Columbus Day

Hello everyone and Happy Columbus day!!! Hope all of you enjoyed your day off from classes and that your taking this time to do homework or spend time with family. It was a great weekend starting with Professor's Montlack's poetry reading. Not to be bias but Professor Montlack was the best poet to perform aside from my sister and that last part is biased. It started with some open mic poetry and most of the poets sounded really sexually frustrated or deprived. Then came the first feature and she sounded like every other poet I know. It is the same type of poetry that everyone writes including rhyme scheme and kinda "hippie" feeling. Then came some more bad open mic and the came Professor Montlack. His poetry not only did not follow traditional writing it was actually humorous. The other thing is that his poetry was based a lot on real life experiences and feelings, and allowed the listener to relate. I am a poet as well and despite the fact that I do follow rhyming patterns my poetry is based on real life experiences and feelings. The actual truth was in the pudding because there were other English professors there and I think they died a little inside.

Anyway enough about poetry a lot has been learned this week in all my classes. I got a break by not having any class on Wednesday due to Yom Kippur. Saturday's World Culture class was a deep lesson in culture. We first discussed the reading for homework which was about the self. It was a confusing but enlightening piece when you actually figure it out. The piece was written by George Mead in the 1930's and discusses the self and how the self is separate from the body. If you want to break it down in the simplest form it is basically the discussion of the personality and the way people communicate. We also discussed the culture of poverty from the views of an individualist and a materialist. The first was the individualist Oscar Wilde which took the approach that it is the passing of the individual values that lead to the continuation of poverty. That since the kids of poor areas don't have ample role models or good role models. Since all the poor children see is crime and bad values that they pass it on to their children and the cycle continues.

The materialist was William Wilson who looked at when ghettos first appeared which was right after World War 2. He focused predominantly around the Chicago area and his book "When Work Disappears" discusses his point of view. Wilson stated that since the loss of jobs in the steel industry a trickle down effect occurred. People began to leave and those that were left were people who didn't have money nor resources to move. The solution for him was to create resources such as welfare to help them out. Now it is my personal belief that both of these guys were correct in there thoughts. I think a combination of both is to blame for poverty and why it continues today. States have taken up the call to provide services but it is still up to the individual to take advantage of the options available. I think the biggest issue in today's society is that today's youth has become very unmotivated and lazy. They are quicker to take the shortest and easiest way to success or wealth. I know many kids that are in gangs and not really focusing on school and other means of education. The biggest issue is that a lot of the role models they look up to do not push education or any gives back to their community. There are only a handful that give back and it is not enough. What is your take on the culture of poverty and who do you think is to blame?

It is now time for the Rebecca and Jose corner. Rebecca has now added Banana, Isaac and Barb to her vocabulary. She continues to help around the house and loves to help mommy dust. She is still very watchful over her brother and wants to hold him but she is still not quite there to holding him. Jose continues to grow and is possibly teething which is pretty early and he will be three months on Thursday. Stay tuned for the next blog where I interview the staff of the new and improve bookstore and student center.