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Weber Writes 2010 Weber Writes 2010  i 2

Table of Contents

Foreword ...... ii

Research and Argument ...... 1 Maryam Ahmad, “France’s War on Religious Garb”...... 3 Liz Borg, “When it Comes to Sex and Jr.”...... 9 Brandi Christensen, “Communism and Civil War”...... 13 Casey Crossley, “Integrity Deficit: The Scarcity of Honor in Cable News”...... 18 Chris Cullen, “The Power of Misconception”...... 28 Chase Dickinson, “Are Kids on a One-Way Path to Violence?”...... 35 Melissa Healy, “Lessons from a Lionfish”...... 39 Feliciana Lopez, “The Low Cost of Always Low Prices”...... 43 Sarah Lundquist, “Women in the Military: The Army Combat Exclusion”...... 48 Jamie Baer Mercado, “Radical or Rational?”...... 57 Olivia Newman, “Science Friction”...... 63 Jason Nightengale, “Cheating and Steroids”...... 68 Paulette Padilla, “Grotesque Entertainment: Should It Be Legal?”...... 76 Dolly Palmer, “The Social and Physiological Separation of Space”...... 82 Michael Porter, “Are Video Games Addictive, Or Is Blaming Them?”...... 88 Kyle Rollins, “Utah’s Red Rock: A Natural Legacy”...... 98 Michael Young, “Disembodiment and Disenchantment: Disconnection and Society’s Problems”...... 107

Literary Analysis ...... 112 Jomar Giner, “A Puritan Prison”...... 113 Micah Hassett, “The Beauty of Silence: An Introspective Look at Ray Bradbury’s ‘The Murderer’”...... 117 Editors: Scott Rogers, Sylvia Newman Anthony Tran, “Tom Sawyer: A Look Into the View Copyright © 2010 is retained by individual authors. of Adolescents and the World Around Them”...... 122 Lori White, “A Look into Mark Twain’s Art of Satire”..... 127 Printed in the United States of America by Weber State University Printing Services, Ogden, Utah. Personal Essay ...... 133 Kyle Kapp, “When Scooter Meets Weed-Eater”...... 134 Cover: “Ogden, Utah.” Hollard Photo Co., April 1914. Courtesy of the Library of Congress American Memory Collection. ii Weber Writes 2010  1

Foreword

t is with great pleasure that we bring forth the first issue of Weber Writes, an anthology of student writing. The essays Ithat follow were written by students enrolled in Weber State University’s college writing program during the academic year 2009-2010. Participating classes selected the best writing from the semester, and the result is the 22 essays in this anthology, which represent a range of genres that we have grouped simply into three sections: Research and Argument, Literary Analysis, and Personal Response. Research and Argument It is our hope that this anthology will serve at once as a reward for students’ hard work in their college writing courses and as models of excellent student writing in future courses. We could not be more proud of both the students and their instructors. We have made a concerted effort to leave the essays as close to their original form as possible, making only light editorial corrections for general formatting and correcting spelling and typographical errors.

Scott Rogers, Director of College Writing Sylvia Newman, Assistant Director of College Writing 2 Weber Writes 2010 France’s War on Religious Garb 3

France’s War on Religious Garb Maryam Ahmad, ENGL 2010

n a rush towards staunch secularization, France has declared war on religious garb. Religious symbols like Jewish skullcaps, Ioversized Christian crosses, and Muslim head-scarves have all been banned from public schools. Although France’s actions of targeting all religious symbols seem fair, I view these bans to be a serious infringement on human civil liberties. A governmental body exerting control over intimate aspects of individual lives, such as religious autonomy, puts cherished freedoms at stake. France’s bans on religious garb have generated much criticism, especially from the United States government and its citizens, who strongly adhere to individualism and an engraved Constitutional belief that government must not meddle with personal issues, particularly religious freedom. In the United States and abroad, however, little has generated the firestorm created by France’s bans on varying degrees of Muslim garb. In 2004, the Muslim female head-covering—or hijab, which covers the hair—was banned from all public schools, along with other religious symbols (“The Taliban”). Now, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone further by proposing a ban on face veils worn by some Muslims, stating that they are “unwelcome” in France and a symbol of “subservience” (qtd. in “Sarkozy’s”). Unlike past bans, this proposed ban is specifically targeted towards Muslims. The ban will bar women who wear the veils, the burqa or niqab from certain public services like schools, hospitals and public transportation (“The Taliban”). I spoke with Bushra Roumani, a young Muslim woman living in France, who observes the hijab. Now twenty-one years old, Bushra described when the 2004 ban on religious symbols was implemented. At the time, she was sixteen and had been wearing the hijab for one year. She described the day she had to take off her hijab as “very difficult.” Every day, through tears, she took off her scarf before stepping onto the school property, and at the end of the day she determinedly put it back on. Bushra described feeling “targeted” for her faith, stating, “The ban prevents me from wearing what I believe is modest clothing and this is why it is hard.” Now Bushra is a university student, free to wear the hijab. When I asked her if she believed that France’s actions adequately reflect the will of the French citizenry, she replied with, “No … I have close friends who respect me … We have a strong friendship. France has the largest 4 Weber Writes 2010 France’s War on Religious Garb 5 Muslim population in Western Europe and a lot of French citizens who are forced to represents a conundrum. However, painting all know Muslims and are not fearful of us. The language from the women who wear the burqa or niqab as oppressed does not solve the French Parliament is harshly spoken but a lot of French citizens are problem. This generalization is the equivalent of its pole opposite: compassionate.” blissfully claiming that oppression does not exist at all. Clearly, Although supporters of the French secularization campaign argue either extreme does not describe reality, as variation exists within the that France’s moves are fair since they target all religious affiliations, Muslim community. Therefore, it is imperative that these variations some critics argue otherwise. For instance, the 2004 ban targeted are recognized for alienation can lead to frustration, yielding not all Christian crosses, but “oversized” crosses (Henley). Such a potentially dangerous consequences. distinction was not made between large hijabs and smaller, more Another argument in support of the proposed ban is that it fitting hijabs, or even extra-conspicuous Jewish skullcaps versus less attempts to assert France’s ideas of secularization “amid fears of obvious caps; any head-covering is prohibited. Some critics go even growing fundamentalism among France’s five million Muslims” further by stating that the secularization taking place has an anti- (Erlanger). However, social psychological research has illustrated a Islamic tint. Not only is clothing worn by many Muslims banned; common reaction to restrictions on freedom: psychological reactance, some are shunned and stigmatized by comments deeming them as or rebellion in the face of a perceived threat (Myers 218). In the case backwards. Such stigmatization hastily generalizes Muslim women as of France, it is not likely that the bans on certain Muslim garb will “subservient” and “oppressed,” greatly undermining the character of drive French Muslims in a more secular direction. On the contrary, the women who willfully choose to adopt such dress. this ban alienates many French Muslims, whether religious, moderate, To the French government’s credit, viewing the burqa or niqab as or secular. Perceiving themselves as the targets of xenophobia, a symbol of oppression is a legitimate concern. After all, when the French Muslims will likely cling more steadfastly to their identity in Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they made the burqa compulsory. That the face of such restrictions on religious liberties. If anything, this said, oppression cannot be ousted with oppression; force in its many ban will only prevent secularization from taking place within the manifestations maintains dangerous ramifications. Sarkozy’s ban is French Muslim community. a symbol of the dangers of reverse oppression via governmental A more reasonable argument that supporters of the ban present mandate, as it infringes on a woman’s right to choose. How many is that of security concerns. Bans on religious garb aside, any garb women will be forced to take off their veils, or push aside their that restricts identification must be removed “for passport photos desires to wear the veil? and airline security and at banks” (Erlanger). However, the Muslim If the proposed ban on face veils is attempting to curb headscarves that have been banned since 2004 do not conceal an fundamentalists’ attempts to control women, Sarkozy and his individual’s identity any more than a hat, wrapping hair in a bun, supporters overlook fundamentalism’s common pattern throughout or dying hair. Moreover, restrictions on the burqa and niqab will history: “in all religious traditions, [it] is impervious to suppression” not only be in place to ascertain identity in situations that require (Aslan 247). This ban is toothless against individuals who may use maintaining strict security measures, like in airports. On the contrary, religious garb as a means to control women. If the proposed ban is these restrictions will be enforced constantly, regardless of the enacted, oppressors can easily find another medium through which situation. they can exercise their domination. A better way to curb repression, Rather than alienation via the infringement on religious liberties, then, can be through providing understandable information to the French government can ascertain identification and maintain women regarding their legal rights and protections so that any security by employing a simple solution: have a female check for woman—from any religion, culture, race, class, or nation—can escape identification or conduct a search if suspicions are aroused. Rather a suppressive situation. This way, Muslim women who may be forced than ban the clothing altogether, with this solution in place, a woman to wear the burqa or niqab can have assistance, while women who would only have to take off the clothing in front of a female, in choose such dress will not be alienated by their own country. a private area, when the time or situation calls for it. This way, a Nevertheless, for the French government to be able to discern Muslim woman can continue to dress the way she pleases, yet a level between women who choose to adopt such clothing and women of security can be maintained as well. 6 Weber Writes 2010 France’s War on Religious Garb 7 This ban assumes the authority to make personal decisions imagine, then, if a law—a much greater formidable barrier than a about one’s dress, assuming knowledge about the clothing that parental rule—would stand as a hindrance rather than a source of may be based not on objective understanding, but rather on fear, support. I cannot imagine the right to wear the hijab taken away from misunderstandings, and stereotypes. Since these misconceptions are me. founded in the fact that the French government is dealing with a Despite my distaste for France’s actions, I—an American Muslim foreign culture, simple awareness of the situation at hand can have female living on the other side of the Atlantic—have learned more fortunate implications. As stated in a lecture given by social that what are fundamental rights in America are not fundamental psychology professor Dr. Azenett Garza, inter-group contact has elsewhere. These rights, therefore, must be deeply cherished and not been empirically proven to be a friendly, yet effective means with taken for granted. As President Obama stated in his address to the which to reduce stereotypical views of out-groups. Inter-group Muslim world, “the U.S. government has gone to court to protect the contact is effective because groups that are normally categorized right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who as two separate entities, say as Christians and Muslims, become would deny it.” I can wear any religious garb in public, something that re-categorized according to a larger, overall group—of French a French citizen may view as a luxury. It is safe to say that such an nationality. infringement upon freedom of religious expression will never occur Some Muslims in Germany have adopted the method of inter- on American soil. For, individual liberties are the exact principles this group contact as a cure for misunderstandings between groups. country was founded on. And for that, I am especially grateful. Recently, a Muslim community wanted to build a minaret atop of “the old movie theater it had converted into a mosque,” but when some caught wind of these plans, a furor of emotions was the mode (Kulish). The Muslim congregation temporarily cancelled the plans, but rather than turn inward, they turned outwards by opening the mosque doors to the public in an attempt to reach out to the non- Muslim community. This example of reaching out to other communities should be followed. It is the responsibility of the French government and French Muslims alike to work towards fostering and maintaining friendly relations. The task of quelling discontenting feelings is surely a difficult goal; however, inter-group contact can work towards accomplishing this feat. My passion for this issue does not only stem from the fact that I am a Muslim female myself. Rather, I feel strongly about the first amendment to the United States Constitution which defends the free exercise of religion and prevents the establishment of a national religious identity. Clearly, France is infringing upon individual freedoms, yet at the same time an entirely new religious identity of secularization, if you will, has been established. Another reason why this issue resonates with me stems from my own desire to wear the hijab. An unrelenting source of frustration that I encounter is my parents, who have insisted that I wait until I’m legally an adult to make such a decision. My frustration with this parental rule is exasperating, but I have continually found assurance in the fact that once I am eighteen, no one can infringe on my decision. I cannot 8 Weber Writes 2010 When it Comes to Sex and Jr. 9 Works Cited When it Comes to Sex and Jr. Aslan, Reza. No God But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. Liz Borg, ENGL 2010 New York: Random House Trade, 2005, 2006. Print. Erlanger, Steven. “Face-Veil Issue in France Shifts to Parliament for regnancy, abortion, unwed teen parenthood, poverty Debate.” New York Times. 27 Jan. 2010: A9. Print. welfare dependence, growth of drug abuse, gang culture, Garza, Azenett. “Prejudice.” Psychology Department. Social Science Pcrime, sexually transmitted diseases and poor emotional Building at Weber State University, Ogden, UT. 9 Mar. 2010. health are all adverse consequences of teen sex (Institute for Lecture. Research and Evaluation 2). Teenagers need to know, and have the Henley, Jon. “France to Ban Pupils’ Religious Dress.” Guardian. right to know, how to protect their physical and emotional health. Guardian. 12 Dec. 2003. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. needs to cover not only abstinence, but should also cover the use Kulish, Nicholas. “Path to Xenophobia Is Diverted by a German of contraceptives, disease control and prevention, and how to live a Mosque’s Open Doors.” New York Times 24 Mar. 2010: A6. Print. healthy life both physically and emotionally. Myers, David G. Social Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Giving proper sexual education to teens can give them the Print. knowledge they need to keep themselves healthy. Martin Luther King Obama, Barack. “A New Beginning.” Al-Azhar University. Major Jr. once wrote, “We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension Reception Hall at Cairo University, Cairo. 4 June 2009. Speech. that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it. can be seen Roumani, Bushra. Personal Interview. 3 Apr. 2010. and dealt with” (King Jr. 1051). Being afraid to talk to teens about sex “Sarkozy’s Veil Climbdown.” Editorial. Guardian. Guardian. 16 and not giving them the information they need and rightfully deserve January 2010. Web. 15 March 2010. can be discussed openly and honestly is the way to go. “The Taliban Would Applaud.” Editorial. New York Times. 26 January There is an undeniable association connecting sexual activity and 2010: A26. Print. poor emotional health in adolescents. When compared with virgin teens, sexually active teens are more than twice as likely to become depressed or attempt suicide and much more likely to experience dating violence, sexual exploitation, and rape. Not to mention that sex can bring life changing consequences such as an STD or pregnancy, which means that a teen will most likely experience emotional turmoil when faced with such consequences. Through good sex education, adolescents can learn where to go and how to get help in dealing with the emotions that sex can bring. There are many resources for teens to get help and their questions answered, but often they aren’t sure where to start. A poster or flyer on the wall is not sex education; teens need real help and real guidance for physical and emotional safety (Institute for Research and Evaluation 2). Teenagers need to feel that they can talk to their parents or teachers and ask questions about sex without being judged or shunned. Isn’t it better for a teen to get correct knowledge and information from a reliable source, than it is for them to guess? If a teen is willing to get the information, it should be given to them. 10 Weber Writes 2010 When it Comes to Sex and Jr. 11 There is a debate over which of two teaching curricula of sex and healthy. It’s just a matter of whether these parents are willing education in high school should be used. These are abstinence-only to take the leap and talk to their kids! Being “a fly on the wall” in sexual education or comprehensive sexual education. Abstinence- any high school, one can hear that teens often want to talk to their only education teaches that sex should be delayed until marriage, and parents about their problems but are afraid to be judged, ignored, discussion of birth control methods is typically limited to statements or punished. Parents need to make themselves available for an about ineffectiveness. Comprehensive education teaches abstinence, open and honest conversation with their children. Together, teens, the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as the use of parents, and educators can make a difference in ensuring every teen contraceptives to help prevent pregnancy (Kohler 345). has a proper sex education that targets attitudes, values, efficacy, and Parents and educators in favor of abstinence-only programs goals regarding abstinence, sexuality, and relationships (Institute for being taught in school probably worry that if teens are taught “too Research and Evaluation 6). much,” it will encourage earlier sexual activity. However, the effects Through comprehensive sex education teens can learn about of abstinence-only programs on sexual behavior have been shown abstinence, sexually transmitted disease prevention and treatment, to be minimal, and evidence has shown that initiation of sexual the use of contraceptives for the prevention of pregnancy, how to activity is not hastened by receiving information about measures for maintain good emotional health, and learn how to have a healthy safer sex (Kohler 345). Comprehensive programs give students the attitude towards sex. Being open and honest is the most important opportunity to learn more than one point of view, which can be vital thing in discussing sex with teens. It is important for the teenager and in helping them be happy and healthy. the adult to do both. “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed Sexually transmitted diseases have become an increasing threat forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself’ (King and adolescent STD rates are higher than rates for all other age 1053). Teenagers have been oppressed by not getting sex education, groups (Institute for Research and Evaluation 2). Without knowledge many teenagers are going to have sex, they might as well be given the of STDs and ways to prevent them and get treatment for them, how opportunity to learn how to do so safely. can teens be responsible for their sexual health? “Trend data indicate that nationally there has been a 19 percent decline in the proportion of youth receiving education about birth control methods in school since 1995” (Sonenstein 313). Through comprehensive sexual education, students can be taught the importance of contraceptive use and regular health check-ups. Of course, there is no guarantee that teaching comprehensive sex education will make every teen sexually responsible, but why not at least give them opportunity to learn how to be sexually responsible? “Although 15-24-year- olds represent only 25 percent of the sexually active population, they account for nearly one-half of all new sexually transmitted infections” (Kohler 344). It isn’t okay for teens to be left in the dark; they have a right to know how to protect themselves and those around them. Teenagers deserve the choice. Through simple observation anyone can see that attitudes toward sex, especially among teens, have become very casual. Sex is almost everywhere and in almost everything. Because of this, teens often find sex as another way to “fit in.” Building a healthy attitude toward sex is vital in proper sex education. Proper sex education does not only apply to being taught in school, but also to being taught at home. Parents can help give teens the education they need to be safe 12 Weber Writes 2010 Communism and Civil War 13 Works Cited Communism and Civil War Institute for Research and Evaluation. “‘Abstinence’ or Brandi Christensen, ENGL 2010 ‘Comprehensive’ Sex Education?—The Mathematica Study in Context.” 8 June 2007. National Abstinence Education Association. he Vietnam War was a quagmire. Thousands, even 6 February 2010. . Tto come to any sort of position for or against policies of King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Making the war after new evidence has surfaced during and after; there is no Literature Matter: A Text and Anthology for Readers and Writers. 