Blogging about blogging

    I had my doubts about this experience. I previously saw blogging as a way for people to vent on the internet or to share recipes with fellow chefs or something like that. I was not excited about the idea at all. But after getting the first couple of blogs out of the way and reading others' works, I see blogging as an interesting and informative exercise, if done the right way. I think that it is a great way to convey information but unfortunately you can never be too sure on the validity of the information shared on a blog. It is also nice to hear others' opinions on certain matters but rants turn me off immediately. I don't think that after this class I will continue to blog but I do have a greater appreciation for it and for those who partake. I am glad that I got the opportunity to try something new and to get a new perspective on something that I had previously written off.

Why Does Santa Keep Swallowing Turkey Day?

    Christmas is easily one of my most favorite days of the year. I haven't really matured much since I turned five and I still get absolutely swept away by the magic of the season. I love every aspect of Christmas: the snowy days, the heightened sense of family, the secrets whispered in the halls about all the perfect gifts you purchased for your loved ones, the coziness of a fire in the fireplace with a cup of eggnog in your hand, the music, the baking, the memory making...I could rave on and on. But you know what other holiday I really love? Sorry, this is a trick question because the answer is all of them. And when a specific holiday steps on another holiday's toes, I get downright disgruntled and cranky about it. This seems to happen with a good many holidays but one of the worst cases in the United States of holiday neglect would be when Christmas overshadows Thanksgiving.
     It seems like earlier and earlier in the year Christmas products begin popping up like weeds in department stores. Alarmingly enough, this year I saw Santa stuff before Halloween was over. That is a full 2 months early...why in the world would we as Americans need that much preparation for a holiday? My family doesn't get around to putting up lights and decorations until a week before Christmas, if that. In addition to completely disregarding Thanksgiving, stores are now allowing Halloween to be overshadowed as well. These holidays are important days of celebration for various reasons, hence the title "holiday." Thanksgiving is an incredibly historically important holiday to our country. It is a time to celebrate our American heritage, to give thanks for anything that you were individually may be grateful for, to recall a time when life was so much more simple and hosting a feast between two very different peoples was the ultimate gesture of kindness and friendship, and a reminder to look to the future with that same mentality. Honestly, I feel like Christmas has gotten too big and it is so commercialized its sickening but that's another blog for another day. But I think that it is disrespectful to disregard a time honored tradition and a day that promotes family time and values. The idea of Black Friday right after Thanksgiving is bad enough but now stores are not even waiting until Thanksgiving is over and opening their doors for Black Friday at 8pm on that Thursday. I don't know how to fix this problem at all but I personally don't pay attention to Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. That means no Christmas music yet, no eggnog, no shopping, nothing. And maybe if people started putting the same constraints on themselves, we would be able to bring Thanksgiving back from its current obsolete state.

