Sustainability!

So I have to write this paper for geology about sustainable living. You know, "going green" and low carbon footprints and all that jazz.

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In the world of 2009, the pursuit of “green” seems to seek out and infest every sector of our lives. What if I want a new car? The tide of the times urges me to “go green”. And if I want a new toilet? The tide remains constant. Even in line at the grocery store we are presented with the cursory choice to take up our cloth shopping bags and fight for the good of the environment. How do we know that “going green” isn’t just the next buzzword to come out of a marketing machine, but is instead a legitimate chance to preserve a clean Earth? A mixture of common sense and hard science provide us the backbone for the green agenda. Yes, there are alarmists who spout environmental boilerplate ad nauseum, but what does it matter if the end is relatively quick or relatively slow; an end is an end–and this one is avoidable. It is easy to imagine filling one’s own home with trash until it is a noxious hole. It is also easy to envision eating all of the food from one’s refrigerator and then having none left. However, applying these simple concepts to a global scale baffles most minds. How could the Earth be so large and not be limitless? It defies logic for one person to think his actions make any real impact, and in a world with only one person, they wouldn’t. Applied to billions of people, however, it becomes quite a pickle. So how do we motivate people on that scale to change their thinking? Maybe a good buzzword is what we need after all.

More Pics from National Day on Writing

More National Day on Writing Pics

First National Day on Writing!

The Learning Center's own Sarah Cook put together the decorations to celebrate October 20th, the first National Day on Writing. Here are some photos of the event!

Bright banners announce the day to students wending their way through construction

OU-C students get involved by letting us know their thoughts on writing, whether it be how writing allows them to communicate with the rest of the human race... or whether it simply causes their hands to cramp :)

More post-cards to come in the following blog entry!

Twilight?

In my ENG356 course (Young Adult Literature with Dr. Schmittauer), we are given an article a week for which we have to write a blog response. This week's article (found here) is about Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.

I have a confession. No, I do not love the Twilight series. In fact, my confession is this: I have refused to read Twilight so that I can maintain my prideful sense of superiority over those that love it. Awful, right? I actually considered reading it for the same reason that Kellen Rice, the author of this article, says she did (to see what all the hype was about). But I abandoned the idea rather quickly when I realized that I might actually end up liking the books. Then what superiority could I cling to? I would have nothing left.

Thankfully, Kellen Rice has saved me the trouble and stroked my ego in one sarcastic and sharply-written article for Blast Magazine. But, as an Literature major and future Library Science student, I am starting to wonder if I should read them anyway. I'd really rather not.

How about you? Twilight: Love it or hate it? Should I feel a sense of obligation to read the series?

Happy Columbus Day?

Christine Armario from the Associated Press covers an interesting story today:
The Darker Side of Columbus Emerges in the US Classroom.

Thoughts?

Writing Contest Announced!

Getting in the groove...

Well, I have now been working in the Writing Lab for about three weeks and all is going well. I've had some difficult tutoring sessions, and some that went like a breeze. Before I had my first tutee I was a little nervous about what to expect, or about how I should handle certain situations. But the guidelines given about the Writing Center's goals have really been helpful. Keeping in mind the "big picture" goal of helping students become better writers (vs. helping them get a good grade on one paper) is a guideline that is really helping me to remained focused on what I am doing here, and why I work in the Writing Center.

There is something extremely satisfying about helping someone. That may sound like a "duh" statement, but as I get older I am finding it to be increasingly true for me. Having someone come in completely confused about an assignment, unsure of themselves, and fearful of bad grades, and then helping them focus on their own goal and leave the Writing Center feeling confident and purposeful is very satisfying.

All the people that work here are great. This is my last quarter before I graduate (YAY!) but I'm finding myself wishing that I had started working here earlier in my OU-C career. But hey... graduation is graduation, right? I'm still looking forward to getting out of here, even though I know I will enjoy the time that I have left.