4th ed. black or white answer. The evidence brought forth has made some Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 1044- people critical of the war. It has been asked if the United States ever 1053. Print. had sufficient reason to intervene in the first place. The United States Pamela K. Kohler, Lisa E. Mahart, William E. Lafferty. “Abstinence- did not have sufficient reason to intervene in Vietnam because it Only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of could be argued that it was a civil war; that is, not a war between two Sexual Actiity and Teen Pregnancy.” Journal of Adolescent Health 42 separate states, and the threat of communism spreading is debatable. (2008): 344-351. If these are the reasons the US used for intervening, the US had no Sonenstein, Freya Lund. “Can We Afford to be Complacent About right. Teens’ Use of Condoms?” Journal of Adolescent Health 43 (2008): The “White Paper,” put out by the US Department of State gives 313-314. us the first reason why the US intervened in Vietnam. We intervened, as the “White Paper” has indicated, because there was evidence that North Vietnam had planned to infiltrate South Vietnam aggressively (824-825). Most of the aggressive forces that were attacking the South were Communist infiltrees from the North (825). The “White Paper’s” second reason is the National Liberation Front (NLF) planned to take part in a program with Hanoi that would provide them with communist weapons in the South (827). The NLF needed Hanoi’s help because they could no longer keep up with South Vietnam; their weapons were out of date (they were using “leftover” weapons from the French) (827). Thus, according to the “White Paper,” Hanoi supported the NLF; however, it does not say they were the same entity. That is, the city of Hanoi or the North Vietnamese communist government supported the NLF’s efforts, but the city itself was not instigating aggression; it was NLF. If they were the same entity, the NLF would not need to take part in a program with Hanoi. I.F. Stone, who wrote “A Reply to the ‘White Paper,’” has found that there are additional figures that the “White Paper” does not include in its evidence for intervening (835). Stone called the Pentagon, and asked and received numbers of the US weapons lost to the NLF, and the numbers of NLF weapons lost to the US to see if the evidence corresponded with the “White Paper.” The NLF seized 12,300 more weapons than the US seized from them. Stone argued that if the city of Hanoi were really supplying communist 14 Weber Writes 2010 Communism and Civil War 15 weapons to the NLF we would have expected to seize more Vietnam. We were not there to defend the South Vietnamese people communist weapons from them. Stone found that only 179 weapons (810-811). This does not seem to be consistent with what the “White produced by the communists were captured from the NLF in 18 Paper” said. The “White Paper” reported that there was aggression months. This amount would not be enough to supply one battalion and this was precisely the reason it was not a civil war. And this, in of 450 men (835). Stone also found in Appendix C of the “White turn, is the reason for intervention. However, what Senator Dodd Paper” that it could only cite a total of six infiltrees from the North was getting at, was that the threat of communism was what was really in the South (837). One wonders if in obtaining so few weapons of at stake. This does agree with the “White Paper.” However, at that theirs, and citing so few infiltrees from the North in the South, if it time, Stone has shown there was no real evidence that communism was really an aggressive state against state, or an internationalized civil was getting out of hand. In other words, the US had no evidence. All war. That is to say, the US intervened because they claimed without the US could do was infer from the history of communism spreading supporting evidence that the NLF was infiltrating the South and that to the conclusion that communism was a threat. It is what is called Hanoi was supplying weapons to the NLF; however, evidence shows the “domino theory.” that this could not be the case, as so few weapons of communist The domino theory was a theoretical approach to inferring origin were seized by us, and so few infiltrees were caught. This what could happen based on historical evidence. In the context of evidence is found in the U.S. Department of State’s “The White communism and the war, the US was convinced that if Vietnam fell Paper” and information obtained from the Pentagon. Because this to communism, so too would the rest of Southeast Asia, and then on information is found in government documents, the government to the rest of the world. (This is what Dodd was referring to when must have known that the evidence was not conclusive. he said we should defend the countries of Southeast Asia). This is Because the evidence was inconclusive, the US therefore did not similar to a line of “dominos” falling and knocking the next one have reason to intervene. In 1964, President Johnson and Secretary over, hence, the “domino theory,” except with countries falling to of Defense Robert McNamara made one up. It was a story that gave communism; that is, specifically countries of Southeast Asia. While President Johnson the necessary votes from Congress and the ability this reasoning is plausible, it is not indubitable. to take military action in Southeast Asia (Zinn 476). The story told On the front page of the New York Times, April 18, 1975, before to the American public was that officers of the Maddox and the C. the United States had pulled its troops out of Vietnam, it read: “The Turner Joy, both US destroyers, thought they were under attack by Cambodian Communists swiftly set up headquarters yesterday [April North Vietnamese torpedo boats. The sonar readings gave the idea 17, 1975] in Phnom Penh a few hours after the Cambodian Capital that torpedoes had been launched; however, no one saw the torpedo was surrendered to them” (“5-Year War” 1). From here it looks as boats, and there was no damage, and thus there was no evidence though the domino theory might have good merit for intervening of an actual attack. President Johnson even said to an aide, “Hell, because Cambodia fell to communism, but this was only temporary. those dumb stupid sailors were just shooting at flying fish” (Martel However, Hans J. Morgenthau, a professor of political science 37). Still, President Johnson thought this was evidence enough and modern history at the University of Chicago, argued in his book to intervene (Martel 36). The US needed and wanted to prove so Vietnam and the United States, that what is not known by American desperately that there was aggression that they resorted to lying to public opinion is that there wasn’t a conflict between communism the American public that the war in Vietnam was a civil war in order and freedom. The Vietnamese people had to choose between to intervene. the totalitarianism of Diem (South Vietnam’s president) and the The “White Paper” states that the United States needed to forward looking philosophy of communism” (30). The Vietnamese intervene because the North was trying to aggressively infiltrate the people were not interested in one side, but what advantages and South. This government documentation and the incident in the Gulf disadvantages could be inferred from the outcome (30). Dave Ballard, of Tonkin do not agree with what Senator Dodd had to say. Senator a Vietnam veteran enlisted from June 1, 1970 through April 20, 1971 Dodd, in an address to the Senate, in exactly the same month that confirms this view in an interview: the “White Paper” was released, contends that we were in Vietnam My thinking on the average Vietnamese citizen not caring to defend the people of Southeast Asia against communist North about their political system was that, as I saw it, they were 16 Weber Writes 2010 Communism and Civil War 17 too busy trying to survive to care about much else. I had Works Cited never seen poverty on such a scale as I saw there. The villages I went through consisted of grass huts, shacks with “5-Year War Ends: Former Aides Invited to Join Meetings on walls made of flattened tin cans, no electricity, little kids Restoring Order.” New York Times 18 April 1975: Al. Print. trying to sell black market merchandise. These people had Ballard, Dave. “Nam Vets Answer Questions.” April, 2010. just trying to survive. (Ballard 1) Ballard, Dave. Personal Interview. 7 April, 2010. Ballard also feels that it was useless: “In April of 1975, when I saw Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. Negotiating Difference: Cultural the reports of the fall of Saigon, I realized what a waste it all was. Case Studies for Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 1996. We had lost over 58,000 of our brothers and sisters … only to watch Print. them drop their guns, shed their uniforms and run like hell” (Ballard Dodd, Thomas J. “From a Speech to the U.S. Senate.” Bizzell and Pars. 6). Herzberg 808-823. One of the “reports” Mr. Ballard may be referring to can be “End of Defense: Troops Leave Posts in Capital and Turn in Their found in the New York Times, as well as in the London Times. The Weapons.” New York Times 30 April 1975: Al. Print. date is April 30, 1975; on the front page of the New York Times, it Martel, Erich. “Gulf of Tonkin.” OAH Magazine of History 2 (1992): read: “President Duong Van Minh [the president of South Vietnam, 36-39. 1975] announced today the unconditional surrender of the Saigon Morgenthau, Hans J. Vietnam and the United States. Washington, D.C.: Government and its military forces to the Vietcong” (“End of Public Affairs Press, 1965. Print. Defense” 1). This was one day after the United States pulled its Stone, I.F. “A Reply to the ‘White Paper.’’’ Bizzell and Herzberg 834- troops out. According to the London Times’ front page that same day: 839. “He [Minh] told the Vietcong in a radio address: ‘We are here to hand “Unconditional Surrender Announced by South Vietnam: President over to you the power in order to avoid bloodshed’” (“Unconditional Tells Troops To Cease Fire.” Sunday Times 30 April 1975: Al. Print. Surrender” 1). U.S. Department of State. “White Paper.” Bizzell and Herzberg 824- On the face of it, it seems as though the United States had 833. sufficient reason to intervene. Their predictions based on the Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present. New domino theory were being seemingly proven. However, even though York: Harper Collins, 2003. Print. Cambodia fell to communism, it wasn’t permanent. Thus, we will never know if it was the war itself that brought on this outcome. Perhaps if we had not intervened in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. There is no way to know without being biased in hindsight. There was no evidence that communism was a threat when the United States decided to intervene. The NLF, or the communists, were not directly associated with the so-called separate state of Vietnam. One cannot say, without the bias of hindsight, communism was a threat to Southeast Asia or the United States after the Vietnam War. The question is: should the United States have intervened solely on these grounds? There is no way to know for sure, but from the looks of it, it seems like the answer is no. 18 Weber Writes 2010 Integrity Deficit: The Scarcity of Honor in Cable News 19 always correct. Secondly, that the person who is paid large sums of Integrity Deficit: The Scarcity of money to represent the news in this biased way has the listener or Honor in Cable News viewer’s best interests in mind, and will represent things as they are. Casey Crossley, ENGL 2010 In the face of these seemingly staggering obstacles, the professionally dishonest hosts of radio talk shows, cable news programs, and biased he news has been called the fourth branch of news blogs are more successful than they’ve ever been. In the last government. It provides a check against corruption in fifteen years, Americans have trended away from the more neutral Tany of the other three branches and helps average people local and network nightly news towards these less sensible options make sense of the world around them. Journalism is indispensable (Online). in a democracy like ours, where citizens rely on honest reporting The electronic age may be mostly to blame for this change. to make informed decisions in the election of their leaders. For Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton Paul Starr the better part of the twentieth century, the news in this country proposes, “A basic rule of communication is that abundance brings performed its role with admirable quality. After all it was no force of scarcity: an abundance of media creates a scarcity of attention” (25). government that unraveled the Watergate scandal. When President This perspective goes a long way to explain the mess that the news is Nixon tried to cover up his connections to the illegal break-in in. He continues to explain that the reason that the bulk of news is so at the opposing party’s headquarters, it was the efforts of The biased is that the moderate, middle ground of America is distracted Washington Post, among others, that led to the president’s resignation. by its many options on television and the internet, and that only the Increasingly, however, this task of informing the masses is not being more passionate politically inclined people are consuming news. This, carried out responsibly. We need trustworthy, truth-based news. I in his opinion, has caused the mood of the news to change to fit its contend that biased, entertainment-focused news hurts the public new audience. There is a lot of value in this thought. Although it is and delegitimizes this important American institution. Biased news never explicitly stated in Starr’s contribution, this audience-affected is not, and could never be concerned with representing the truth to media in turn affects its audience. This, in my opinion, is the most their viewers. It is the nature of propaganda to ignore inconvenient troubling aspect of the polarization-of-news phenomenon. facts. I will also argue that entertainment-fused journalism sets a low There have always been biased newspapers and magazines, even standard for the news and can be a distraction in the presence of real throughout the most objective age of American journalism. The news. trouble with making partisan truth benders mainstream is that the One of the most problematic trends in reporting over the people in the middle, the ones who don’t pay much attention, are last twenty years is political bias. Whether the bias is liberal or prone to getting riled up and even frightened by these extreme and conservative, it presents some obvious problems for its audience. For falsified positions. So when a person takes a break from watching the media to function well, it must be neutral. Honest reporting and their favorite singing or dancing competition to watch something on quality of broadcasting depend on telling the truth without letting a cable news network, they might be informed in the thirty seconds personal thoughts get in the way. A trust in the institutions of media they spend watching Sean Hannity that the president has created a and government can’t exist without honesty and quality. We can see system of czars controlling many important parts of government examples of the breakdown in fair, truth-based reporting all the time. and who are not held accountable to anybody. This exaggerated view The Fox News Channel and MSNBC, two of three major cable news of the government may be a large part of the news that this viewer networks, are dedicated almost completely to political ideologies. One will hear in their week and would create undue concern among the would be hard pressed to find real journalism on these stations. For a under-informed. This fear has wide implications. Fear has a way of person to decide that the best way to be informed is by viewing one shaping elections. So it is clear that this way of manipulating people is of those channels, or one of the many options in radio and internet politically effective but is not ethical. propaganda, that person would have to convince himself of some This is in sharp contrast to what were considered professional unbelievable things. First, that even though their “news source” standards of journalism for the last century. It seems as though the represents only one unvarying point of view, that point of view is people responsible for the current mess understand this and for a 20 Weber Writes 2010 Integrity Deficit: The Scarcity of Honor in Cable News 21 time attempted to pretend they were living up to that standard. For newspaper and the editorial page” (qtd. in Stelter). I would agree that example, the Fox News Channel’s slogan is “Fair and Balanced.” In consumers do know the difference between types of reporting in recent years, however, there has been a more honest conversation newspapers. The implied proposition that consumers differentiate about the nature of that type of “news.” In a broadcast of a Fox between news and opinion on television appears to be less accurate. News program called the O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly talks According to Mr. Clemente’s statement, much of Fox’s programming about being “fair and balanced.” In a remarkable monologue he is not considered “A section,” objective journalism. In fact, all of admits, “As you know, the FOX News motto is fair and balanced its most famous and promoted personalities’ shows fall outside of coverage of hard news, and we do that. Commentary, however, the period of news time. If it was not so harmful for the country, can never be balanced because it requires a strong point of view. it would be amusing to read about a news giant claiming objectivity It should, however, be fair.” If this admission were not surprising while at the same time implying that none of its popular programs enough, he continues, now speaking of our current president, “The are objective. problem with analyzing President Obama is that many of you don’t While the major figureheads of these organizations attempt to like him and don’t want to hear much good about him. In fact some walk the line between neutral observation of the world and agenda folks get angry if you say positive things about Mr. Obama. That can pushing, others are not so conflicted. Some people involved in the complicate matters” (Covering). Here O’Reilly notes that his show, process of informing seem to have some contempt for objective and the others that make up the bulk of his network’s primetime standards in journalism. The more polarizing an issue is, or the news coverage, are not balanced and could not be. For a person more an issue incites a passionate response from an audience, the familiar with the shows he is referring to, it is as easy to agree with less many correspondents feel it necessary to restrain their opinions. him as it is to be disturbed by the truth of it. O’Reilly also makes a On a program called Fox News Sunday, a panel was projecting what point that speaks to the problem I alluded to previously. Certain news big stories might unfold in the coming year. On the topic of likely outlets are not only openly biased but held captive in that state by 2010 athletic stories, former anchor and correspondent Brit Hume their audiences. Because Fox’s programming plays to conservatives, turned the conversation to Tiger Woods. Hume predicted that the those same people expect nothing but right-wing saturated reporting. golfer would recover his career and added, “The extent to which he It is true on the opposite end of the political spectrum as well. This can recover—seems to me to depend on his faith. He’s said to be a means that even if liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow wanted to Buddhist; I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness that be fair, though it is clear that she does not, she would continue to is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, be compelled to twist every piece of news to fit the preconceived ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery notions of her audience, or risk their disapproval. When audience and be a great example to the world’” (Sessions). Note, this is not approval translates into ratings, as it does, real news is disincentivized. just a guest with an opinion; it is one of the network’s supposedly In recent months, one of the biggest offenders in terms of professional journalists. nonobjective reporting has had to defend itself against allegations of There was something of a fallout from this completely bias. Speaking of Fox News, White House communication director inappropriate and insensitive televised advice. Responding to a Anita Dunn claimed, “As they are undertaking a war against Barack question about why this statement angered some people, Hume Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this defended himself, “You speak the name Jesus Christ—and I don’t is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.” This remark mean to make a pun here—but all hell breaks loose, and it has always provoked a telling response from Fox’s senior vice president for been thus.” He appears completely unaware of the offensiveness news, Michael Clemente. He explained that his channel’s news of his initial statement to Buddhist people. There is plenty in his hours were from nine a.m. to four p.m. and six to eight p.m., and assertion to cringe at, even for people who happen to share his that programming during this time is objective. Here he makes a particular religious beliefs. In some clever footwork, he turns the distinction between opinion programming and hard news. He is backlash about his claims concerning lack of salvation offered to quoted in The New York Times as saying, “The average consumer Buddhists into a scenario where he and his religion are being attacked certainly knows the difference between the A section of the by nonbelievers. 22 Weber Writes 2010 Integrity Deficit: The Scarcity of Honor in Cable News 23 Some might argue that partisan bias in reporting helps consumers Dobbs left the network in late 2009, but his conduct previous to his receive the full spectrum of thought on an issue. One could resignation provides us with insight into what kind of things modern theoretically watch one network, listen to the argument framed in news companies are willing to do to get viewers. Dobbs trumpeted a certain way, and then watch another network to hear the same bigoted ideals often on his program. The anchor was hailed by anti- argument framed in a completely different way, thereby giving the immigration groups for his reporting on Hispanic immigration. This viewer both viewpoints represented extremely well. At a glance, this sort of attention culminated in several astounding but inaccurate sounds reasonable, but there are some problems with this approach. reports in his last few years. A correspondent on Dobbs’ program The biggest problem is nobody does that. News outlets that cater claimed that there had been 7,000 cases of leprosy in the United to definite political ideologies tend to draw ideologues. Also, this States in the previous three years. Dobbs used the opportunity to premise is based on the idea that one of the extremes must be make a convenient correlation, “The invasion of illegal aliens is correct. If an individual cannot receive fair, fact-based information, threatening the health of many Americans” (qtd. in Morales). Seven- and convert that information into an opinion of their own, there is thousand leprosy cases in three years is alarmingly high. It is not, little hope that this person could find a reasonable viewpoint, having however, alarmingly accurate. Disregarding the xenophobic agenda heard two unreasonable opinions. involved in the report, it is bad because the number 7,000 represents This play to the audience has another curious effect, which the reported cases in the previous thirty years, not three. In 2003, hurts the movement to inform the masses in a different way. This Dobbs claimed that a third of the prison population was made up of approach to conveying news is called “infotainment.” There are illegal immigrants. I’m not sure where he got this statistic from, but several different ways that this term is used. It can be used to only 6.4 percent of the prison population is made up of noncitizens, describe programs like the Daily Show or Oprah, where information and this percentage includes noncitizens that are here legally. When is administered, but entertainment is the reason for the show (Moy confronted about the discrepancy on 60 Minutes, Dobbs defended 111). The form of infotainment that concerns me, however, is the himself, explaining, “If we reported that, it’s a fact” (qtd. in Morales). effort of legitimate news organizations to hold the interest of their For Dobbs, accurate reporting wasn’t important. Once he left his respective audiences by the use of gimmicks and promotion of the anchor chair, his rhetoric was noticeably less racist. When there tragic or the ridiculous but not necessarily newsworthy stories. CNN, wasn’t an incentive for saying outlandish, fantastic things, there were which, of the three cable news giants is least guilty of political bias, no more of these things said. is saturated with infotainment style coverage. A key example of this This pseudo news programming has a way of diverting is CNN Headline News personality Nancy Grace. Grace is a former attention from real issues. Paul Starr’s assertion about the digital prosecutor with a crime focused prime time show. Her show focuses age providing many distractions has a strange implication for cable on the worst of human behavior and consistently features the news networks. They seem to feel that to stay successful, they personal tragedies