The Green Movement: Time to get with it, America

    I am a big supporter of the Green Movement. I have been since I was a little tyke and Earth Day won my heart with baby seal pictures. As I grew older and realized how important the movement was, I jumped on board with actions like recycling and turning off lights when I left the room. In this way, I thought I was making a big enough impact. And honestly, I was in comparison to many Americans. But then I traveled to Spain in the summer of 2013 and I discovered that the United States is super behind in their efforts to reduce energy and the environmental movement.
    Much like the United States, Spain's economy and unemployment rate recently dipped to an all time low, the lowest it has been since the days of Franco. To combat this dip, Spain had to act fast and in a constructive way. One of the ideas that was proposed to alleviate the effects felt on the economy and job market in Spain was the adoption of some green energy methods in order to save money on importing energy, energy consumption rates, and in order to provide jobs, at least on a short term basis for the country's transition. Spain's government decided to hop on the green movement train as much as possible. So the country underwent some small but pivotal alterations, alterations that I believe would work really well in America.
   One of the alterations that the Spaniards made to change their energy consumption was in their electrical fixtures within establishments. The government created an ordinance in which businesses were told to implement timers and motion detectors for the light switches within the bathrooms and other rooms not constantly in use in a building. The timers would typically be set to turn off the lights in a room after two minutes without detecting movement. Granted, it was pretty annoying when the lights went off when you would be in the bathroom and you had to wiggle around and act like a fool to get the motion detector to see you. But after awhile, you began to get used to the interruption. I was in Spain for only 10 days and was able to adapt to this fairly quickly so I predict this would also be fairly easy for other Americans to adjust to the timed lights in bathroom or in rooms that were not used very much.
    Another constructive change that Spain has made in their businesses and daily lives to be more energy efficient is to change all businesses' restrooms to have automated water supplies. All toilets were supplied with automated flushers so that the same amount of water was used each time for each flush. A few businesses had a different flush setting for liquid waste and for solid waste, which cut down on the amount of water used for liquid wastes. All places we visited, in areas of poverty and in areas of good fortune, had automatic faucets and automatic paper towel dispensers or high efficiency blowers. These changes allowed for energy to be more efficiently used and for materials (like paper towels or water) to be easily wasted.
    A third alteration that Spain's businesses made to be more energy efficient and economical was shown in large hotels. In America, typically when a person first enters a hotel room, the first thing they do is turn on the light and then go about their merry way. Often times when a resident of a hotel leaves their room, they leave at least one light on. This is obviously a large waste of energy, especially when multiple lights are left on when a resident exits the room and the room is no longer in use. To combat this waste of electricity and resources, the large scale hotels in Spain have developed a light switch that can only be turned on when the resident sticks their key in the switch. When the key is removed, the lights are immediately switched off. This means whenever the resident leaves the room, since they have to remove their key from the switch to get back in, the lights will shut off in the room and remain off until the resident returns. I think that this system could work very well in America, not just for large scale hotels but also for small scale hotels, office buildings, and dormitories.
    The Spaniards also have windmills everywhere to harness the energy coming from the constant wind sweeping over the flat farmlands of the country. While we already have a good many windmills in the US, we can always have more. The Spanish have introduced some hydroelectric power and some solar power throughout the country. The economy in Spain is steadily improving and one of the primary reasons for this is the country's embrace for conservation of energy and resources. I think that America would benefit greatly from adopting these same changes into our society. Maybe the first step to this sort of initiative could be started from Wittenberg University. Our sustainability project task force could consider and creatively incorporate these changes into our daily routines as students. This could bring a lot of positive PR to Wittenberg and save us a good chunk of change in the long run.

Common Cents

    A penny for your thoughts. It seems like that's all you can get with a penny these days. But does that necessarily mean that the coin is worthless? For several years now, there has been talk of discontinuing the penny for good. Critics of the single cent coin cite several reasons in support for the discontinuation. I, on the other hand, would like to advocate for the penny and can counter with some alternate arguments. 

    Some claim that the penny has gone out of style, that no one ever uses the coin, usually they get tossed to the side, thrown away, ditched in the parking lot, etc. I'll be the first to admit it, I definitely used to do the same thing...used to. Then I discovered the true value of the penny. 

    A penny is truly an American's vest friend. On a very general basis, pennies add up. I have a change bucket that accumulates all of my spare change whenever I break a dollar and it was the smartest decision of my life. Folks, it only takes four quarters to make a dollar and 100 pennies to make a buck. Ok, yes 100 pennies sounds like a lot. But it really isn't, especially when it gradually accumulates over a period of time. There is no greater feeling in the world when you decide to cash in your change at the bank for some cold hard cash. And those pennies really do add up fast. 

    A penny can bail you out of a lot of desperate situations. Think back to a time where maybe you didn't quite have enough cash for an item you were purchasing and were saved by the "Take a penny, leave a penny" tray at the counter. Or take a second to recall when you didn't quite have enough for that Double Big Mac with cheese and had to go cushion diving in your car for a few pennies to pay your outstanding balance. Or maybe you got caught at a surprise toll stop and once again were saved from being stuck by a few copper coins. Consider all those times when you were young, found a penny on the sidewalk, and sang that little rhyme to yourself ("See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck") while sticking it in your shoe. Some of us also might have a lucky penny that has been carried around through good times and bad and clutched firmly in times of dire need. 

