You are not alone in wishing for classes more related to your major! I really loved your CD, especially "Medical Meltdown," which touches on a very sensitive issues. You show great empathy for your subject matter.

My Ideal University

I've decided to choose a day of my school week that includes attending my biology 125 lecture and lab. The lecture's time slot is 7:30am-8:45am and then my lab is later that day from 4:30pm-7:10pm. With that, my first curriculum change comes to mind. I would rather have my lecture begin at 12noon... that is when I am most awake after getting a good night's sleep and waking up with time to get dressed for the day and eat some breakfast. When my day begins with being rushed or feeling overly exhausted, to me, it is just the start of a bad day.

When it comes to lecture style courses, they can go either way. I've found that in my bio class I am constantly on my toes and paying attention because I actually care about the class and it is required for my major (if I'm not falling asleep due to such an early time slot). On the other hand, it pains me to know that I am paying thousands of dollars to attend a psych lecture later that day just so I can facebook/email the whole time. That class does absolutely nothing for me and it doesn't interest me career wise at all. I say that students should not have to take "money-eating" gen. eds. if they know they are not interested in the subject in terms of career goals!

Touching on the subject of projects and assignments, lighten the workload period. Elimate busy work (students downright hate it). With projects, always give students the option to work with a group. If I could, I would do everything independently...I've been saying that since elementary school!

I would also love to see more hands-on interactions in classrooms. That is one thing that I love about my bio lab. I always say that the lab saves my grade in that class because it makes me get it. It's almost a 3 hour class and there's actually time for the teacher to give constructive notes, answer personal questions, do hands-on activities (dissections, experiments, etc.), and even motivate an individual if they really need it (I've almost cried several times because of that class). With that being said, computer technology isn't necessarily on my list of likes, and I feel that a lot of students learn better when they are physically doing a task and have more personal interactions. However, blackboard and email are great for networking purposes.

Therefore, faculty should hear us out! As students, we love sleep, time to let material absorb into our minds, options and opportunities, and chances to prove our unique strengths.

Is Jesus a Joke?

1. After reading the articles and reviewing the visual examples of the tee-shirts, I cannon really pin-point one opinion on this issue. I, being Catholic, would not typically wear a shirt like this not because it offends me, but because it is not really my style. I consider myself relatively spiritual and at the same time I believe that people should be able to express their faith however they choose. I can understand why some might see these designs as parodies (for example, if one is significantly traditional in their religious practices) but at the same time I do not really understand why it is being blown up into such a controversial issue. To me, religion is a freedom, and no one person should tell another how to express it.

2. A quote used by Paul Mitchell refuting his argument was, “in the end, Christianity is not a brand”. It does not really make sense because at the beginning of the article he was discussing how he was trying to make a statement of his religious beliefs through choosing the perfect shirt to wear to a rock band.

3. If the shirts only contained the text and not the pictorials, it actually would change my view on them. It would make me take the shirt more seriously because the pictures of Jesus are kind of modernized or in a sense made to appeal to a kind of youth-culture which I can see how that would offend more traditional religious members. With only words, the message is simple and more straight-forward, eliminating the illusion that Jesus, this almighty force of God, is being turned into a “homie” or “friend”.

4. Interpreting the tee-shirt on the left, I feel that it is more a bold statement due to the black and white colors, the thorny halo on Jesus’ head, and his more seldom facial expression. I think this shirt appeals to pathos in a more serious way. It makes Jesus out to look more like a real person and corresponds to the Jesus that is imagined by people when he is carrying the cross or being hung on the cross. Again, it convinces me to take the shirt and message more seriously and view it in a more respectable manner. The tee-shirt on the right however really makes Jesus out to be a goofy cartoon figure. His attire is very urban and his facial expression is not pious at all. The colors might be evidence that the shirt was made for fashion statement purposes than religious message purposes. I feel like it would appeal to an audience who does not see religion in a traditional way or to someone who has a more comical, open-minded personality.

C.D. Creation

C.D Title: Popular Outcast

C.D. Cover Description: The cover will be black, white, and grayscale so listeners can relate internal issues discussed in the songs to the feeling of lifelessness and colorlessness. It will give off a more serious, dark tone. Also, the picture itself would be of an attractive teen walking down an abandoned street to relay the feeling of being alone and to relate back to the C.D title of “outcast”. The complete title, “Popular Outcast”, means that a lot more people experience these kinds of hardships than one might think, thus one can appear put together or “popular”, yet feel like an outcast. Also, the word “popular” can be taken into perspective as there is an abundance of people who feel like outcasts.

Song Title #1: “It’s not me, It’s you”
Genre: Heavy Metal
Explanation: This song explores the hardships of verbal and emotional abuse that children experience from abusive parents. It will include the severity of these types of abuse and their long-lasting effects on children. Emotions such as low self-esteem, anger, and depression will explode in forms of twisted rage in the song. Frustrations will be touched on as well.