of other people. If there is a report on television must include distractions in their programming. Three weeks after about a murdered or sexually abused child, it is probably that Nancy celebrity Anna Nicole Smith died in February of 2007, a count was Grace is reporting it. The moral question of turning profit night taken on references to her versus references to the newly exposed after night by featuring the destroyed lives of children is one that conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The center is condemns not only Grace but HLN. It is her practice to frame her the main Army hospital on the East Coast. At the time this count show as a victim’s advocate program, helping to raise awareness. was undertaken, The Washington Post had just exposed that the Grace appeals to the basest human qualities, those qualities that move buildings meant to take care of men and women injured fighting in good people to drive slowly by car accidents to steal a momentary Afghanistan and Iraq were rat and cockroach infested. The system look at the end of another person’s life. There is no argument that at Walter Reed required some veterans to prove that they had fought there isn’t an audience for this kind of thing. It is clear that this in one of those two wars because the record-keeping system was so practice isn’t healthy, isn’t fair to the victims, and definitely isn’t poor. It is the contrast between this grim, important information and ethical. the trivial celebrity story that makes the discrepancy in the number Another shameless infotainer is former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs. of times each was referenced so shocking. MSNBC referenced Smith 24 Weber Writes 2010 Integrity Deficit: The Scarcity of Honor in Cable News 25 96 times, and the Army clinic 84 times. Fox News referenced the of the time. What are not so obvious are the solutions. In order celebrity 12 times more than Walter Reed, giving her 121 mentions, to think about solutions to a problem, it is a good first step to with only 10 for the medical center (Pitney). contemplate the causes of the problem. Some suggested causes have Some programs play on the perceived public greed to draw already been addressed, including the polarization of the informed viewers. Journalist and author Bonnie M. Anderson notes a typical American public. The aforementioned Bonnie Anderson gives an gimmick. She asserts that even though doing things to be profitable additional and insightful diagnosis to the problem. She clarifies, in the short term doesn’t necessarily make a good long-term strategy, “Punditry and bias are mere symptoms of a far more insidious They are resorting to even more entertainment and opinion malady affecting journalism: the profit motive.” It is fair to assume programming in a futile attempt to lure viewers. In mid- that these giants of media would not persist if they were not making October, for example, CNN launched a current events game money. She continues by rebuking this practice, to be played in 3,200 restaurants and sports bars. Called We can improve the state of journalism in this country ‘Anderson Cooper 360 Challenge,’ the network’s prime-time while still recognizing the business needs of news news anchor Cooper will host the competition. The winner organizations. News can make money without reducing will appear on CNN with Cooper and take home a 50-inch standards, resorting to punditry instead of reporting, and plasma television set. threatening the integrity of journalism. But news will Although this is not an uncommon sounding competition, Anderson never make as much money as a popular sitcom or a reality draws a condemning conclusion about this practice, asking, “Can show. It shouldn’t have to. The most precious dividend of anyone truly believe informing the public is the motive behind this responsible journalism is its indispensable role in supporting degrading charade?” (Anderson 51). It is disappointing to watch a free and open society. ‌(Anderson 51) journalists stoop to game show tactics. How much confidence can It would require a shift in purpose for the corporate news sources we have in newsmen comfortable with dedicating any of the time to regain credibility. So, if we understand what the root cause of they have on-air to anything so trivial, when Americans live mostly the problem is, what are our possible courses of action? Anderson ignorant of the global conditions of suffering, war, and oppression? suggests that the change occur when the viewing audience and Cooper’s program, in fairness, does spend some time treating these shareholders of these companies speak up and communicate with issues. the news agents. Action by either of these parties is a long shot. In response to my accusations of neglect of important news for The sluggish and complacent public is unlikely to suddenly become entertainment value, one might argue that entertainment draws a outraged by the monster they have helped to create, most especially wider audience to a place where they can be informed. They might because this monster is where they go to find out where they should believe that a further reaching media is a more effective media. It direct their outrage. makes little sense to say that lowering the quality of information In the absence of a popular uprising against the poor helps anybody. For the people who just turn on Headline News to performance of these groups, we are forced to look at other options. hear celebrity gossip, the state of, for example, the power sharing William F. Baker sees two possible avenues. In an article written for government in Zimbabwe is not going to hold their interest and will The Nation, Baker proposes that the news can only be saved by either not likely make that person more informed. If we are to inform our private donation or public support. This implies a view different public, the only appropriate route to take is teaching the public to from Anderson’s, that in our modern world, quality news is not value being informed. That said, I don’t pretend to have any good sustainable. I disagree with this, but Baker’s proposed solutions would strategy to get the masses to care about what they should already care give us greater access to quality news while the private news systems about. My only purpose is to speak in support of quality news for figure out business models that are sustainable. He treats donation- the sake of the people that do care. We could make no progress on based organizations only lightly, connecting them with the survival of this issue by luring people who don’t care about important things into newspapers. Baker makes a more thorough case for public funding of places where this information is disseminated. media in his article. He recounts several successful public ventures, The problem is glaring and present in most forms of news most saying, “Volunteer militias and private fire departments rightly did 26 Weber Writes 2010 Integrity Deficit: The Scarcity of Honor in Cable News 27 not survive the progressive reforms of the nineteenth century. You Works Cited can still hire a private security firm or travel in a private jet, but the government also assures a basic measure of protection and mobility Anderson, Bonnie M. “Journalism’s Proper Bottom Line.” Nieman to every taxpaying citizen” (Baker). As a country, we have been Reports. Winter. (2004): 51. Print. leaking quality and fairness out of one of the most important parts Baker, William F. “How to Save the News.” Nation. (12 Oct. 2009): of a democracy. Would it not be reasonable to put public funds 21-28. Print. towards such an important cause? “Covering President Obama, Fair and Balanced.” The O’Reilly Factor. The private sector has proven itself wholly unable to do what is Fox News Channel, 21 Sep. 2009. Television. right. It is governed by laws that conflict with what is moral. When Morales, Ed. “Lou Dobbs Shows Off His Bias.” Editorial. Time- profit and what is right conflict, profit wins. If we are to have a Herald Record [New York]. Time-Herald Record, 9 June 2007. dependable media, concerned only with facts, we must have good Print. news options and an audience to appreciate those options. In Starr’s Moy, Patricia. “Communication and Citizenship: Mapping the article about the evolving media, he contrasts the “Golden Age of Political Effects of Infotainment.” Mass Communication and Society. Journalism” with our current struggles. He says, “Walter Cronkite’s 8.2 (2005): 111-131. Print. death last July provoked nostalgia for a time when it seemed all “Online Papers Modestly Boost Newspaper Readership.” Pew Americans had someone they could trust, and that person was a Research Center for the People and the Press. 2006. Online. journalist. But it’s not just Cronkite that’s gone; the world that made Pitney, Nico. “Video Compilation: Fox News Devoted 12 Times a Cronkite possible is dead.” It is not clear if Americans would even More Coverage to Anna Nicole Than Walter Reed.” Think Progress. accept quality media. After all, if we chose not to feed the destructive Center for American Progress. 5 March 2007. Online. fire of divisive, frivolous news, it would burn itself out. It is our Sessions, David. “Brit Hume: Tiger Woods Should ‘Turn to Christian responsibility as citizens to withhold our support and viewership Faith.’” Politicsdaily.com. 4 Jan. 2010. Online. to these forms of pseudo-news. The decisions we make in electing Starr, Paul. “Governing in the Age of Fox News.” Atlantic. (Jan/Feb our American leaders have literally been life and death decisions 2010): 24-26. Print. for many of our fellow human beings. It would do humanity good Stelter, Brian. “Fox’s Volley With Obama Intensifying.” New York if we approached preparing ourselves for elections as the sacred Times 12 Oct. 2009. National Edition. Print. responsibility that it is. 28 Weber Writes 2010 The Power of Misconception 29 information that contradicts their prior attitudes or beliefs The Power of Misconception is often disregarded, especially if those beliefs are strongly Chris Cullen, ENGL 2010 held. This tendency is totally understandable. However, if these initial uch heated controversy has surrounded the recent conceptions are formed as a result of misinformation, it is not easy to passing of President Obama’s health care bill. Many correct any inaccuracies in them later down the road. This is largely Mconservative groups are representing the view that the due to the typical nature of political opinions—highly polarized, reform will bring our nation one step closer to surrendering its will ardently maintained, and essentially impenetrable. Once somebody to “Big Government,” and that it will jeopardize American capitalism has taken a stance on a political issue, regardless of whether or not it as we know it (Ortega). The president has received a great amount is a well-informed one, it becomes increasingly difficult to change his of criticism (in varying degrees of severity) for initiating this reform. or her position on the matter, even if there is virtually no evidence Some of its opponents, including the chairman of the Republican to support its validity. Bad rumors spread like viruses and their party, have even gone as far as to call Obama a socialist for proposing infectious claims often continue resonating long after they have been this health care system (“Steele”). In protest of the health care disproved. bill, members of the radical right-wing “Tea Party” were accused Of course, it is true that not all opponents of the health care of spitting on an African-American congressman and harassing reform are misinformed. There are many valid arguments that him with the “N” word (Kane). Eleven states are planning to file object to policies that are actually presented in the bill. However, a lawsuits against the federal government in hopes of overturning this few of the more blatantly faulty notions about it should be publicly legislative decision, claiming that it “infringes on state powers in the addressed and dismissed immediately. One such misconception is that Constitution’s Bill of Rights” (Pierog). But in what ground are all of of the federal “death panel,” which would allegedly be responsible these resentments rooted? for dictating the euthanasia of hospital patients that the government Some supporters of the reform have suggested that the currently does not deem worthy to continue living. Supposedly, these decisions circulating hostilities are products of widespread misunderstanding. would be based on factors of social productivity. This rumor Joseph Paduda, principal of Health Strategy Associates, a consulting apparently stems from a comment that Sarah Palin made on her firm specializing in managed care for workers’ compensation and Facebook page during the presidential race. group health, addressed what he believes to be ten of the most The post read, “The America I know and love is not one in which common misconceptions about the bill. Among these were rumors my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in of it entailing a federal “death panel” that would promote and front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based enforce the practice of euthanasia, a “health Gestapo” of IRS on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ agents hired specifically to audit and criminally penalize Americans whether they are worthy of health care” (Bank). Days later, Obama who failed to pay the new health care tax, illegal aliens getting free responded to the heinous claim at a town hall meeting in New health care coverage, and tax dollars being used for abortions. While Hampshire by declaring, such outlandish suggestions certainly are alarming, they don’t bring The rumor that’s been circulating a lot lately is this idea that concerned American citizens any closer to knowing the truth about somehow the House of Representatives voted for “death the future of health care in their country. panels” that will basically pull the plug on grandma … this How do myths such as these come to exist? Political scientist and arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that health policy researcher at the University of Michigan Brendan Nyhan allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations asserts, about end-of-life care, setting up living wills, the availability People tend to seek out information that is consistent with of hospice, et cetera. So the intention of the members of their views … [they] also tend to process the information Congress was to give people more information so that they that they receive with a bias toward their pre-existing could handle issues of end-of-life care when they’re ready, on opinions, accepting claims that are consistent with their their own terms. It wasn’t forcing anybody to do anything. point of view and rejecting those that are not. As a result, 30 Weber Writes 2010 The Power of Misconception 31 This is I guess where the rumor came from (Bank). the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the IRS would need Palin’s statement was a dreadfully inaccurate representation of to hire over 16,000 people … to audit the American people and Obama’s proposition to have end-of-life consultation services impose the new taxes and mandates” of the health care bill” (qtd. in provided by Medicare. There is nothing in the health care bill Jacobson). PolitiFact gave this statement a rating of “Barely True.” that even remotely resembles these fictitious “death panels.” If Apparently, the questionable figure used was derived from a the thinking of a vice presidential candidate could be so terribly report that was issued by the Republican Committee of House Ways misguided, how is the average American supposed to make informed and Means, who took the liberty to convert a CBO cost estimate of political judgments? This type of shameless fabrication hinders “between $5 billion and $10 billion over 10 years” into a specified one’s ability to think critically about an issue and contemplate it number of additional IRS jobs that it would take to impliment the objectively. Although most news agencies eventually got around reform (Jacobson). Kirk’s claim was misleading in the sense that to fact checking and rebuffing Palin’s absurd accusations, many ill- it directly referenced the nonpartisan CBO as the source of this informed opponents of the bill are still referencing them nonetheless. information, when it was really a Republican organization that The detrimental effects of rumors like these can almost never be provided it. Furthermore, the Ways and Means Republicans even reversed entirely. Once the minds of the public have been soiled admitted in their report that the figure was disputable: with irrational fears and resentments, it is very difficult to completely Critics of the 16,500 figure might argue that any new lift the stains. employees should be assumed to cost as much as the More recently, in another attempt to poison the well regarding average member of the existing workforce and that the $1.5 the health care reform, eminent Republican and former Speaker of billion per year would ‘only’ support hiring slightly more the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich has been spreading than 11,800 new IRS employees … it is likely the number equally senseless gossip about Obama’s administration hiring a group would lie somewhere in between the two sets of figures. of 16,000 IRS agents that would act as a “heath Gestapo” in the (Jacobson) United States, imposing criminal penalties on citizens who failed to First Sarah Palin accuses Obama of hiring a “death panel” of obtain health coverage by paying the new tax in a timely manner. bureaucrats to murder babies with Down Syndrome, then Newt In Gingrich’s own words, “I believe one of the biggest issues in Gingrich compares a group of IRS employees to ruthless members September and October will be 16,000 IRS agents and I suspect of Hitler’s secret police. Ludicrous and licentious rumors like these every Republican candidate will campaign on a promise to cut off all give upright members of the Republican Party a bad name and must funding in January for the 16,000 IRS agents. You don’t need a health be disregarded by the public as quickly as knowledgeable critics are Gestapo in the United States” (qtd. in Fang). debunking them. Only then can a civilized and intelligent political According Factcheck.org, “The law requires the IRS mostly to debate about the health care reform be had. hand out tax credits, not collect penalties. The claim of 16,500 new Another aspect of the bill that seems to be in desperate need agents stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false of clarification is its policy on abortion. Many pro-lifers claim that assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation.” The taxpayer money will be used to pay for abortions under Obama’s same source proceeds to explain, “The bill signed into law (on page health care plan. Perhaps this misconception ties into an even greater 131) specificallyprohibits the IRS from using the liens and levies one—the alleged public option. There is no public health option commonly used to collect money owed by delinquent taxpayers, and in the bill. Fundamentally, the only difference between the new rules out any criminal penalties for individuals who refuse to pay the arrangement and our country’s former system is that every uninsured tax or those who don’t obtain coverage (Jackson). citizen will now be required to obtain some form of health coverage Pulitzer Prize winning website PolitiFact suggests that the (failure to do so will result in a penalty) either through their employer estimated number of IRS employees that some of the health care or state-run marketplaces called “exchanges.” bill’s prominent Republican adversaries such as House member Mark Of the latter, people who decide to enroll in a plan that covers Kirk have been citing is unwarranted (Jacobson). During a House abortion must pay a separate premium for this coverage, and states floor speech on March 21, 2010, Kirk boldly declared, “According to are entitled to prohibit abortion coverage through these “exchange” 32 Weber Writes 2010 The Power of Misconception 33 plans (and Quealy). In any case, abortion coverage will not be “Absolutely not,” he responded. “The USFC prides itself on directly subsidized or mandated by the state or federal governments. allowing the individual to develop professionally to the degree the For as long as abortions are legal in this country, they will likely be individual desires.” covered by some insurance plans. However, this does not mean that I replied, “Is the USFS not directly subsidized by taxpayer dollars, individuals will ever be forced to purchase these types of plans or in turn having its employees extend a service that is intended to that employers and exchange agencies will be obliged to offer them. benefit all American citizens equally?” For the very same reason, any myths of the reform being Terrance then asserted, “In fact, the U.S. Forest Service, as a “socialistic” can also be negated. The U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. federal government entity, is funded by the taxpayers of the United Forest Service, local fire and police departments, primary public States. As is the case of all federal government employees, whether education, Social Security, and Medicare: these are all examples of it is the military or civil service, the service provided by the position socialized systems that have been implemented in America. They are and individual is intended to benefit all Americans.” strictly funded by taxpayer dollars and, in return, provide a service This is the very definition of a “socialized system.” However, that is extended to all citizens. This is not the way that the health even after Terrance described the USFS as such in his own words, he care reform will operate. Although it does entail a slightly greater refused to assign that name to it. I speculate that his resistance was prominence of government in the practice of medicine, it is far due to certain negative connotations that have been inappropriately from “socialism”. Interestingly enough, when President Franklin attached to the word “socialism” in our country. Many people seem D. Roosevelt first introduced the New Deal to America in hopes to have mistakenly associated this ideology with a less severe (but of rescuing our country from its Great Depression (to much avail), similarly unnerving) form of communism, or have at least failed Republicans heavily criticized many of his policies, some going as far to acknowledge some of its primary aspects. Polarized distortions as to call him a “communist” for them (Holan). of this kind are major hindrances of political awareness and Even if the proposed health care plan were to incorporate understanding. elements of socialism (namely, a public health option) similar to those Americans should strive to become more educated on political that our nation has already integrated into some of its other systems, issues before forming opinions on them. Although the media does there wouldn’t be any reason to believe that the integrity of our not always provide enough fair and balanced information from both current political and business structures would be lost, diminished, sides of the debate to aid them in this endeavor, it is crucial for or altered. Just as other taxpayer-subsidized organizations like the people to understand the true politics of their country. Woefully U.S. Postal Service, in the eyes of society, do not pose any immediate inaccurate misconceptions about topics as critically important as the threat to our prided democracy or capitalism, neither would a health care bill must be publicly addressed, debunked, and dismissed socialized health care system. It seems as though many people are before they are able to corrupt the minds of voters and irreversibly condemning this idea simply because it is “socialistic” before even influence their opinions. Unfortunately, much of the negativity attempting to consider its possible value or place it in context with and resentment surrounding the health care reform seems to have other comparable systems, which have turned out to be highly resulted from the spread of rumors of this kind. functional, esteemed, and beneficial in our country. If we can cast aside these insidious pollutants, perhaps some Many people do not realize that America has already employed hostility would lift from the political atmosphere and clarity could numerous socialized systems amidst its capitalism (such as the be restored to the system. Such poorly supported cynicisms have aforementioned examples), most of which have been received quite inhibited many people from reaching a level of hope and optimism well by citizens. Perhaps an even greater issue is that very few are about their country’s new health care policies. It is our responsibility even aware of what constitutes a “socialistic” system. This confusion to prevent the further proliferation of antagonistic myths by refusing was acutely demonstrated in an interview that I conducted with to subscribe to their ridiculous claims, which range anywhere from Terrance Cullen, who has worked for the U.S. Forest Service for over improbable speculation to outright falsification. 