    If those reasons don't convince you, put yourself in the shoes of someone down on their luck financially. For a person in that situation, every penny literally counts and can be the difference between a hot meal and dry feet or an empty belly and leaky boots. A few coins in a cup can make someone's life a little better for at least a small period of time and that, my friends, is power. 

    In addition, the penny is an important piece of America's historical heritage. It is a tribute to President and civil rights leader Abraham Lincoln. It is a celebration of the rich minerals, like copper, that the United States is graced with. It is a symbol of the American dream, a symbol of capitalism, and a symbol of saving to build oneself up from nothing. It is a memory of the old days when a penny could get you very far and a reminder that the coin is more important than ever now that the economy is still in remission. 

    So the next time you pass by that lonely penny on the sidewalk, give ole Abe a smile and recall the penny's true value, both as a monetary coin, a symbol of the American dream, and a historical reminder.

Response to Lauren Swanson's "Greek Affiliation of Administrators"

   In Lauren Swanson's blog about the events of Greek Week, she discusses the possible problems with the affiliation of certain administrators to fraternities and sororities on campus. When I read Lauren's blog, I realized I was conflicted about her argument in some ways. I completely agree that it frankly doesn't look good for Carol Nicholson and Jon Duraj to openly proclaim their affiliation with fraternities and sororities on campus. But the reason I am conflicted with this is that as young people looking for mentors, we need to be able to relate with the role models/administration set before us by Wittenberg. I can easily see a Greek affiliated student who is sitting in Carol Nicholson's office facing disciplinary charges or attempting to get a social approved thinking, "What does she know about me or my sorority? She was never in one." I think it is perfectly ok for Nicholson and other Greek affiliated members of Wittenberg's faculty and staff to openly state that they are a member of the Greek community. It is part of their identity and I think hiding that fact would indicate they were ashamed to be a part of the Greek community, which would make us all look bad frankly.
   Now, what is questionable is if those faculty and staff members should announce which fraternity/sorority they are members of. This one is tricky because of the special circumstances that surround some members of the faculty and staff. There are a good amount of alumni who work at Wittenberg, Jon Duraj being one and Mallory Roth being another, who were members of fraternities and sororities here on campus. It would be impossible to get rid of that knowledge of which fraternity or sorority they were affiliated with, especially since the two employees are young and people still remember their time here on campus as students. Obviously, the reason why this knowledge could cause problems and controversies would be for the possibility of favoritism between fellow brothers and sisters from the administration. I think that since Wittenberg hired these folks, they are trustworthy. I know that our faculty and staff are awesome people and would never stoop to a low level such as that.  That all might be blind faith but I know also that if the university got any kind of feeling that that sort of unfairness was occurring, those faculty and staff who violated that privilege would definitely be removed.
   That being said, I do agree with Lauren to say that the particular question posed to the participants in the competition asking for the affiliations of Greek administration members was very wrong. The reason being is for the favoritism aspect that was previously mentioned. But I think that it would be a perfectly acceptable question to ask if a student could list off faculty and staff members who participated in the Greek community in their years at college because there ain't no shame in being Greek affiliated. At least, I hope not...

Response to Ciara Colbin's "Is the HPER Center doing too much?"