Song Title #2: “Work Hard, Play Harder”
Genre: Rap
Explanation: The demand of sport perfection from athletes of all ages and genders. This is what this song will elaborate on. Rap, being the chosen genre, is an example of one motivational technique that many athletes listen to during workouts or to get “pumped up” before a game. This song will discuss the dangers of steroids, physical health, and over exhausting athletes’ bodies. Where is the line drawn between playing for the love of the game and playing to win?

Song Title #3: “Body of a Goddess”
Genre: Alternative
Explanation: This song travels bravely into the hushed topic of how advertisements, television shows, and magazines determine what is considered beautiful in society today. When eating healthy and exercise is not enough, lyrics will take listeners into a world of a desire to be “beautiful”, what that means, and how it is accomplished, sometimes in disturbing ways. A numb, slow feeling will be portrayed through the genre of the song to illustrate what people go through to get that superhuman body everyone is expecting.

Song Title #4: “Medical Meltdown”
Genre: Country
Explanation: This song will describe the difficulties widowers and families go through while a loved one is in the hospital or has passed away. The song acknowledges how hard it is to try to focus on important obligations like financial ones, when a loved one’s fate is pulling at the strings of a family member’s heart. From the burden of hospital bills to the struggle of coping with bad news, a saddening feel will be evident in the song. Families are already emotionally destroyed during times like these, and the worry of financial demands just piles on.

Song Title #5: “Rock Bottom and Burdens”
Genre: Hard Rock
Explanation: This song will touch on the stresses of young adults and the pressures they experience throughout their progressive years of college. Being under the influence of stress and demand, this rock and roll tempo will illustrate the reality of such fast paced lifestyles and fatal results this age group sometimes experiences. Issues of depression, suicide, alcoholism, and the “need to please” will all be discussed.

Lyrics of "Rock Bottom and Burdens":
Wake up in the morning
No time to relax
So much to think about and do
I feel I’m fading fast

I can’t quite put together
How I’m spreading out so thin
My mind is spinning ‘round
And my world is crumbling

(Chorus)
But study hard and make the grade
Be the best and don’t be late
I’m up I’m down, I’m wrong I’m right
Four in the morning, can’t sleep at night.
Some things are better left unsaid
Put on a smile and do it again
Raise your glass, lay low with me
Numb body with fatal remedy

Wake up in the morning
No time to relax
Life’s slipping through my fingers
I feel I’m fading fast

Superhuman

1. I found the steroid video to be quite interesting. It is rare to see news casts about the topic showing that steroids actually don’t have an effect on some people in a negative way. However, the clip failed to show some kind of population study of the effects on people as a whole. It just focused in on a couple healthy men who had no health issues related to their steroid use. In turn, a weak argument could be that steroids have no negative effects on people. It is too generalized and obviously this type of substance use differs for individuals. After watching the testimonies of the two men though, I do agree that steroids could be used responsibly. Both men clearly knew what they were doing, one being a body builder for decades and another being an editor of body magazine.

2. First of all, I feel that teens in high school are too young to be toying with steroids. I don’t think that the age group is mature enough or educated enough on the topic to be injecting such substances into their bodies. With that I feel that it is necessary to randomly test high school aged students, not only for the sake of cheating in sports but for the protection of youth. However, I feel that the standards should be different for grown men, especially those who participate in body building. I feel like steroids are part of body building, even if that might sound inappropriate. What I mean is that having/making a bigger body is the nature of the sport, almost making the use of steroids an exception to the rule. For all other professional sports and high school sports though, I don’t think that the use of the drug should be allowed. It’s unfair for participants with natural talents to have to go up against ones who are consuming superhuman drugs.

3. In a way I feel that Hoberman’s statement is kind of true. With the high demands of physical talent in professional and even high school sports, I can see how being bigger, stronger, and faster puts a lot of pressure on athletes today. However, I also feel that it is an issue that can be turned around. If steroid tests are enforced and regulations are followed through then I don’t see this “double standard” being as big of a problem as it is. If certain age groups are banned from them, then no one will feel any kind of pressure to consume steroids. The only motivation they will have is to naturally work harder and become better on their own, which is the way it should be.

To Drink or Not to Drink...

Georgetown University is putting their foot down and is becoming extremely strict with dealing with university party life. The rules and regulations are completely ridiculous. Even though drinking is illegal for people under twentyone, how can a university expect students to change their ways of socializing? Dan Castrigano, a student, says, "you can't just change the culture of a college campus" (qtd. in Kinzie). One of his roommates, Pat DePoy even started a facebook petition against the madness, accumulating almost 2,000 signatures (Kinzie). I couldn't agree more with these students. Their social aspect of college is being deminished and the liveliness of campus is vanishing.



After it was decided that enough was enough, Georgetown University has decided to put their foot down and regulate any party activity on campus. Parties have definitely been roaring out of control and trickling into the backyards of neighbors, leaving them annoyed (Kinzie). Solberg, a police commandar, states that "We have tried a variety of different tactics..." (qtd. in Kinzie). Basically, students are still getting obliterated and the school just chose to crack down. Lawful actions are definitely what's best for the university right now. Students' lives could possibly be at stake, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Paraphrasing Practice

Lester says that the use of quotations in students' research papers are used too much. He also feels that when writing research papers, one should limit the amount of translation they insert into their work.