15 years. I asked Terrance, “Do you consider the U.S. Forest Service to be a Socialized System?” 34 Weber Writes 2010 Are Kids on a One-Way Path to Violence? 35 Works Cited Are Kids on a One-Way Path to Violence? Bank, Justin. “Palin Vs. Obama: Death Panels.” Factcheck. Chase Dickinson, ENGL 2010 FactCheck.Org. 14 Aug. 2009. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. Cullen, Terrance. Personal Interview. 18 Apr. 2010. n the popular video game Grand Theft Auto (GTA), players Fang, Lee. “The New ‘Death Panels’: Gingrich Says GOP Should are thrust into a world without laws, free to do just about Campaign Against Nonexistent IRS ‘Heath Gustapo.’” Think Ianything they want. Stealing cars, killing civilians, and causing Progress. Think Progress, 7 Apr. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. general mayhem are common occurrences in the fictitious world of Holan, Angie Drobnic. “Obama Right That Roosevelt Was Called Liberty City. In fact, GTA is about as lawless as games get. But can a Socialist and a Communist.” Politifact. PolitiFact.Com, 22 Sep. a game such as Grand Theft Auto actually fuel real-world violence? 2009. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. There are many who believe so, and violent video games have Hosssain, Farhana, and Kevin Quealy. “How The Health Care therefore become a hotly debated topic in today’s headlines. Overhaul Could Affect You.” New York Times. New York Times, If you were to listen to politicians and critics, the relationship 21 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. between video games and crime is blatantly clear: children who Jackson, Brooks. “IRS Expansion.” Factcheck. FactCheck.Org, 30 play video games will either become more aggressive or actually Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. commit real-world acts of violence. According to the lawyers of Jacobson, Louis. “Kirk Says Health Care Bill Will Lead IRS to Hire Lee Malvo, the young “DC Sniper,” Malvo learned to shoot by More Than 16,000 New Employees.” Politifact. PolitiFact.Com, playing “very realistic and gory” video games. These games were 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. also said to have “desensitized (him) … to train him to shoot human Kane, Paul. “‘Tea Party’ Protesters Accused of Spitting on forms over and over” (qtd. in Provan). Another popular argument Lawmaker, Using Slurs.” The Washington Post. The Washington against violent video games comes in the form of the infamous Post, 20 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. Columbine shootings in which Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed Nyhan, Brendan. “The Fight is Over, the Myths Remain.” New York 13 students and injured 23 more before killing themselves. During Times. New York Times, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. the investigation that followed, it was discovered that both teenagers Ortega, Israel. “Health Care Reform a Victory for Big enjoyed playing the bloody first-person shooterDoom , and that they Government.” The Americano. The Heritage Foundation, 24 Mar. went on the rampage shortly after their parents took the game away 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. from them. It has also been speculated that the pair created a level in Paduda, Joseph. “Top Ten Misconceptions About Health Reform.” Doom with the same layout as their school in order to plan out their Managed Care Matters. Managed Care Matters, 17 Aug. 2009. Web. attack (Mikkelson). Yet another argument finds Jack Thompson, a 8 Apr. 2010. leader in the fight against violent video games, blaming the Virginia Pierog, Karen. “States Launch Lawsuits Against Healthcare Plan.” Tech shooting on the first-person shooterCounter Strike, saying that Reuters. Reuters, 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. once again the shooter trained for his crime by playing the popular “Steele Calls Obama Health Plan ‘Socialism.’” Associated Press. CBS first-person shooter (qtd. in Bendetti). News, 20 Jul. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. With video games rapidly gaining popularity, we have to ask ourselves if these crimes are actually caused by the increasing violence in games. While there are many who tend to think so, I believe that it is not the fault of the games themselves, but the lack of parental supervision and interaction with today’s youth. Also, pre- existing mental disorders have been found to play a huge role in how different people will react to video games. Take, for example, the DC sniper shootings. Halo, the game that Malvo supposedly used to prepare for his crimes, employs the 36 Weber Writes 2010 Are Kids on a One-Way Path to Violence? 37 use of unrealistic guns to shoot giant alien bugs. Such actions are sell them. AO and M-rated games are the ones that come under the hardly effective ways to learn how to shoot a sniper rifle at human most fire from the media because they contain the most violent and beings. Malvo even admitted that he trained by shooting a real gun at bloody content. However, many people don’t realize that in order makeshift targets with paper plates for heads (Provan). Similarly, the to purchase an M-rated game from any major retailer, the customer claims that the Columbine shooters created a level with their school’s must be at least 17 years of age. Because of this age restriction, it layout were never found to be true. In fact, all of the levels they is harder for young children to get their hands on violent content made were later found on their website, and all of them were based without parental approval. on fictitious locations on alien planets (Mikkelson). Lastly, no one There is no denying that video games have matured since their was ever reported to have seen Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech introduction in the ‘70s. Back then, games meant playing Pong or shooter, playing any video games. His roommate told the New York Space Invaders with friends and family. Today, games are becoming Times that he would sometimes enter Cho’s room and find Cho sitting more and more complex, with violence playing a large role in almost at his desk, staring into nothingness (Biggs). He wasn’t staring at a all modern titles. Still, with parents staying involved in their kids’ computer and playing Counterstrike, but was rather staring at nothing lives, it is possible to filter violent content and keep it to a minimum, at all. which can prevent any type of aggressive behavior from developing. In addition, Seung-Hui Cho had been diagnosed with selective And with the ESRB and websites like What They Play, it is becoming mutism, a severe anxiety disorder, as well as major depressive easier and easier to keep children from playing games that are not age disorder (Adams). The DC shooter had a long history of antisocial appropriate. Rather than focusing on trying to ban video games for and criminal behavior, including the torturing of small animals their so-called influence on violent crime, an emphasis on parental (Kutner 8). Similarly, FBI investigations were able to conclude that supervision should be implemented in the fight against modern-day Klebold was significantly depressed and suicidal, and Harris was a crime. sociopath (Kutner 8). Ultimately, it falls upon the parents to filter what gets to their kids, and, when a known mental problem exists, parents should be that much more strict on what their kids play. As an avid gamer myself, and as someone who has worked in the industry, I understand the sense of accomplishment received from a well placed shot in Modern Warfare just as much as I understand that video games are not real. I was personally raised buying and playing games under the supervision of my parents, and am a strong supporter of such supervision. Even so, according to Jack Thompson and others with his mindset, I should be a ball of boiling hatred ready to explode at the slightest provocation. Contrary to the claims of many naysayers, it is becoming easier to filter what a child does and does not play. A rating system implemented by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) provides a fantastic way for parents to monitor what their kids are playing. This rating system issues an age range for each game, disclosing the full contents of the game. The most common ratings include E (Everyone, suitable for everyone age six and older), T (Teen, suitable for ages thirteen and older), and M (mature, suitable for ages seventeen and older). The AO rating (Adult Only) is the only one higher than M-rated games, and is actually considered to be a death sentence for games because brick-and-mortar stores will not 38 Weber Writes 2010 Lessons from a Lionfish 39 Works Cited Lessons from a Lionfish Adams, Duncan. “The Alienation and Anger of Seung-Hui Cho.” Melissa Healy, ENGL 2010 Roanoke.com. The Roanoke Times. 31 Aug. 2007. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. y eyes are closed, and all I see is the peachy pink of Benedetti, Winda. “Were Video Games to Blame for Massacre?” my eyelids. I hear waves crashing, and muted talking. MSNBC.com. MSNBC, 20 Apr. 2007. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. MI feel the sun beating down on my already sunburned Biggs, John. “Why Video Games Don’t Cause Violence.” CrunchGear. skin, and the rumbling of a motor two stories below me. I breathe com. CrunchGear, 18 Apr. 2007. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. in the hot, humid air and feel my braided hair sticking to the back Kutner, Lawrence, and Cheryl Olson. Grand Theft Childhood: The of my neck. I take a deep breath and open my eyes. In floods the Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do. pulsing sun, along with the bright blue sky and puffy white clouds. I New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. Print. look to either side of me to see 130 million year old limestone islands Mikkelson, David P. “Columbine Doom Levels.” Snopes.com. Snopes, covered in draping emerald foliage (Macdonald and Parkes 335). 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. These reach nearly 500 feet out of the turquoise water of Koh Phi Provan, Alexander. “The Education of Lee Boyd Malvo.” Phi Bay in Thailand, the same water I will soon be diving in. AlexanderProvan.com. Wordpress, 13 Jan. 2009. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. I follow two other scuba divers down the stairs of the rocking boat to gear up. Awkwardly we pull on wet suits and flippers, and then hook ourselves up to our oxygen tanks, regulators, and pressure gauges. I ask Hilton, our dive master, if there is a possibility of seeing a Lionfish on our dive. They have always been my favorite fish, and this would probably be the only opportunity in my life when I might swim with one. He says he has seen them many times and knows where they live, but they might not be there when we pass by. Hilton motions for us to head to the back of the boat, and we follow uneasily under the weight of so much equipment. I look down into the churning water and feel my mouth drying already at the prospect of so much salt. Then I step one fin over the edge, hold my breath, and drop off the boat. I am enveloped in warm water, then my head pops up amidst the waves. I feel like a buoy bobbing on the surface, the salty water lapping my face, and indeed drying out my mouth. Finally Hilton gives us the go ahead to put on our goggles, breathe through our regulators, and let the air out of our vests. In the first stanza of Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese,” she says, “You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves” (110). Doing what we love is important. Going through life with little enthusiasm is miserable for us and unproductive to society. Everything we do does not need to make us happy, a lot of things will not. However, making time for our hobbies and interests gives us confidence and gives us more sense of purpose. I have only dived two times before now, but I love it and will continue to do it every chance I can. I love exploring new places, and the underwater world is unlike any place I have ever been. Sinking slowly, the waves disappear and are replaced by a calm 40 Weber Writes 2010 Lessons from a Lionfish 41 blue. The clamor of the boat’s engine goes away, replaced only by the wherever we are happiest, and put air under our wings (or into a vest sound of my steady inhale through the regulator, and noisy exhale as as in my case) and lift ourselves up. bubbles rush past my mask. As we descend, my ears pop loudly from As we drift, Hilton motions to get my attention. I see his eyes the pressure, an uncomfortable sensation, but a necessary one. The crinkle in a smile as he interlocks his fingers and wiggles them. I water is not completely clear, but has suspended particles reflecting know what he is getting at and I try to slow down. This sounds easier the light above. We move through this, deeper toward the bottom of than it actually is, because the current is so strong. I kick my flippers the bay. as hard as I can, and am finally able to stay suspended. Hilton makes Soon, through the haze, we see bright colors and movement. some sort of signal toward a little nook in the wall. Inside is dark, Before us is a vast array of fiery red and orange corals. Anemone but I begin to see long, white spines. The current grows stronger tentacles writhe lazily in the current. Silver schools of fish dart and it is impossible to remain in place, no matter how hard we kick. around our heads as though we are regular fixtures in the bay. We As I drift away, I see it. Long, red and white striped spines coming hover over spiny sea urchins and scuttling shrimp, trying not to get from its dorsal and pectoral fins, undulating slowly as it propels too close. Only five years ago a tsunami hit this area. Amazingly, from the small cavern. It is around fifteen inches long, a lot larger seventy-five percent of Koh Phi Phi reefs received little damage from than the fish we have encountered so far. I know its extravagant fins the storm (Borrowman 325). It is hard to believe the tsunami came are venomous, but they are not aggressive fish, and their poison is here at all as fish in every color imaginable weave in and out of the rarely fatal to humans (Dawes 60). It turns and I see its round striped coral and over our tanks. Hilton points out a turtle about ten feet eyes looking our way. I know my group is getting further away, but away, its fins pushing it forward slowly. This new world is absolutely I continue kicking in an effort to stay with this amazing spectacle a amazing, and only a few minutes earlier, I did not know it existed. few seconds longer. My whole life I have wanted to see a Lionfish, Further down the reef, we are picked up by a strong current. and now here I am, drifting away from one. In ten seconds, it is Hilton floats along, giving us the thumbs up not to worry, so we enveloped in the haze of reflecting particles. I smile to myself, and follow. We actually do not have a choice since the current wafts us then let the current return me to my group. along so quickly. Now the reef turns into a wall of rock and coral. In Oliver’s last stanza, she offers an optimistic view: Sometimes a fish will dart out from it, but it is mostly colorful plant Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, life. Out of one cavern, I spot an eel retreating into the darkness. the world offers itself to your imagination, This makes me shiver a little, though I know they are generally calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting— harmless. I look beside me to see where my group has got to, only over and over announcing your place to find them ten feet above and to the left of me. How did I get so in the family of things (110). far down and behind? I look below me to see only blackness, and I was sad to see that Lionfish disappear, but it will eternally swim behind me to see open water fading to a dark indigo. This more in my memory, and that is enough. If nothing else, I have checked than anything prompts me to fill my vest with air so I can reach my a dream off my list. Diving opens my imagination and makes me friends. Once I do, I continue to drift swiftly with them along the yearn to explore more. Oliver says “the world offers itself to your wall. imagination” (110). We all have interests and dreams, fears and In the second stanza of “Wild Geese,” Oliver says, “Tell me about sorrows. Hopefully we can highlight the former and realize we do despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on” have a place on this earth. We do have a “place in the family of (110). I swam through miraculous rainbows of fish, then began to fall things” (110). We are entitled to use our imaginations and paint our into a never-ending darkness. There are times in our lives where, no stories on this canvas that is earth. matter how much light there is, we still see the black and we feel we cannot get out. But like Oliver says, “Meanwhile the world goes on … Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again” (110). Darkness will always be, but we can learn to move on. We can continue to descend, or we can think of home or 42 Weber Writes 2010 The Low Cost of Always Low Prices 43 Works Cited The Low Cost of Always Low Prices Dawes, John. World of Animals, Fish: Spiny-Finned Fish 1. Connecticut: Feliciana Lopez, ENGL 2010 Grolier, 2005. Print. Macdonald, Phil, and Carl Parkes. Traveler Thailand. 2nd ed. s I sat in my science class one day, people began yelling Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2006. Print. at each other. I was kind of shocked. Why are people Oliver, Mary. “Wild Geese.” New and Selected Poems. Boston: Beacon Ayelling at each other in a science class? The talk in the Press, 1992. Print. room had turned from biology to Wal-Mart. I heard arguments for Borrowman, Hana, et al. Thailand: With Side Trips to Cambodia and and against Wal-Mart. It was presented as people stating the “evils” Laos. 11th ed. Singapore: Fodor’s Travel, 2009. Print. of Wal-Mart then having a rebuttal of why they were wrong from the opposing side. The anti-Wal-Mart speakers tried to pull everyone to their side of hating Wal-Mart and to band together to abandon shopping at Wal-Mart. This debate focused on the way Wal-Mart treats their employees and what they do to local businesses. I decided to find out if this heated debate in my science class had any merit. There are a few arguments against Wal-Mart that I am going to examine to determine if Wal-Mart is a good store or a bad company. Argument #1: Wal-Mart employees are underpaid. According to the Corporate Fact Sheet of the Wal-Mart company, their average hourly worker makes $11.66 (“Corporate Facts” 1). I do not see this as underpaid for an entry-level job. Entry-level jobs are not meant to be a means to an income to support a family of five. Entry level jobs are meant to get a foot in the door for experience and qualifications to move up the corporate ladder to higher wages or to move on somewhere else. This $11.66 per hour is higher than minimum wage by $4.41. This number is significant because according to U.S. Department of Labor the average hourly worker in the U.S. makes $7.29 per hour. If Wal-Mart’s average is above the minimum wage of $7.25 and above the average hourly worker’s wage, they must be doing something right. These wages are actually really good for retail jobs. Most people go in to Wal-Mart starting at $10 or more per hour. At Target Stores, the average is just over $8 per hour while Sears pays their hourly employees an average of $7.51 per hour (“Hourly Rate Scale”). I have been at the same job for two years and don’t even make $10 per hour as a bank teller. To me, this shows that Wal-Mart knows how to manage their business to keep their employees paychecks fairly decent. In addition to hourly wages, Wal-Mart employees have the opportunity to take advantage of company-wide dental, medical, eye, and life insurance. They also offer disability coverage, bereavement time-off, paid vacation and sick time, profit sharing, 44 Weber Writes 2010 The Low Cost of Always Low Prices 45 and store discounts (“Benefits”). Wal-Mart is trying to take care of Wal-Mart Company Tom Mars (Greenhouse). They are working its employees like any other company. They want people to want to productively to settle cases and work in the best interest of the work there so they keep the benefits package high. company and employees to try to avoid future lawsuits because of The way I see it is that Wal-Mart employees are very well off. They unpaid wages. make a fair amount of money, and employees have a variety of ways There is a fine line between working hard and overworking. to take advantage of their company’s benefits. If they use their wages There is no evidence that the Wal-Mart Company crosses this line or in combination with their store discounts, Wal-Mart employees have a encourages any one of their employees to do so. lower cost of living. If you look at the facts, Wal-Mart employees are Argument #3: Wal-Mart is bad for local businesses and local communities. not underpaid. If there is one thing against Wal-Mart I have continually heard is Argument #2: Wal-Mart employees are overworked. that Wal-Mart is bad for local businesses. This statement baffles me A 2003 article in Mother Jones magazine stated that “working because Wal-Mart is also a business. The argument is that Wal-Mart unpaid overtime equaled saving your job … it was an unwritten rule.” runs small businesses out of business. In running any store, there is In this same article, many employees said the same thing. They said always competition. Wal-Mart has competition with Kroger’s, Target, to work off the clock meant to climb the corporate ladder. There Associated Foods, and other large chains. Wal-Mart also has to was also an employee who felt like she was overworked in every way. compete with local businesses such as Harmon’s and Macey’s. Having Karen Olsson put it best. “On a given shift, [this employee] might a large chain at low prices in the same area will definitely cause man a register, hop on a mechanical lift … catch a fish from a tank, contention, but this is the risk of opening a business. There is always run over to another department to help locate an item, restock the a risk that you won’t succeed in owning your own business. I find the shelves, dust off the bike racks, or field questions.” All of these claim that Wal-Mart is ruining small business to be invalid due to the Wal-Mart workers interviewed for this article stated that the job was fact that it is a business. stressful (Olsson 343). To this I say “Welcome to Retail.” One thing that many people fail to realize is how Wal-Mart Working in retail is definitely stressful. Even the most skillful actually caters to local flavors. They use the produce from the local worker gets overwhelmed sometimes. These tasks that the Wal- farms as much as possible. Granted they can’t get pineapples from Mart employee stated above seemed typical in any retail store. They a Utah Farmer, but they can get the corn and lettuce. Wal-Mart has actually seemed easy and not that stressful. These tasks seemed to be expanded its supplier base to support locally grown foods (Live menial and expected for an entry-level job in retail. Better). As for the working unpaid overtime, I hate to admit that this is Wal-Mart is actually really good for any local community because not just “an unwritten rule” for Wal-Mart, but it is that way for any it opens up jobs in the area. People are competitive for these jobs. company. You have to put in the extra effort to show your dedication In 2004, a Wal-Mart opened in Glendale, Arizona. There were and motivation with a company. It sometimes includes working extra 8,000 applicants for the 525 jobs. People want to work at Wal-Mart and off the clock. This is not the only way to climb the corporate (Mallaby). Having a store with so many jobs to fill really can help the ladder though. You must also show competence and skill in the given people in the community. field. The way Karen Olsson presented her article made it seem In addition to helping employees, the Wal-Mart company is proud like going to work for Wal-Mart was a career choice that would be to give to others. The Wal-Mart Foundation is “creating opportunities the only job a person had for the rest of their life. As I have stated so others can live better.” They contribute to charities such as before, working an hourly job at Wal-Mart is an entry level position Feeding America and Meals on Wheels. They also offer scholarships that is considered for those who want supplemental income or are to their associates and their dependents, as well as to those pursuing students wanting work experience (Corporate Facts). Even though post-secondary education. If you walk into any Wal-Mart, you can lawsuits have been filed against Wal-Mart in the past, most of them see where the funds from that store have gone to on a bulletin board have now been settled. These lawsuits were the result of “local near Customer Service (The Wal-Mart Foundation). Furthermore, managers acting without authority” and “are not representative of every year Forbes Magazine announces who the most charitable the company [Wal-Mart is] today,” according to Vice President of companies are in the U.S. and Wal-Mart has continually been in the 46 Weber Writes 2010 The Low Cost of Always Low Prices 47 top five every year for the past twenty years (Charity.) Wal-Mart Works Cited contributed over $378 million to local communities in the U.S. in 2009 (Community). This number is substantial. We cannot ignore the Benefits. Wal-Mart Stores. 