    When Ciara Colbin discussed the HPER Center changes in management, in guidelines, and in employee expectations, there wasn't much background given on the reasons for these new modifications. I would love to shed some light on this because I don't believe it was talked about much around the university.
    Last spring, a Physical Plant employee discovered that there was a man unaffiliated with Wittenberg University living in the HPER Center and apparently had been living there for quite some time. Maigan Larsen, HPER Center Coordinator, was in her first year employed with Wittenberg University when this information was acknowledged. The immediate reaction to this knowledge was to establish some sort of check-in for the safety of students. Thus began the routine checking of student ID's for all visitors to the HPER Center.
     So there's the background to the new changes. Now to answer the question if the HPER Center is doing too much. I would call myself a sort of live-in visitor at the HPER Center as well, especially during my season and have been watching the development of these new changes with great interest.
     While I definitely agree that the HPER Center changes are annoying and seem over the top, there are specific reasons that Larsen is implementing these with such vigor. The reason that the student workers are being restricted and held to a stricter standard is because safety at the HPER Center is still very much an issue. The uniforms that the workers have to wear now are not unlike the uniforms that the student workers in Recitation have to wear, not to mention the uniforms allow the workers to stand out in a crowd for athletes to find them quickly if needed to get entry into a locker room or training room.
    Another big plus about the changes is that the student workers are asked to make rounds of the HPER Center once every 30 min to make sure everything is still locked up and secure. This can be somewhat beneficial when you need a key into your locker room and the worker happens to be walking by. But it can be a disaster if the student worker is on a round and you have to run around the HPER to chase him/her for the keys.
    Now I know what you are thinking because upon first glance, this all seems very excessive. But (as much as I hate to say this) it still may not be enough. Last week, the volleyball shed in the arena was broken in to while people were working, swiping people in, and making rounds. Apparently someone took a hammer to the combination lock and gained access to a ton of volleyball equipment. As far the team could tell, nothing was taken but the incident was reported to Larsen. Additionally, we had someone break into our locker room that same weekend who messed with our stuff in our lockers, wrote on the wipe-off board, and rearranged the locker room. Security is also breached routinely when the Upward Bound students are on campus: during my sophomore year, we had someone go through all our backpacks and take a total of $200 in cash. These are only incidents happening to the volleyball team so I have no clue about the other sports teams and if they have experienced any issues in security. However, I imagine that this crime pattern is common especially with the locker rooms that the swim teams have to share with the overall community. One last point I would like to bring up here is that bigger universities and colleges also have this type of security. I know Wittenberg is not a big school in lots of ways but we do need to recognize that Wittenberg is growing. I think some changes are necessary right now and should continued to be expected/embraced if the changes will assist us in the long run. 
    The new changes to the HPER Center are definitely annoying because we are not used to the new regulations. But in my opinion, I believe they are a necessary evil. Larsen is also talking about how to help the situation a little better and provide more security with a swipe system, not unlike the swipe system that the library has for study tables.

Flashing Lights

   Wittenberg University has many quirks that make the campus and college unique. One such oddity would be the erratic street lamps that light the sidewalks around the university's grounds. Every Wittenberg student, at least once in their college career, has been walking past a street light on campus and had that particular light extinguish itself, plunging the traveler into darkness. The question in the back of these students' heads is, "Why on earth is this happening?"
    There are several theories that students have invented to explain this phenomenon. One such supposition is that Wittenberg has become the home of Albus Dumbledore. The infamous headmaster is said to be residing in the Hogwarts-like Ferncliff Hall and apparently enjoys roaming Witt's campus with his deluminator, quietly snuffing out the street lamps for secrecy.
    Another theory is that the university has incorporated our motto into the very architecture of campus. Since "Having light we pass it on to others" has been a very fundamental theme in all that Wittenberg embodies and stands for, it stands to reason there is a possibility that the Board of Directors decided to take this concept very literally. Some students believe that the reason the lamps go off right when they pass by is because the street lanterns are passing their light onto the traveling students.
     Other less common theories include that since Wittenberg is in trouble financially, the lights around campus are short circuiting and, with the budget cuts, the university does not have enough funding to fix them. There's another theory that the flashing on and off is old Ezra Keller's ghost winking at students. Additionally, some students believe it's the ghosts from the cemetery next door.
      Although these theories all have some merit, there is an official explanation for the lighting spasms. A couple of years ago, through Wittenberg's Sustainability Task Force, Physical Plant was able to install light retrofits in several of the outdoor lights on campus and in some of the buildings as well. One of the goals of the light retrofits is to conserve energy and, thus, the street lamps are on timers that occasionally trigger on and off all around campus. In this way, some energy can be conserved on a sporadic/casual level.
     Regardless of the official explanation of the fickle lights, the other theories from students have not been debunked yet. So whenever those lights shut off on you as you pass by, give a slight nod to good old Ezra Keller in the shadows or salute Dumbledore the best you can. And above all, never forget to pass that friendly light on to others.