you learn the basics of the problem, you can start to do your part. I interviewed a woman at the local grocer, she said that they literally dump all dairy, and the meat is picked up by vendor. They do donate the bread, but the question isn’t why, the question is how. How can we change policy to encourage food redistribution? Bill Clinton passed law in the early nineties called the “Good Samaritan Act”, which protects big grocery chains from any lawsuit that may come by donating close to expired food items. This gives big food chains no excuse in wanting to combat the major issue of extreme waste.

In the documentary “Dive”, facts like one in every seven households are food deprived; 35 million people in America currently are food insecure. People shop at big food chains because it’s less expensive, they can not afford to shop for local produce or they don’t have the time it takes for healthy meal preparation. The cycle begins to perpetuate, not enough time, lack of money, and then next thing you know, your picking up fast food for yourself or the kids a few nights a week. The information in food statistics is not meant to scare you, just give you a different way to perhaps look at small changes you could maybe make. This journey is not without hope. During depression, and war was there was food rationing, and during this time you and your neighbor would take pride in protecting the food that was produced from sweat and hard labor. The time has changed, but the importance of respecting food or getting to know it better has not. You set the example by first ensuring that your home is in order and that you and the ones closest to you have the knowledge, resources, and materials you need to move forward. Once you have an idea of the basics, it starts to become easier for you to work these newfound ideas into your own routine. Proper food education catapults you into overall better habits. The expense of food is something that everyone has to calculate into his or her budget, why not calculate it with a shift in your approach.

No one person is trained in food loss. Half of prepared food never gets distributed; this has been said to be the silent tsunami of hunger, but now is time to focus on the solution. Ask your local grocer what they do with their near expired product, or unused product. Maybe you can get the ball rolling in your community. Call yourself to action, and call others to action. This is problem that is far reaching, and may seem overwhelming, but let the idea sit and then ask yourself, how can I help this cause. It once was said that Food is life, and should never be wasted. I believe this to be more than true. At its core, food is nourishment that keeps the miracle of the human body alive and well. We would be lost without this gift, and not afford to take our responsibility not to take for granted.  We have to recognize and respect the importance and impact of this to insure lasting effects of making change now.

Journal 5

The documentary “Dive” was a real eye opener. The premise of the movie is based on the idea of food conservation, or not wasting food. The short film was extremely informative, and gave great facts. I never knew that half of the food produced world wide ends up going to waste. The truth is that people are starving to death everyday, every minute a life is loss due to malnutrition, or lack of food. It was astonishing to see young adults trying to feed their families by diving into dirty dumpsters, but after I saw the process, I was moved to see how much food was edible. More than edible, it was totally solid food being tossed into a dumpster. The ramifications were staggering; to think everyday this much food is being tossed. Respect for earth and its resources moved me the most. In a time were we consume, rarely to being stop and think were did this food come from, or how is it here, and what happens to all the leftovers. In the US alone, roughly 35 million people are food insecure, 1 out of every seven households. I look forward to unpacking this serious issue more in my reaction draft on “Dive”.