2010. Web. 25 Feb 2010. benefits of having a Wal-Mart in any community. “Charity in Big Business: The Top Twenty Charitable Companies in I may have been living in a bubble for the past 19 years, but I America This Year.” Forbes Magazine. 2009. Web. 25 Feb 2010. have never found a problem shopping at Wal-Mart. After researching “Community of Eufaula Welcomes New Wal-Mart.” Digital News the arguments against Wal-Mart, I still do not have a problem. I’m Report. 2010. Web. 4 March 2010. addicted to their everyday low prices and will continue to shop there Corporate Facts: Wal-Mart by the Numbers. Wal-Mart Facts. 2009. Web. until it is run out of business, which I don’t think will happen any 24 Feb 2010. time soon. So I say to those loud opponents in my science class, Greenhouse, Steven and Rosenbloom, Stephanie. “Wal-Mart to Settle sorry. You didn’t convince me of anything. 63 Lawsuits Over Wages.” The New York Times. 23 December 2008. “Hourly Rate Scale.” PayScale Inc. 2009. Web. 9 March 2010. “Latest Numbers.” United States Department of Labor. January 2010. Web. 25 Feb 2010. “Live Better Index.” Wal-Mart. 2007. Web. 26 Feb 2010. Mallaby, Sebastian. “Progressive Wal-Mart. Really.” The Washington Post. 28 November 2005. Noah, Timothy. “The Wal-Mart Manifesto.” Slate. 24 Feb 2005. Web. 24 Feb 2010. Olsson, Karen. “Up Against Wal-Mart.” Mother Jones. March/April 2003. The Wal-Mart Foundation. Wal-Mart. 2010. Feb 26 2010. 48 Weber Writes 2010 Women in the Military: The Army Combat Exclusion 49 they were misconstruing biblical passages to fit their agendas, which Women in the Military: The Army Combat Exclusion was to keep their women in subordination, and she delves into other Sarah Lundquist, ENGL 2010 passages which she believes states that women are equal, in that they “are both moral and accountable beings, and whatever is right for a or several generations there has been an understood, and man to do, is right for a woman” (ND, 1837, p. 323). While I believe eventually regulated, exclusion of women from combat in that her quest for equality was a noble one, I can’t help but think that Four nation’s armed forces. Although it may have carried a she could not have known or even guessed that women would one certain amount of merit in the past, it appears to be growing more day be begging to fight on the “front lines” of war. and more into an obsolete concept given the evolution of war in Through the times women slowly gained more and more our era. The time has come to examine the validity of this doctrine opportunities which brought them closer to the equality they sought. because the role of women has changed in our society, combat today In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution finally is not the defining line that it once was, and it has been shown that gave women the right to vote on all levels of government including women can handle the stresses of modem warfare. That being said, federal. Women have also slowly gained more rights as wives, in if females insist on being offered every opportunity available in the that they were not just the property of their husbands, and were military, combat exclusion or not, then they need to be prepared to allowed to gain a higher education, and so on. But there has still been prove themselves, because in order to be considered equal to men in a long-held view that women were more delicate than men, they the military, they will need to excel beyond that which is mediocre. were about love and nurturing, and men were the more masculine There has been a progression of thought over the last 200 years and rugged. Men were to provide for their family and protect their in our country regarding women. I believe it’s necessary to skim homes. They were to go fight the wars. As time progressed, women through that history in order to understand how we got to where did have a certain amount of participation in the war. Many worked we are today. Much of the change has been brought about by many in the medical and administrative fields, but joining the men in direct early feminists and their ideas about what a woman’s proper sphere combat was unheard of. During the early to mid-nineteenth century, should be. While I don’t identify as a feminist, myself, and in many women were held in a delicate regard. While they were slowly gaining cases may disagree with their modem thinking, I have to admit that more rights, there was still an air of chivalry in our society. I believe without their early revolution, I wouldn’t be able to conduct my life that women would not have been able to handle the stresses and in the direction I choose and accomplish the goals I set for myself. casualties of war. But, war was different then, and because women In the mid-nineteenth century a woman’s role was very defined and were kept in such a delicate state, they would not have been prepared regulated. Much of it, I believe, came from the influence of the emotionally or physically to fight. Now, that being said, while their religious organizations of the time. Many believed that the woman’s husbands were sent away, the ladies had to leave their homes and place was in the home, nurturing and taking care of her family. She come into the workforce not only to survive, but to also support the was to be subject to the decisions and rule of her husband, and war effort. They occupied various positions, including more of the had little freedom of her own. Many clergy used the Bible as their laborious jobs in munitions factories. During World War II, “Rosie source in determining her place. Albert A. Folsom, a minister of the Riveter” posters could be seen depicting our women in hair-nets the Universalist Church for example, wrote of Eve’s expulsion from and lipstick wearing overalls and carrying large tools, and saying the Garden of Eden as an example of what happens when you act “We can do it!” By the time their men came home, they had felt that in defiance. (Negotiating Difference, 1837, p. 303). What he failed empowerment that came from work and weren’t so easily sent back to mention though is that Adam was also expelled from the Garden to the kitchen. This was the time that the role of women truly began as their defiance was against God’s commandments, not man’s. The to change. Massachusetts Congregationalist Clergy wrote that a woman had Another avenue opened that was not previously available to more power and influence if she would but submit to and rely on her females. The Women’s Army Corps was established in 1942. It husband and work through him (ND, 1837, p. 305). Sarah Grimke, mission was strictly auxiliary based, and in no way allowed women an early feminist, responded to these ministers by pointing out that into combat positions, but it did allow women to formally enter the 50 Weber Writes 2010 Women in the Military: The Army Combat Exclusion 51 ranks of the military (Burba & U.s. Army War College, 2007, pp. capable. I believe it’s possible to inter-mingle the two ideals of true 1-2). Females were even sent through Basic Combat Training. As womanhood and being a good soldier, but I do also feel that it takes a new positions became available, it became necessary for officials to special kind of woman, and not all are ready for that. assess the placement of women in certain positions. On December Some time should be taken to analyze the way in which modern 21, 1977, Secretary of the Army Clifford L. Alexander publicly warfare has changed from the days of the past. It used to be that declared a new Combat Exclusion Policy which stated: “Women are the opposing sides met on a relatively small battlefield and in an authorized to serve in any officer or enlisted specialty except those organized, albeit brutal fashion, fought one another until one side listed below, at any organizational level, and in any unit of the Army, was defeated or surrendered. Men were engaged in the closest except in Infantry, Armor, Cannon Field Artillery, Combat Engineer, contact imaginable to win. The majority of the time you had to look and Low Altitude Air Defense Artillery units of battalion/ squadron at your opponent in the eye while you killed him. Those times are or smaller size” (Center of Military History, 1990, 384). Basically, any all but gone now. In combat today, soldiers are deployed to the war Military Occupational Specialty (MaS) that involved close combat was zones where the battlefield can be an entire country. I don’t mean to restricted to men only. Over the years more policies came into place, state that no one looks their enemy in the eye at all now, but certainly such as the “risk rule” (Burba & A WC, 2007, p. 2). Eventually, that a reasonable person can agree that it’s not like it once was. rule, which said that women would not be assigned to areas where the The Statistical Information Analysis Division of the Department risk of “direct combat, hostile fire, or capture” was present required of Defense published some interesting facts recently on their website a reevaluation after the Persian Gulf War, due to the involvement dedicated to statistics of personnel and procurement. As of May women had in that conflict (p. 2). In 1992 the Secretary of Defense 2008 the “Department of Defense Principle Wars” table shows the defined what was meant by “direct ground combat.” His classification total number of Army deaths resulting only from battle in World was very similar to the Army’s regulation, which states in essence, that Wars I and II is 285,384. The Korean War and Vietnam Casualty if a soldier is in close range to the target such that it may be necessary Summary reports indicate that the Army had a combined total of for physical contact and the use of weapons and is engaged in firing 58,694 hostile deaths alone, not including random accidents and such. upon the enemy, he is in direct combat. It also states that this action In contrast to those numbers, as of March 2010, the total number of will be “well forward on the battlefield,” which means that it will not hostile deaths resulting during Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in be close to a base or a post or any place that the bulk of the soldiers Iraq, and Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan is 3,073 soldiers. are quartered and also possibly working (p. 2-3). While losing just one soldier is a terrible loss, these numbers can Through all of this change, I want to state that I believe it is only show that there is a difference how we fight now as opposed possible for a woman to have, and that she should have, all the to just 30 or 40 years ago. The modern technologies of today have qualities first assigned to her, such as her delicacy and virtue, and still in essence kept our soldiers safer than they once were, whether it be a good soldier. I don’t believe that gender lines need to be blurred is protective body armor, up-armored vehicles, unmanned aerial in order for her to qualify. Some arguments against women in combat vehicles, weapon systems, and more. War is still a scary thing, and are based on the fact that women are regarded as fragile, that they while there are technologies that keep us safe, there are also those couldn’t handle the stresses of battle. While that is certainly true for that carry an enormous capability of death in the many forms of some, it is not for all. Just like not every man is capable of handling weapons of mass destruction. War can be life changing for those the stresses of military duty, so it is the same with women. Some that experience it. But a definition that states you have to be “well male soldiers just want to keep women out, for no other reason than forward” in order to be considered in direct combat is just not valid their pride. I had the opportunity to work alongside a good man, with anymore, when the entire country to which you have been deployed a good heart, but in many ways, the structure and stress of military is the battlefield. There will always be a need for troops on the life was not for him, before we even entered­ the combat zone. Does ground, in any fight, but the level of personal interaction with the that mean that he shouldn’t be allowed into the military and more enemy, while not entirely gone, is much less than what it once was, specifically combat? Certainly no one would suggest it, just for the as the casualty tolls indicate and our technologies have shown. This mere fact that he is a man, and his gender alone defines him as combat exclusion seems to becoming invalid. 52 Weber Writes 2010 Women in the Military: The Army Combat Exclusion 53 Many feminists argue this proves their point by saying since our I was a worthy soldier. I found that as I stood my ground and proved women are essentially already in combat, then there is really no need myself, I gained the respect I deserved. I also found that I would get any more for this policy. Judith Wagner Decew, a prominent and well just as aggravated at the females that were just along for the ride. I educated feminist, wrote in an essay discussing the role of women in ran into plenty who proved there was reason for this exclusion. Too the military that “a blanket ground combat exclusion is unacceptable. many were worried about messing their hair up while they wore their The relevant question must be who is qualified to do the job” (p. 71). headgear and therefore wore it incorrectly. Or they worried about I believe she is making a good point, and for the most part I agree, getting dirty and breaking a nail at the rifle range. I heard a lot of but in reply, I also believe that there is no need to be concerning complaining from them when they didn’t get their way, and they ourselves with entirely eliminating this exclusion right now because of caused a lot of drama. There were also a lot of females that fell out the fact that our women are already serving in combat areas. Since of organized runs in the mornings on a regular basis, and they were they are essentially already in combat zones, leave things as they are perfectly content with failing. until our military forces can all come home, regroup, and strengthen. A lot of them were quitters. There were also those that chose At that point then the Department of Defense or the Department of to become pregnant just to avoid deployment. That immediately the Army can really address this definition and exclusion. If that time assigned a stigma to all females, even those that legitimately wanted of ended conflict is delayed because of ongoing battle, then so be it. to expand their families, not to avoid combat, but just because they Right now the military focus should be to complete the mission, not actually wanted children. It’s no wonder that males think the way to satisfy a political agenda. they do about their female counterparts. My platoon sergeant told In addressing this combat question, I can’t help to look upon my me, during my farewell luncheon, that I was the best female soldier own experiences in my military career. It was very clear that there is he’d led in his 14 or so years in the service. While I took it as the a stigma placed on females immediately entering the service. I was compliment he meant it to be, my male friends pointed out just how introduced early on that I would have to prove myself as a good sexist that comment was. He would never have told a male that he solider more than the average male would have to, if I wanted to was the best male soldier he’d had, he would have only said soldier. stand out. During my entrance physical training (PT) test I ran to the That being said, I also met some great women in the military and it standard required of a male and my recruiter was blown away. His was they that helped further the cause toward equality. So there are reaction told me immediately that they didn’t expect much of their great strides that have been made, but there are also great strides that female recruits. So when they got a lot out of one of them, they were need to be taken. impressed. In Basic Combat Training I was given many opportunities One thing I do know is that I was given combat pay on for leadership, because I made it a point to stand out. In Advanced deployment during OIF 07-09, because I was in a combat zone for Individual Training, while in school learning my MOS I was given the fifteen months. I wear a combat patch on my right soldier. I was title of Student First Sergeant. My mission was to lead my company awarded combat spurs, and I wore combat knots on the headband of of about 200 soldiers, the majority being males, in formations during my Stetson, because of my assignment to the cavalry. I have combat the day. I knew that if I screwed up, I would be branded like just stripes on the sleeve of my dress uniform and awards on my chest. another unqualified female soldier that didn’t belong. To me, all of that combined shows that the military has given me an I am a member of the Military Intelligence Corps, and currently opportunity to prove myself in the time they needed me, which was hold a top secret security clearance level. I was assigned to multiple on the battlefield, and that I did prove myself. I didn’t need to be squadrons of the 3d Armored Cavalry Division as a Shadow assigned to an infantry unit to prove my worth as a warrior. I did my Unmanned Aerial Systems Technician while on active duty. After job, and it was an important one, and I was awarded appropriately for an honorable discharge from the active Army, I joined the Army it. Reserves, and am currently working to move to the Utah National Females should be setting their goals much higher than just Guard. Throughout my first enlistment I continuously kept my guard fighting to be assigned to a combat MOS. The female soldiers should up and dedicated myself to being the best soldier I could be, for two be more concerned with excelling as a warrior, before they worry reasons: I was the only female in my unit, and I wanted to show that about what positions they are offered. You don’t need to know much 54 Weber Writes 2010 Women in the Military: The Army Combat Exclusion 55 to be able to fire a weapon and be assigned to a combat designated combat yet, with my own weapon, people have asked if I will be able position, but it does take a certain amount of physical strength to if and when the time comes. The only answer I can come up with and endurance, which is something that the average female cannot is that I hope so, because first and foremost I am a warrior, and as a handle on an everyday basis. There are exceptions of course. There warrior, that is what I was trained to do. are females who are above the standard and are equal to the males. But they are few. There is a reason that the physical training tests are scored differently based on the sexes. I believe that most will agree that the average female is different, in strength, than the average male. If the feminists of the world, a lot of whom have probably never even served in the military, want to have equal opportunities available to women, then they need to be prepared for the results that will surely follow. To have true equality, the PT tests will have to become standardized. That is the biggest issue: no different standards based on age or gender. The Army is very much focused on your physical readiness. This goes back to my friend. He was a good soldier, and somewhat disciplined, but the Army lifestyle didn’t work for him. Despite that, everyone loved him because he was a well built, and worked out at the gym every day. Those same females that are content with failing, falling out of runs and quitting, would not be prepared, and probably not be willing to step up to a harder standard. I agree with the different standards at this point, but “standard” is defined as the norm or the average. I also believe that every soldier should try to excel to the highest their standard offers. They should take more pride in themselves and really push to “be all [they] can be.” The United States Army Warrior Ethos states: “I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade.” This philosophy should be engrained in every one of the hearts of our soldiers. I believe the women in our military have great potential, have contributed much, and have made great strides in their influence as soldiers. We have come a long way, but there is still a long road ahead. The goal of being afforded every opportunity in the service of our country is getting closer. There are still improvements we need to make amongst ourselves though. We should be encouraging one another and only accepting the very best. Due to the changes in the way we fight our enemy, we have to be given more opportunities to prove our worth. As a whole we have shown in the battlefields of the Middle East that we are “proficient in [our] warrior tasks and drills,” as our Soldier’s Creed states, but we cannot relax now. We must continue to strive to improve ourselves and show that we belong in every unit available. Since I have not been presented with an occasion to fire upon my enemy in direct 56 Weber Writes 2010 Radical or Rational? 57 References Radical or Rational? Burba, K., & U.S. Army War College. (2007). Leveraging the army vision Jamie Baer Mercado, ENGL 2010 to amend the combat exclusion law. Carlisle Barracks, PA. Center of Military History. (1990). The women’s army corps, 1945-1978 tanding tall is the Redwood tree (Seqouia (CMH Pub 30-14). Washington D.C: US Government Printing sempervirens), which is found almost exclusively Office. “Sin northern California. For most of the twentieth Decew, J.W. (1995). The combat exclusion and the role of women in century, the fight to save the Redwoods has been cast as part of the the military. Hypatia, 10, 56-73. epic struggle between nature and civilization” (London 156). Many Folsom, A. (1837). Abolition women. In P. Bizzell & B. Herzberg forms of protest have been utilized by environmental activists to (Eds.), Negotiating difference: Cultural case studies in composition. Boston discourage deforestation and clear cut logging of this elite species. (pp. 302-4). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1996. These acts include tree spiking, where one drives a piece of metal Grimke, S. (1837). The pastoral letter of the general association into the trunk to discourage loggers from harvesting the tree, mass of congregationalist ministers of massachusetts. In P. Bizzell rallies in front of lumber mills, blocking roads into remote forests & B. Herzberg (Eds.), Negotiating difference: Cultural case studies in thereby preventing access to logging trucks, locking themselves to composition. Boston (pp. 322-25). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, trees, and the popular tree sit. 1996. Tree sits, as a form of environmental protest against deforestation Massachusetts Congregationalist Clergy. (1837). Pastoral letter. In in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest, are successful in P. Bizzell & B. Herzberg (Eds.), Negotiating difference: Cultural case protecting old-growth forests and the endangered species that dwell studies in composition. Boston (pp. 305-6). Boston: Bedford/St. therein, bringing attention to the public concerning their cause, and Martin’s, 1996. inciting legislative agencies to assist in conservation efforts. Statistical Information Analysis Division. (2010). DoD personnel and Coastal Redwoods are found along a “narrow 450-mile coastal military casualty statistics. Retrieved from http://siadapp.dmdc.osd. band (encompassing two million acres) extending from the Santa mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm Lucia Mountains in California’s Monterey County to just over the Oregon border. Public land comprises just 18 percent of the total forest lands on the North Coast, the rest [82 percent] being held privately” (London 157). The controversy concerning tree sits occurs when they take place on private property. “The issue of private property rights is central to forest management and contestation here. The near monopoly of large absentee corporate land ownership imbues the region with a colony-like land tenure pattern in which timber firms enjoy significant economical and political power” (London 157). These lands are home to old growth Redwood forests, which are thousands of years old, and several endangered species. These qualities put the Redwood forests in a difficult position. Such timber is highly valued for its beauty and fire resistant properties. “Humboldt County is California’s leading timber producer by a wide margin” (Humboldt, par.1). Due to the desire for an exceptional product, “all but 4 percent (80,000) acres have been subjected to timber harvest” (London 157). Activists feel that the large absentee corporations lack concern for the destruction that widespread logging has concerning every species affected by 58 Weber Writes 2010 Radical or Rational? 59 such blatant ecological clearing. Yet lumber companies feel that since devastating effects on the global environment. Flooding, due to a California’s forestry regulations are among the strictest in the world, lack of soil structure from interlocking root systems, is a prevalent their property rights are central to their industry’s profits. “Since its problem among regions where widespread logging occurs. “Many peak in the 1950s … the [lumber] industry has seen steady declines species live only in limited areas and that destruction of even small in employment, harvested timber and finished wood products” ecosystems can lead to the extinction of many species, many of (Humboldt, par. 2). However, protesters maintain that without some them not yet identified” (Cooper 1). For example, in the Pacific form of action these prized forests would be destroyed quickly and Northwest, the Coho Salmon and the Northern Spotted Owl are without much thought. animals on the endangered species list that depend upon specific A tree sit is a strategic, non-violent approach to enforce their environmental conditions provided by Redwood forests. Rainfall is convictions and protect the limited old-growth Redwood forests also affected by extensive logging practices, and this has particularly in the Pacific Northwest. This form of protest is usually held by a disturbing consequences for forests requiring large amounts of group of eco-activists who construct a platform high up in a tree’s moisture for survival. Deforestation contributes to the current canopy from wooden boards and tarps. These individuals pull up crisis of global warming. Stored carbon dioxide in trees is released materials necessary for survival, such as food and clothing, sometimes in large quantities when they are cut down, and when logging vast hundreds of feet off the ground. One person is designated to reside areas, this gas is released in large amounts. Areas of dense forest on the platform while ground supporters ensure their basic needs are act as sponges during photosynthesis to soak up the excess carbon, provided for. They also assist the demonstrator in enduring harsh and they are an important resource to reverse the greenhouse effect weather conditions encountered high up in the tree’s atmosphere. A (Cooper 8). “Because the United States alone accounts for almost a tree sit protest can last from months to years at a time and is generally quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions … leadership [has to] aimed at stalling lumber companies from logging while lawyers fight start at home. Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brazil are watching what the out the cause in court to secure long-term victories (Wikipedia 1). Pacific Northwest does” (Cooper 14). The list of concerns regarding This type of protest is “striking because protesters put their bodies deforestation is lengthy, but these points are what activists deem most on the line to show their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice noteworthy for protests. Tree sits help to curb these effects and for their cause. Human bodies are used to oppose timber firms provide protection to endangered species, if only for a limited time. [and] represent [physical] solidarity with the objects of struggle, the Protesting has long been a democratic form of voicing civil Redwood trees themselves” (London 168). Reasons for holding this concerns. It is when protesters turn violent that the validity of their type of protest are rooted in a deep and urgent concern for the forest argument is challenged. “Pockets of radicalism pose serious threats … ecosystem. From January 1990 to June 2004, animal and environmental activists One strategy employed by Pacific Lumber Company was to hire have claimed credit for more than 1,200 criminal incidents, resulting Eric Schatz of Schatz Tree Service to forcibly extract tree sitters in millions of dollars in damage and monetary loss” (Marris 824). from Coastal Redwood trees in Humboldt County along the Pacific Bombing of scientific facilities, vandalism, arson, and verbal threats Northwest corridor. Extractions generally involve ripping a protestor, are unfortunate forms of protest utilized by eco-extremists. These against his or her will, out of a tree. “Tree sitters often face angry tactics are generally ineffective because they are so misguided, and the loggers who use their own tree-scaling skills to cut the protesters general public does not sympathize with eco-terrorists regardless of out of their perches” (London 169). Hand-cuffs, zip ties, and other the worthiness of their cause (Marris 827). restrictive equipment is used to literally drag a protester down a It is for these reasons that tree-sits are a peaceful and powerful tree. Although it is the right of the timber corporations to remove way to draw attention to a cause without discrediting the associated trespassers due to private property laws, activists feel that these environmental argument. In a 1999 documentary film titled Pickaxe, aggressive actions are unnecessarily violent given their peaceful pleas an 11-month battle is chronicled over an area in Oregon called Warner for forest conservation. Creek. It was saved by protesters who engaged in legal forms of Among the deepest concerns of conservationists is that of activism, such as hunger strikes, and tolerable non-violent illegal deforestation, and not just along the Pacific Northwest. It has activities such a blocking roads (Marris 829). Several other well known 60 Weber Writes 2010 Radical or Rational? 61 tree sit protesters have saved forest areas targeted for destruction. the Wilderness Act of 1964 which “required a public hearing for The most famous was performed by a woman named Julia “Butterfly” local citizens and government agencies to make their case” before Hill who lived in a 180-foot, 600-year-old Redwood tree she named “creation or destruction of a wilderness area” is decided (Sowards “Luna” for a consecutive total of 738 days (Wikipedia 2). Her tree 37). His protests were successful in preventing roads from being was ultimately spared from destruction. Numerous sits have occurred built and wilderness from being commercialized. Thus we see that over the last forty years and serve to protect the eco-systems they having an elected official involved in non-violent and institutional inhabit, as well as draw non-violent attention to the current causes forms of protest can have a powerful effect on environmental they fight for. conservation efforts. In fact, Olzak and Soule’s study confirms Non-violent protests do have an indirect effect on legislation and this by stating that “having allies in Congress encourages protest, the passage of protective wilderness policies. In a study conducted by as seen by the positive and significant effect of the percentage of Susan Olzak and Sarah Soule at Stanford University, “results show that [conservationists] in Congress” (Olzak 211). institutionalized forms of protest—especially non-confrontational Tree sits are an optimal form of non-violent protests. A current types—have a powerful effect on the policy process … Institutional tree sit is occurring in the spring of 2010 in northern California at tactics rather than disruptive ones assist movements in gaining “Ryan Creek watershed near Eureka. These tree-sits are defending an audience in Congress” (Olzak 219). This finding is significant several acres of Redwoods with a crew of people. This is to considering that studies have shown that public opinion alone does resist clear-cutting and development plans by the Green Diamond not have a significant effect on legislation. This statement runs Resource Company” (Wikipedia 4). Physical contact with Redwood counter to common misconceptions that politicians are responsive to trees are explained by a protester with “language that invokes almost public opinions on given environmental issues (Olzak 214). However, a lover’s bond: ‘We know these groves. We’ve touched their trees, some scholars reject the argument that public protest and popular we’ve been lost for hours in the underbrush, and we’ve hopped the social movements have any effect on legislation. They cite the fact rocks in their streams” (London 168). The preservation of these that movement activity has declined in the United States. Therefore, priceless and irreplaceable old-growth forests is deemed an urgent ordinary citizens have few avenues of influence over public policy spiritual, environmental, and national problem. William O Douglas which has led to a “diminished democracy” (Olzak 201). Yet, says, “When a man ventures in to the wilderness, climbs the ridges, Olzak’s study results show protesting does have some positive indirect and sleeps in the forest, he comes in close communion with his effect because the increased public attention drives the number of Creator. When a man pits himself against the mountain, he taps Congressional hearings upward, which leads to increased chances for inner springs of his strength. He comes to know himself … for he success in passing environmental legislation (201). realizes how small a part of the universe he actually is” (Sowards It is also useful to have an environmental conservationist in 23). Protecting the Redwood forests and their endangered species is government office to aid policy efforts. “Having a representative as crucial to our spirits as it is to local and global ecosystems. Tree from the nation’s highest legal authority could not be overstated” sits can be a powerful and peaceful approach to defending against (Sowards 41). William O. Douglas was a Supreme Court Justice who Pacific Northwest deforestation, protecting old-growth forests and worked tirelessly with local activist groups for the preservation of the endangered species they contain, and thereby bringing attention several wilderness areas in the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the to the public and government agencies necessary in assisting with this 1950s and ‘60s Douglas organized protest hikes, wrote numerous pressing conservation issue. letters to fellow government officials, and published articles in newspapers, all of which are considered institutional forms of protest and attracted much attention to his causes. “Douglas used [his official relationships to network and] organize political leaders with grassroots conservationists” (Sowards 32). Prior to his efforts, the public had little say in what was done with wilderness conservation. His hard work and political connections successfully helped pass 62 Weber Writes 2010 Science Friction 63 Works Cited Science Friction Cooper, M. H. “Saving the Forests.” CQ Researcher, 1, 681-704. 20 Olivia Newman, ENGL 2010 September 1991. CQ Researcher Online. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. “Humboldt Timber Industry: Down but Not Out” Times-Standard 14 hat if our clothes were made from a fabric that was May 2007. natl. ed.: Web. 8 Apr. 2010. coated to resist stains and control temperature? London, Jonathan K. “Common Roots and Entangled Limbs: Earth WWhat if windows were scratch proof and could First! And The Growth Of Post-Wilderness Environmentalism clean themselves with ultra-violet light? These questions might On California’s North Coast.” Antipode 30.2 (1998): 155. Academic seem farfetched or right out of a science-fiction novel, but through Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. nanotechnology these “what ifs” are quite possibly becoming Marris, Emma. “In the Name of Nature.” Conversations: Readings for “whens.” Nanotechnology is the science of manipulating molecules Writing. Eds. Jack Selzer and Dominic Delli Carpini. 7th ed. New on an atomic level. Research labs all over the world are honing this York: Pearson Longman, 2009. technique in order to engineer substances that possess certain desired Olzak, Susan, and Sarah A. Soule. “Cross-Cutting Influences of characteristics. Environmental Protest and Legislation.” Social Forces 88.1 (2009): According to Andrew Schnieder, a senior public health 201-225. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. correspondent with AOL news, “Nanoparticles can be designed Sowards, Adam M. “William O. Douglas’s Wilderness Politics: into structures of a specific size, shape, chemical composition and Public Protest and Committees of Correspondence in the Pacific surface design to create whatever is needed to do the job at hand. Northwest.” The Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 1 Spring, They can be suspended in liquid, ground into a powder, embedded 2006: 21-42. JSTOR. Web. April 5, 2010. into a composite or even added to a gas” (“Amid”). Because of this “Tree Sitting.” Wikipedia. 23 Mar 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. versatility, nanotechnology is being explored in almost all areas of production. For example nanosilver (silver with particles that have been shrunk to the nano scale) is being marketed as a disinfectant spray to apply to socks in order to vanquish foot odor. Nano materials are also being used in medical imaging contrast materials and equipment like MRI machines in order to increase the image quality. These are just a few of the limitless possibilities being explored with nanotechnology (Shnieder, “Primer”). So, what’s the catch? Scientists are beginning to question the safety of human contact with these engineered particles. A main potential benefit of nanotechnology is the food industry. Through the manipulation of particles, materials have been created to coat food that make it last longer. Scientists are also trying to manipulate molecules to make foods taste better, and even create new tastes. The direct ingestion of these particles has led to concern, because we really don’t know the effects of nanoparticles on the human body. Because the use of nanotechnology is fairly new, not many studies have been conducted to determine the effects. A recent study coming out of UCLA has many consumers and scientists worried. Molecular biologist Benedicte Trouiller conducted a two-year experiment to assess the effects of nano-titanium dioxide on living organisms. Nano-titanium dioxide is the most commonly 64 Weber Writes 2010 Science Friction 65 used nanomaterial and is produced in things like sunscreen, make-up, radiation to patients (United States). lotions, medical capsules and even food products. The article cites This is just one example of a field that is experiencing rapid the Environmental Working Group as projecting that approximately improvements due to nanotechnology. Others include clean energy, 10,000 over-the-counter products use nano-titanium dioxide in some longer-lasting batteries, and electronics. While these possibilities are form. Considering the results of Trouiller’s study, that is downright exciting, many researchers concede that there are scary possibilities as scary. Trouiller found that when rats ingested large amounts of the well. According to J. Clarence Davies, a political scientist, nano-titanium dioxide in their water, it was harming or completely The challenges presented by nanotechnology are as many and destroying their DNA and chromosomes. As she repeated her varied as the promises that NT holds for a better life … If studies, the biological effects continued to occur. The finding is nothing specific is done to manage nanotechnology’s possible significant and alarming because the DNA damage that was observed adverse effects, a range of undesirable developments could can be linked to common killers like cancer, neurological disease, and emerge. The public potentially would be left unprotected, heart disease (Schneider, “Amid”). the government would struggle to apply existing laws to a These results put an even bigger emphasis on the importance of technology for which they were not designed. (2) the relatively new field of nanotoxicology—the study of the toxicity Davies continues to stress the need for the government to take of new materials. According to Dr. Colin Inglefield, a Weber State action in ensuring the safety of consumers. Laws must be made that University physics professor who specializes in nanotechnology, specifically pertain to the manufacturing of nanomaterials and the “The main question is how new particles interact with our body. government must enforce the rigorous testing of such materials Nanoparticles have a high surface area relative to their mass and can (Davies 2). be more reactive.” These new particles are not natural to our world, The first big push in regulating these materials was in 2008 when and therefore it is unknown exactly what kind of effects they have on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a two-year our bodies and our environment. While Dr. Inglefield recognizes how program that encouraged industry and other facilities to volunteer volatile these particles can be, he believes they will be a huge part of information on toxicological risks associated with nanomaterials. our future. He says, “I suppose I would say that technology drives A year into it, the EPA confessed that information on 90 percent our economy and nanotechnology will be an important component of the potentially commercially distributed nanomaterials wasn’t to that.” For better or for worse, it looks like the advancing field reported to them. The EPA is willing to use their authority in order of nanotechnology is going to have a large impact on our world to to compel companies to forfeit all of their data relating to the impact come. of nanomaterials on health and the environment, but they have yet Apart from its potential dangers, nanotechnology has proven to to enforce such a policy. They have proposed rules that would strictly be very instrumental in the advancement of health care. According regulate chemical companies that manufacture or import certain to a 2010 report on nanotechnology by the President’s Council of nanomaterials. These rules include informing the EPA 90 days before Advisors on Science and Technology, significant advances are being production, providing information regarding how much will be made in the field of diagnostics and imaging. Using nanosensors, produced, how it will be disposed and test data showing the impact doctors will be able to detect disease with more accuracy. This is of the materials on human health (Naidu). made possible by nanoscale imaging contrast materials that allow Although it has been slow coming, it looks like federal agencies clinicians to view organs at a more detailed level. Scientists are are finally taking some action in protecting us against the potential also utilizing carbon nanotubes to improve imaging equipment. dangers of nanomaterials. The only problem is, it’s a little too late and Carbon nanotubes consist of carbon-based molecules that have not strict enough. The FDA does not require distributors to disclose unique properties allowing them to be good thermal conductors, whether they are coating their food with nanomaterials or not, and it extraordinarily strong, and have unique electrical attributes. Using is estimated that many are. With so much of the U.S. produce being these carbon nanotubes, new imaging equipment is being made that imported, we really don’t know if the food contains nanomaterials or not only enhances the resolution and detail of the image but requires not. This is quite alarming, especially taking into account the disease- lower voltage, produces lower emissions, and reduces the exposure of ridden rats in biologist Benedicte Trouiller’s experiment. 66 Weber Writes 2010 Science Friction 67 Like with most technology, lawmakers are leaps behind the Works Cited quickly advancing field of nanotechnology. The fact that scientists can even engineer things on the nano scale (1/100,000 the width Davies, J. Clarence. “Managing the Effects of Nanotechnology.” of a human hair) is astounding. But with anything so new and Washington, D.C. Project on Emerging Technologies, 2006. Web. unpredictable, scientists and corporations must proceed with caution. 14 April 2010. We as participants in this democracy need to raise our voices and let Inglefield, Colin. Dr. Personal Interview. 15 April 2010. lawmakers know that this is a serious issue that must be brought to Naidu, David. “Nanomaterials and the Move Toward Regulation.” the forefront. The future of our world depends on what we do right IndustryWeek. 10 March 2010. IW. Web. 4 April 2010. now to ensure the safety of humankind and also our environment. Schneider, Andrew. “Amid Nanotech’s Dazzling Promise, Health Risks Grow.” AOL News. 24 March 2010. Web. 1 April 2010. ---. “Primer: How Nanotechnology Works.” AOL News. 24 March 2010. Web. 1 April 2010. United States. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. “Report to the President and Congress on the Third Assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.” GPO, Whitehouse.gov. March 2010. Web. 14 April 2010. 68 Weber Writes 2010 Cheating and Steroids 69 be his last at bat. Beaned By A Pitch, Ray Chapman Dies reports that Cheating and Steroids Carl Mays, the opposing pitcher, threw a high fastball that struck Jason Nightengale, ENGL 2010 Chapman in the head. He lost consciousness and died about twelve hours later. Denis Cummings writes, “Many observers believed aul Farhi writes, “As long as there have been athletes, there that the spit and dirt on Mays’ pitch is the reason Chapman could have been athletes who’ve sought to drink, eat, smoke, not duck the pitch. Mays himself called the pitch a ‘sailer’ that took Pinject, snort or otherwise ingest potions they believed an ‘unusual turn.’ The death of Chapman illustrated the need for would make them run faster, hit farther or jump higher.” This has spitballs to be outlawed.” Cummings goes on to state that later in the been a hot topic in Major League Baseball over the past few years, year the owners and Major League Baseball got together and banned but it is not a new one to the game. Since the day after baseball the spitball for any new pitcher coming into the league. The current was invented, players, coaches, and managers have tried to find an pitchers were allowed the use the pitch until they retired. advantage over their opponents, whether through chemical means or Banning the spitball did not deter pitchers from using it. Many other forms of cheating. Based upon how Major League Baseball has current Hall of Fame pitchers have admitted to cheating while dealt with players cheating in the past, the steroid-era players should playing the game. Derek Zumsteg claims that “Pitchers cheating not be discriminated against when it comes to the record books or has been a part of baseball as long as the game has been played.” Hall of Fame voting. He goes on to say that some of the best pitchers in the world were Throughout the years, there have been many rule changes in cheaters. Joe Niekro, Whitey Ford, and Don Sutton are just a few baseball that have had a lasting impact on the game. Some of these named. Former player and current Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson changes are made to make the game more exciting, others for safety. said the following in an interview with ESPN: Whatever the reason may be, in many cases, this creates an advantage Guys have always been cheating. Period. It just takes a little for the players that played the game before the rule change. different form today. I’m just glad they didn’t have steroids The early 1900s were known as the dead-ball era in Major League when I was playing. I don’t know what I would have done. Baseball. The period was characterized by extremely low-scoring It’s very difficult to go out and perform when you know the games. There were a few factors that contributed to these low- guy next to you is taking steroids or some kind of drug to scoring matchups, the largest being the use of the spitball. According make you perform better and not do it yourself, to let this to James Ray, the spitball is a pitch using a ball that has been altered guy get an edge on you. I don’t know that I really criticize by applying saliva, petroleum jelly, or some other foreign substance to the guys. Whoever the first guy is that started it, that’s the affect the movement of the ball. Prior to 1920, many pitchers used guy I criticize. The rest of the guys just followed suit. I don’t the spitball legally to their advantage. They would scuff up the ball, think its Ok. I’m not sanctioning it, but I understand why it rub tobacco on it, and even rub dirt or mud on the ball to change the happens. color to match the infield, making it harder for the batter to see. MLB.com states that the first time a pitcher is caught applying Some of the greatest pitchers of all time played during the dead- a foreign substance to the ball during a game, “the pitcher shall ball era. According to MLB.com, the all-time leaders in both wins and be ejected immediately from the game and shall be suspended earned run average (ERA), arguably the two most prestigious pitching automatically.” This rule can only be enforced when the pitcher is stats, all played during or prior to the 1920s. The top twenty-five caught, which he rarely is. Pitchers, however, are not the only ones to leaders of career ERA, and seven of the top ten leaders in career cheat; team owners and management are also guilty of cheating. wins played during the dead-ball era. Most of these players, if not all Stealing the opposing team’s signs is one of the few legal types of of them, considered the spitball just another weapon in their arsenal cheating in baseball. Cecil Butler reveals that this practice is allowed in the battle versus the hitter. At the time, the spitball was not only on the field, but the use of any technology or personnel not on the legal but was celebrated by everyone, everyone except the opposing field is not permitted. Butler goes on to speculate how the teams batters. accomplish stealing signs: On August 17, 1920, Ray Chapman, a shortstop for the Cleveland On the field, if you’ve got a player at second base, they’ll Indians, stepped into the batter’s box, not knowing that this would 70 Weber Writes 2010 Cheating and Steroids 71 tip off things like the catchers’ setup location, the signal games and win the fourth one. The signal that was to be given was itself, or other kinks in the pitchers’ arsenal. Although it’s for Ed Cicotte to hit the leadoff batter in the first game of the World not admitted around baseball circles, I’m sure that some Series. Later that night Cicotte found $10,000 under his pillow. Joe teams have a delicate system in place that can help them Jackson, having second thoughts about losing, approached Comiskey track signals with certain pitches, and with the technology requesting to be removed from the lineup. The next day, Joe Jackson available to teams, it’s easy to learn if pitchers are tipping approached the manager, Kid Gleason, and again requested to be off their pitches in any way during a game. removed. He was denied again. In the bottom of the first inning, Ed According to Sonsofsamhorn.net, there have been thirty players Cicotte hit the leadoff batter with the second pitch and the fix was in. banned for life from playing the game and from entrance into the The White Sox went on to lose the first two games. Under rookie Hall of Fame by Major League Baseball. Twenty-eight of these pitcher Dickie Kerr, a player not a part of the fix, the White Sox won players were banned for cheating. The difference between the players game three. Most of the players had not received any money at this who have been banned in the past and the more recent players guilty point and got a little nervous. They demanded $20,000 before game of using steroids is simple. The banned players cheated to lose, while four and game five to continue the fix. The $20,000 was given to the steroid players cheated to win. All twenty-eight were accused of Gandil before game four and was distributed to the players. After either gambling, association with gamblers, or accepting bribes to losing game four, the money failed to show up before game five and lose games. Some of the most famous banned players played on the the players decided the fix was over. They were now determined 1919 White Sox team. to win. The White Sox won two of the next three games. Lefty Much of the history of the 1919 White Sox team is disputed. The Williams, one of the co-conspirators, was scheduled as the starting story of how the 1919 White Sox fixed the outcome of the World pitcher for the eighth game. Before his start, he received a visit from Series is told on the website 1919blacksox.com. The following narrative a member of the Chicago mob. The mobster threatened both Lefty’s comes solely from this source.” One of the main reasons the players life and the life of his wife if he did not lose the next game. Lefty of the Chicago White Sox fixed the outcome of the World Series was gave up four runs in the first inning before he was replaced. The due to a labor dispute with the owner, Charles Comiskey. Comiskey, White Sox went on to lose the game 10-5. The White Sox players a notoriously cheap individual, once forced the players to pay to have received an extra $40,000 at the conclusion of the World Series. their uniforms cleaned. In protest, the players refused to clean the The day after the World Series ended, Eddie Cicotte admitted to uniforms and played in dirty or “black” uniforms, and they were soon the Assistant State Attorney his involvement in the fix. Joe Jackson labeled the “Black Sox.” On another occasion, Comiskey benched and Lefty Williams soon followed suit. These three players received pitcher Eddie Cicotte for the final two weeks of the season to avoid immunity and signed a confession to their crimes. All eight players paying a $10,000 bonus for reaching thirty wins. Cicotte had twenty- soon received a telegram from Charles Comiskey suspending them nine at the time. indefinitely from the White Sox. The players were soon indicted and In 1919, twelve days before the World Series was to begin, first charged by the District Attorney for the part in the conspiracy. After baseman, Chick Gandil, approached Cicotte with a plan to fix the a lengthy trial, all were acquitted of the charges. series. Cicotte agreed to participate, but demanded $10,000, the Tara Burghart reports that following the trial, newly appointed amount he believed Comiskey owed him. After meeting with Bill baseball commissioner Kenesaw Landis issued the following Burns, a known gambler at the time, Cicotte and Gandil agreed to statement: “Regardless of the verdicts of juries, no player who a deal to fix the World Series for $100,000. Others were brought entertains proposals or promises to throw a game, no player who sits in, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver, bringing the in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where total to eight players. The players agreed to the fix as long as the the ways and means of throwing games are discussed and does not money was paid up front. The night before the first game, each promptly tell the club about it will ever play professional baseball.” player went to Chick Gandil’s room to inquire about their portion of The announcement ended the careers of all eight Chicago White the money. The players were told they would receive a portion of Sox players, and set the standard by which future cheaters would the money after each loss. The players agreed to lose the first three be judged. Cheating by fixing games is a clear violation of ethical 72 Weber Writes 2010 Cheating and Steroids 73 standards in sports, but it is not so simple to judge when the use of identified until after failing two amphetamine tests, which also performance-enhancing substances becomes a clear ethical violation results in a 25-game suspension. A first offense also requires six The use of performance-enhancing substances is not a just a additional drug tests over the following six months. This penalty is recent topic in baseball. Ryan Wood reports that the first reported light compared to the fifty game ban for the first steroid test failure. professional baseball player to use steroids was Pud Galvin, in 1889. Amphetamines were the precursor to the steroids that we know Galvin was the first 300 win pitcher in Major League Baseball history. today. He is second to Cy Young in career wins and is currently in the The current form of steroids, anabolic steroids, was Hall of Fame. Towards the end of Galvin’s career, his stats started predominately used during the 1980s through the mid-2000s. Some to slip and he needed help to stay at the level of play that he was of the biggest names in baseball during the 1990s and early 2000s accustomed to. He took a substance known as the Brown-Sequard were accused of, or admitted to, using a performance-enhancing elixir. One of the main ingredients was testosterone from sheep substance of some type. On January 1, 2010, Mark McGwire testicles. Steroids in their current form did not surface until recently, released a statement verifying what most had already suspected: “I but Gavin introduced the use of performance-enhancing drugs to used steroids during my playing career and I apologize.” He goes on baseball while the game was in its infancy. to say, “I used them on occasion throughout the nineties, including As early as the 1950s, players used amphetamines as a during the 1998 season.” According to a report by Michael Schmidt, performance-enhancing drug. Amphetamines, also referred to as Sammy Sosa tested positive for steroids in 2003. “greenies,” were used by players to heighten their energy levels and During these years, there was no penalty for using steroids in help them get through a long 162-game season. Jack Curry quotes baseball. Many performance-enhancing drugs were not banned until pitcher Al Leiter as saying, “This is not a present-day, modern issue. 2003. Even then, the first time a player was caught, all that resulted You can look back at what ballplayers did in the ‘50s and ‘60s. There was counseling. In 2005, after many top players admitted to use, or was always somebody peddling some kind of juice. ‘Here, this will were associated with use, MLB.com reported the policy was changed pep you up.’ This stuff has been around in some form for a while.” to administer a fifty game suspension for the first offense. He goes on to state that current baseball Commissioner Bud Selig Steroid use, like the early amphetamine use and the legal use of knew about the amphetamine problem back in 1958. Amphetamine the spitball, was not against Major League Baseball policy when use was so common that Jake Emen accuses the teams of passing out steroids first became available, and steroids were used widely. By not amphetamines to their players. Emen says that teams would have two erasing or resetting the records of the past cheaters, the league set different types of coffee available for the players, regular coffee and a precedent on how to handle future rule changes in regard to the amphetamine laced coffee. record books. If it is decided to put asterisks next the steroid users Even current Hall of Fame players have been linked to the use records, there must be a mark placed next to all cheaters records; of amphetamines. Mike Celizic suggests that “Pete Rose and most otherwise, the game loses credibility. The Major League Baseball Hall players of his generation couldn’t take batting practice without first of Fame has also set a precedent by letting past players who cheated downing a handful of ‘greenies’. Willie Mays kept a bottle of ‘red into the Hall of Fame. No player has ever been banned from the juice’ in his locker­—the same stuff as greenies, but in a liquid form. Hall of Fame for cheating to win. Unless they remove the cheating We can’t say Hank Aaron was clean, because we don’t know what players already in Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball must also stimulants he took, if any. We can’t vouch for anyone’s purity.” allow future players who bend the rules into the Hall of Fame. Jerry Cransnick reports that “during the Pittsburgh drug trials Bill Komissaroff writes, “Cheating is as old as the game itself. in the mid-1980s, outfielder John Milner testified that Willie Mays The problem is that some cheating has always been acceptable, but introduced him to a liquid amphetamine known as ‘red juice.’” in the last fifteen years the line between what is acceptable cheating Amphetamines were not banned until 2006, after the steroid and what isn’t has become blurry. The game of baseball is always craze hit baseball. According to MLB.com, the first time a player tests evolving, and this trend will continue for as long as the game is positive for amphetamine use, the player must submit to counseling. played.” The player’s name and results are not released. The player is not 74 Weber Writes 2010 Cheating and Steroids 75 Works Cited Wood, Ryan. “Steroids Should Be Legal In Baseball.” Suite101.com. Suite101.com Media Inc, 30 July 2009. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. “Beaned By A Pitch, Ray Chapman Dies” New York Times. New York Zumsteg, Derek. “Perry Greased Batters With His Stuff.” ESPN. Times, 17 Aug. 1920. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. ESPN, 16 May 2002. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Burghart, Tara. “Family, Friends Want Weaver Cleared.” USA Today. USA Today, 25 Jan. 2004. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. Butler, Cecil. “A Need-to-Know Basis: Cheating Methods in Baseball.” Associatedcontent.com. Associated Content, 06 July 2006. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Celizic, Mike. “So Bonds Cheated? Spare Me the Criticisms.” MSNBC.com. Microsoft Network, 11 Mar. 2005. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Crasnick, Jerry. “Kicking Amphetamines.” ESPN. ESPN, 17 Jan. 2006. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Cummings, Denis. “On This Day: Ray Chapman Fatally Injured by Pitch.” Findingdulcinea.com. Dulcinea Media, Inc., 16 Aug. 2009. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Curry, Jack. “Amphetamines Step Up To Be Counted Out.” New York Times. New York Times, 18 Nov 2005. Web. 26 Feb 2010. Emem, Jake. “Amphetamines: The True Culprit in Baseball.” Associatedcontent.com. Associated Content, 25 July 2007. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. Farhi, Paul. “The History Of Chemistry In Baseball.” Washington Post. Washington Post, 25 May 2009. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Gibson, Bob. Interview by Pat Lackey. 14 July 2009. ESPN. ESPN. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Komissaroff, Bill. “Baseball’s Cheating Culture.” Hubpages.com. Hubpages.com, 2009. Web 17 Mar. 2010. McGwire, Mark. “Statement From Mark McGwire.” Stlouiscardinals. com. St. Louis Cardinals, 11 Jan. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. MLB.com. 2001. Major League Baseball. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. 1919blacksox.com. 2004. Web. 18 Mar 2010. Platek, Jonathan, and Rich Kraetsch. “Steroid-Era Players Should Be In The Hall Of Fame.” 643Sports. Bleacher Report, 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Ray, James. “A Brief History Of The Spitball.” Suite101.com. Suite101. com Media Inc, 1 Feb. 2009. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. Schmidt, Michael. “Sosa Is Said To Have Tested Positive in 2003.” New York Times. New York Times, 16 June 2009. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. 76 Weber Writes 2010 Grotesque Entertainment: Should It Be Legal? 77 of diagnosed STDs will rapidly increase. Pornography is mostly Grotesque Entertainment: creating a false image about sex and portraying a positive attitude Should It Be Legal? towards unsafe intercourse. Paulette Padilla, ENGL 2010 Children Every year about 1.2 million children are being exposed to porn ornography has become a growing issue in the United (Rogers). Children who are exposed to pornography at an early age States. Since 1998, the amount of online porn has are unable to fully understand the true facts about sex. They begin Pincreased by 1800 percent, and many of these sites are to believe that the things that they see are okay and feel a need to being viewed by minors (Paul). The porn industry is not only making re-enact what they just saw. While some may say that porn is a good money out of this sick habit, but also exposing our children to sexual and “clean” way to get children to understand the nature of sex, activity at an inappropriate age. The effects of porn have negative physicians have learned that, “early exposure to porn, misinforms effects on both adults and children and should be made illegal. children, causes a blur image about sex, effects a child’s personality, In November 2004, many experts testified before a Senate and leaves the child confused and mentally damaged” (qtd. in subcommittee about the danger of porn. The researchers stated that Hughes). “the effects of porn on the brain are toxic and compared to that of According to psychologist Dr. Victor Cline of the University cocaine” (qtd. in Downs). They found that the same pleasure center of Utah, “many children after exposure to pornography retain the in the brain is stimulated when watching porn as when snorting memories of what they saw, and often are unable to erase them” cocaine. This stimulation causes a quick high and an urge to take (qtd. in Hughes). This is caused by epinephrine, an adrenal gland part of more sexual practices. Users become addicted quickly. People hormone, which imprints the image in the brain. This is what causes viewing pornography lose a sense of their personality and begin to the addiction factor. These children have recurring sexual fantasies act abnormally because their brain is short-circuiting. According to at an early age. The fantasies are unhealthy for their maturing sexual physiologist Martin F. Down, “The effects of porn become apparent identity because children do not have a natural sexual capacity until in many users as a loss of sleep, negligence of responsibilities and the ages between ten and twelve. They begin to masturbate and when loved ones, and maxed out credit cards”(par. 4). they become older they try to act out the images imprinted on their Many users with maxed-out credit cards are in denial that their brain (Hughes). addiction has gotten out of control. While the porn industry argues The porn industry plays a big role the way our children view that pornography is a safe and enjoyable way to spend one’s money, sex. In a 2001 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 59 percent of the facts say otherwise. Makers of porn are often compelled to create adolescents said that seeing porn encouraged them to have sex before more aggressive and obscene videos and magazines when they see they were ready. Adolescents should not feel a sense of pressure to an increase in buyers. The more buyers there are, the more profit the participate in sexual acts before they are ready, but many times this is porn industries make. Each year nearly 100 full-length pornographic the effect that porn plays in adolescents (Paul). videos provide sales of $50 million dollars, and sales are only Males increasing with the increase of viewers (Rogers). In a male study, results showed a link between pornography and With the increase of viewers, there is also an increase in sexually aggression in boys. The test subjects became more aggressive and less transmitted diseases. In a 2001 survey, 49 percent of adolescents sympathetic towards women when exposed to porn. “They gained believed that their early exposure to pornography caused them to an unrealistic image of women and started to fantasize about unsafe believe that unprotected sex was okay and encouraged them to sexual activities” (Paul). attempt some of these sexual acts (Paul). This may be a root cause to In a different study by researcher Victor Cline, males were the increase in STD cases in the United States. Many of the students exposed to six weeks’ worth of pornography. The results were surveyed did not know about the harmful effects of STDs when they astonishing; after the six weeks of exposure to porn, men developed were exposed to porn for the first time. This can obviously cause a an increase sexual insensitivity toward women. They also started to problem. Without adolescents being properly informed, the amount question if rape was an actual criminal offense. Some of the men 78 Weber Writes 2010 Grotesque Entertainment: Should It Be Legal? 79 even stated that “rape is a natural thing, and should not be considered rapists studied used pornography to arouse themselves immediately a crime” (qtd. in Hughes). In addition, many of them craved more prior to seeking out a victim” (par. 7). violent types of pornography and viewed non-monogamous Many rapists somehow feel compelled to go out and seduce relationships as normal. children into sexual acts. Many times they try to convince their victim Females to think that they will enjoy it since the people in the porn video Every year more and more parents are finding their daughters or magazine seem to like it. In a study by Charles Keating of the creating their own pornographic videos because “it’s what the cool Citizens for Decency Through Law, Keating found that 77 percent kids are doing,” one teenaged girl told her parents (qtd. in Rogers). of molesters of boys and 87 percent of molesters of girls admitted Because of the increase of porn exposure, girls are learning false imitating the sexual behaviors they had seen modeled in pornography information. They are beginning to think that submission and (Hughes). Brazilian bikini waxes are the key to pleasing men. A Family Torn Apart by Pornography Females create a false image about a relationship and begin to On December 21, 1999, in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kenneth Rodger think that they need to act like porn stars in order to be accepted by Hardy was tried on a first-degree felony for sexually abusing and men. They begin to feel insecure and feel an inability to please men raping a 15-month-old girl. Hardy had begun experimenting with without performing sexual acts seen on pornographic sites. A twenty- pornography on the internet one day, and before he knew it he had year-old product manager in New York said, “I allowed my boyfriend become addicted. He could not stop this raging impulse. He obtained to watch porn, but it has made me insecure and feel a need to get porn any way possible and before long he began videotaping himself breast implants” (qtd. in Paul). performing sexual acts on a 15-month-old girl. Hardy’s son-in-law Marriages found the tapes and immediately turned them in to police. Although many men insist that because their porn use stays According to family members, Hardy was a kind and gentle man, in secret it does not affect their relationship, studies have shown but under the influence of pornography he became blind to the that porn indeed does affect relationships. In a 2003 meeting of actions that he was doing. He scarred the 15-month-old girl for the the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, lawyers in this rest of her life and lost the trust of his friends and family members convention noted that two-thirds of divorces were caused by too just because his pornography addiction became out of hand. Lee much interest in online porn. While in their relationship, men spent Rasmussen, Hardy’s attorney, had this to say to the Deseret News: an average of 73 minutes per month on adult websites plus the It got away from him. That’s the root of the problem. time spent on average pornography sites and masturbation (Paul). Hardy has no explanation for why he sexually abused the Still many couple therapists insist that pornography is a good way girl or videotaped the act … He feels terrible. He has a lot to stimulate interest and refreshen relationships, but others argue of remorse. It’s been devastating to him. It is an egregious that pornography causes aggressiveness and violence within the case, and he realizes that. (qtd. in Desert News) relationship. Couples lose the things they have in common and start Like in Hardy’s case, pornography can become out of hand to replace their gap with hardcore, meaningless sex. At that point, it without the user even knowing it. After seeing all the harm that no longer means anything but just a few minutes of enjoyment. This pornography causes in different situations, one would think that could cause violence and eventually divorce (Paul). pornography should be illegal, but instead the Supreme Court keeps Impulse for More letting such laws die. On January 21, 2009, the Supreme Court argued Pornography sometimes causes a raging need to act out what one that the Child Online Protection Act, that restricted indecency on has seen and often seems to have a direct link to the number of rape the internet, was unconstitutional (signed into law by President cases in a particular state. Sociologists Murray Straus and Larry Baron Clinton late in 1998) and violated the First Amendment (Savage). of the University of New Hampshire found that rape rates are higher The Supreme Court argued that not only was the law never enforced in states that lack enforcement of pornography laws. This makes it but that such law “crimps the rights of millions of adults … and evident to see that pornography somehow stimulates one to act in that online speech is entitled to the full protection of the First unethical ways. Psychotherapist David Scott states that “half of the Amendment” (qtd. in Savage). 80 Weber Writes 2010 Grotesque Entertainment: Should It Be Legal? 81 Pornography has a negative impact on both men and women Works Cited and marriages. It is increasingly being viewed by children who are not mentally or physically mature enough to understand the true Downs, Martin. “Is Pornography Addictive?” Web MD. 3 April 2007. harm. It is also one of the root causes of increasing rape cases. The Web. 4 April 2010. effects of pornography are not being taken seriously by the Supreme Hughes, Donna. “How Pornography Harms Children.” Protecting Court, however, so it is obvious that something must be done to Our Children in Cyberspace. Kids Online, September 1998. Web. help decrease the amount of pornography being viewed. By having 4 April 2010. the government realize how harmful pornography can be, we can “Internet Porn Led Man to Rape Tot.” Deseret News. Deseret News, possibly encourage the Supreme Court to think twice about porn 21 December 1999. Web. 4 April 2010. and put an end to the grotesque entertainment that’s increasingly Paul, Pamela. “The Porn Factor.” Time 163.3 (2004): 99-101. damaging people’s lives and relationships. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 April 2010. Savage, David. “Supreme Court Lets Internet Porn Law Die.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. 22 January 2009. Web. 14 April 2010. “The Documented Effects of Pornography.” Editorial. The Forerunner. The Forerunner. November 1991. Web. 4 April 2010. 82 Weber Writes 2010 The Social and Physiological Separation of Space 83 and psychologically, and the impact it has on the individual and our The Social and Physiological Separation of Space culture. Dolly Palmer, ENGL 2010 In Rina Swentzell’s essay “Conflicting Landscape Values: The Santa Clara Pueblo and Day School,” her notations on life in the ven before I open my eyes, my awareness of the natural Pueblo culture illustrate the difference between a culture that lives world unfolds as the sound of birds calling to one in unison with nature and one that seeks to control it. Children of Eanother reach my ears. Their lazy conversations as the the Pueblo tribe are forced to go to school, which has been built sun rises add to the sound of the breeze as it whistles through the in the pitched roof style, with the idea that they must assimilate to trees. My eyes are greeted with the intricate shadowy patterns of modern culture. It is through this experience that Swentzell becomes tree limbs and leaves on the sun-drenched nylon roof of my tent, an expert on the transitional quality of our modern culture, and its brilliant orange color illuminated as if it were the sun itself. I lay how ideas of contentment, the celebration of environment and our in wakefulness, fully experiencing this moment. To my right, the connection to it, are completely lost. In the Pueblo tribe, children are soft whispers of breathing can be heard, and I raise myself to my encouraged to become responsible for their own care at a young age. elbows to watch the small figures, yesterday’s smiles still lingering on They are not kept indoors away from natural elements; rather they their fresh youthful faces, completely at peace in this serene world. are urged to experience it fully, using every sense available to them. As I watch, I am filled with a sense of connection and purpose, and Buildings, which are made from a mud mixture, are for the purpose I wonder why I ever strive to keep these small creatures far from of shelter, not the demonstration of wealth. As they are made from me. Alone in their rooms at night, set aside at a distance, I am kept the earth, they are a celebration of the earth, and children frequently from these pleasures. Yet here, in this tent so small as to make it climb them, touch them, smell, and taste them. In fact, tasting the impossible to sleep in any other fashion than in this giant bed, I am earth is another way of connecting to nature in this culture; at times, all at once overcome with my own awareness and my connection to they place special rocks in their mouths to carry the earth with them. the natural world, as if I were returning after a long sleep. With this, Children are allowed to roam the landscape unhindered and there I am compelled to at last fully engage with the natural world and, is no differentiation between play and work. All work related tasks as I slip from my tent, I am greeted with the mist that still lingers that need to be done are enjoyed as if they were play, and shared in among the trees, with the cobalt sky that stretches into the universe, a large common area where people congregate to be together. Their and with the blinding light of the sunrise, whose heat penetrates me homes accurately reflect their lifestyles, and as such, they are void of fully and wholly. It is here that there is a feeling of vastness, of space, creature comforts the modern American home permits. Yet, rather and the realization that it continues on and on into the universe, and than viewing this as something negative, or naïve, Swentzell rather I, as small as I am in comparison, am part of this cycle, and am fully looks upon the modern home as something that is lacking. conscious to realize it. Within the school, the children are not at liberty to roam as they As humans who are capable of rational and cognizant thought, would. Every moment is supervised, as if to say the children cannot we seek to bring structure and predictability to our basic human handle the responsibility of caring for themselves. The BIA school needs of food and shelter, and control who shares in this venture has a section devoted for play, for maintenance, for the teacher’s with us. Part of this is through the organization of space. Through living quarters, for cooking, and the schoolhouse itself. The tasks the manipulation of space, social rule dictates what space we are that take place in these buildings are not shared as in the Pueblo invited to inhabit, and what space we are not. The inviting layout society; they are separated, which gives all the children who attend of a retail store, with its music, eye-catching displays, and friendly the school a feeling of isolation. They are constantly being grouped sales associates differs from the closed metal office door to the mall and evaluated in levels of academics, which has them feeling as if security office. I will discuss the relationship between popular spaces something better is always there that cannot be obtained. Rather and social rules. I will show that buildings are not just the definition than the feelings of peace, community, and contentment, which were of space, but also define rules of etiquette. I will further discuss typical in their culture, they feel isolated, inhibited, and uprooted. how space serves to separate individuals from each other physically There is a separation from nature within the school because of the 84 Weber Writes 2010 The Social and Physiological Separation of Space 85 buildings themselves and the lack of vegetation that should be there man into social components and his classification as a member of (685-695). society. In contrast to this, Susan Willis’ essay on the Disney World theme Though the spaces we have created for ourselves over the history park, “Disney World, Public Use/Private State,” studies the human of man greatly differ, they consistently speak of the nature of our interaction through the most extreme manipulation of environment. culture and the rules of social etiquette. Sometimes this is in the In a world where every desire, wish, and pleasure is calculated, classification of people, as with the castle, or with the layout of prescribed, and planned, nothing is left to chance. The natural our living spaces, as with the Pueblo people. Anthropologists are environment, both of the earth and societal, are kept from this well dedicated to the study of cultures using details collected from written manicured park. The result? A vacation that is predictable every accounts, or from articles and buildings the culture created. In one time, for every person, across the span of time. Every living creature such anthropological study of the Efe and Lese peoples who dwell in who enters serves its purpose in the form and function it should the Ituri forests in Africa, the space in which they inhabit says much from the caged wildlife, to the army of workforce, and the customer about their cultural beliefs and way of life. base themselves (650-661). Spontaneity aside, the consumer can The Efe peoples, who are a food foraging society, create relax knowing that by giving in, there is no place or need for worry, temporary structures for shelter. Because they rely on the land for just pure experience—a very different experience from the Pueblo sustenance, they are well equipped to move from location to location, people. It is the reason that people consistently go there, year after moving when the land can no longer supply enough to fulfill their year. It does not seek to enlighten the participant with some truth needs. This periodic moving allows the land to replenish and will about themselves or the nature of our beings. Rather it is a release again be used in the future as a place to live. The Efe men spend the from that—a vacation for the mind and an exhilarating experience majority of their time hunting, which is the main source of protein for the physical being. It is an experience the prepared environment for their peoples. The women gather what they can, but also spend a creates. great majority of their time tending to the crops of the Lese peoples, When discussing the separation of space, the most large-scale who live in farm communities. The Efe and Lese peoples rely on example would be that of the castle. Typically a residence for each other to provide what the other cannot. In return for the work nobility, castles date back to the 9th century, though many that still Efe women provide on the farms, they are allowed a portion of the exist today have been improved and built upon (“Castle”). Warwick crops. They also trade goods, the Efe providing the Lese with meat. Castle in Warwickshire, England, stands as an expression of this age The Lese peoples are not nomadic and because of their farm in European history. On visiting the castle, it is apparent from the community, they have set up permanent residences on parcels front gates the grandeur that these estates must have invoked—a of land. This creates a problem in times of famine when they symbol of status, wealth, beauty, and the innovation of man. The have no other means of collecting food. In studying this culture, painstaking ornate detail in fabrics, tapestries, carved woodwork, and anthropologists noted that the Lese people generally thought of stone masonry all speak of the arts of man, and not of the creation themselves as superior because of their sophisticated and sometimes of earth. From the country house, to the keep, the bailey, the towers, impractical use of shelter and space (Bailey and Devore 459-71). dungeon, and the elaborate rooms, there is a space for everything. With the Efe and Lese peoples, their use of space in relation to The dungeon alone illustrates separation within classifications of collection of food and shelter are the physical manifestations of their persons. Every person had their place and with it, the tools of their cultural views and beliefs. trade that showed their status. Nobility were separated from the Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon’s reflections on popular culture in workforce, who were separated from criminals, who were separated a chapter titled “Popular Spaces: Interpreting the Built Environment” from the animals. With crimes, there were many, as with many castles dig even further into the practical use of space and discuss how space with well-documented histories. Intrigues ran rampant here—enough defines the rules of etiquette. “The spaces of everyday life, both to still investigate today with the many visitors who come to see its public and private, personal and architectural, are, in short, packed haunted towers (Warwick). This castle not only demonstrates the with complex codes that we both violate or ignore at our peril”(632). magnitude of the definition of space, but also the segregation of They also explain that, “If private houses are on the street, you may 86 Weber Writes 2010 The Social and Physiological Separation of Space 87 approach the front door, but you’re not supposed to cut through the Works Cited yard, and you’re certainly not allowed to enter without permission” (631). Our definitions of space—kitchen, school, office, bathroom—are Bailey, Robert C. and Irven Devore. “Research on the Efe and Lese definitions of expectations of ourselves, friends, acquaintances, and Populations of the Ituri Forest, Zaire.” American Journal of Physical society. We teach these social expectations at young ages so that the Anthropology. 78.4 (1989): 459-71. Print. younger generation may assimilate to our culture, or become civilized. “Castle.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free In this civilization, we learn to classify ourselves, our actions, and our Encyclopedia, 18 Apr. 2010. Web. 18 Apr.2010. relationships, separating ourselves from other members of our society. Maasik, Sonia and Jack Solomon. “Interpreting the Built Far from the peaceful culture of the Pueblo people, where family, Environment.” Signs of Life in the USA. 5th ed. Ed. Sonia Maasik community, and their connection to earth was celebrated, our culture and Jack Solomon. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. 631- seeks to control nature and isolation is a symbol of material wealth. 641. Print. Large, lavish homes sport multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, and living Swentzell, Rina. “Conflicting Landscape Values: The Santa Clara areas, effectively creating space for each individual occupant and guest, Pueblo and Day School.” Signs of Life in the USA. 5th ed. Ed. Sonia a lavishness that comes at the price of isolation. In a society where Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, every family member has its own “space,” our culture does not value 2006. 685-695. Print. the personal connections that give the human experience feelings of Warwick Castle. Merlin Entertainment. 2010. Web.18 Apr. 2010. fulfillment and peace—a fact Swentzell mentions in her observations on Willis, Susan. “Disney World: Public Use/Private State.” Signs of Life growing up between the American and Pueblo cultures, stating, “lack of in the USA. 5th ed. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston, confidence and feelings of inadequacy have become characteristic traits MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. 650-661. Print. of children who lived in the pueblo and went to the BIA school” (695). The relationship between popular spaces and social rules is evident across the span of time and cultures. We define our space according to the characteristics of our society, and learn to follow these unspoken rules throughout our existence, like the legions of people who visit Disney World each year. Similar to the generations of people who lived in castles and came from food foraging societies, space serves to separate individuals from each other physically and psychologically, and most unlike the Pueblo peoples, we remain in this isolation. Part of my love for camping stems from the lack of definition of space. My little Coleman camp stove sits a few feet away from the open fire where a picnic table is usually set nearby. Though chairs, cups, forks, and plates may linger in a single camp space, the beauty of the campground is the lack of defined space. Like the Pueblo people, we may sleep nearby, but all activities take place in the outdoors. It is this activity that brings the inhabitants of the camp together, working to care for the individuals within it, seeing to our basic human needs, and in the process, connecting with one another in a way not typical within the confines of the modern household. It is the openness I crave and like the physical walls of the home, the barriers that set apart each of us in our daily lives are gone. There is a feeling of family, of community, and a connection that reaches far beyond our own into a global community that exists in the same space. 88 Weber Writes 2010 Are Video Games Addictive, Or Is Blaming Them? 89 were able to be played online with other people. Games such as Ultima Are Video Games Addictive, Or Is Blaming Them? online, Everquest, and the ever-popular World of Warcraft have been the Michael Porter, ENG 2010 target of most anti-video game ridicule, mostly due to the amount of time one must play in order to accomplish such feats as leveling lectronic video games have been in the homes of many a character to the highest level possible. Because most online games Americans since the early 1980s. These games were played require a subscription fee in order to play, game designers would Eon video game consoles, from the not-so-well-known undoubtedly add elements in their games that would take players a Magnavox Odyssey, to the Atari 2600, to the Nintendo entertainment long time to achieve in order to get them to continuously play, adding system, and eventually making personal computer gaming popular to the company’s net worth. around the turn of the century. It may be hard to believe for some, But at this time, placing video games into the category of “objects but there are those among us who have never really played a video that cause addictive behavior” is a bit premature. Because there is no game in their life. There are those of us who only play video games a evidence at this time to argue that video games are addictive, it is up to few hours a week. As well, there are a number of individuals out there those who care about such accusations to extrapolate what we know that spend over seventy hours a week playing video games—a concept about people, behavior, video games, and the concept of addiction in that is not fondly looked upon in our society. There are many people, order to try and get the facts into order. Only by understanding people both simple observers as well as professional institutions, that argue and their relationship with video games will we be able to figure out that video games are, or very well can be, addictive. whether or not video games are addictive, or if blaming them is the Those who argue that video games are addictive, such as the real addiction. Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence (MAVAV) One video game genre worth mentioning, and one that some often declare that video games are “this century’s most increasingly argue is the most addictive, as well as the most violent, is the FPS, worrisome epidemic, comparable even to drug and alcohol abuse.” or first-person shooter genre. First-person shooters are very popular While there is no doubt that video games can have effects on a among online game players and are often very challenging. Typically, person’s lifestyle that may be perceived as unhealthy, anti-social, and in first-person shooters, there is no leveling a character or spending obsessive, so too can any inanimate object, provided a person has a hours collecting raw materials in order to make a weapon or armor. physical or mental dependency to it. It is easy to understand that when However, it is worth mentioning that in recent first-person shooter we see a loved one playing a video game, we have a tendency to wish games, companies have started to add a great deal of role-playing that they would be doing something else, something more physically game elements into them, such as player ranks and skill points. The straining or something more socially inclined. more a person plays, the higher they will rank up. Often the incentive I often find that those who are quick to throw the word for higher ranks in first-person games is access to better weapons and “addiction” in the direction of video gamers are those who have very weapon add-ons. little, if any, experience in playing video games themselves. It seems Often the reason that people play first-person shooters is because that a great number of people have taken a fondness to blaming of their competitive value, as well as their social value. Often, when video games for their, or their loved ones, personal issues. So far, no played online, there are two teams. The game records the statistics research conducted on video games, and the dependency that one may for all the players that are playing—statistics such as how many have on them, has come up with any solid evidence that proves that times you died and how many times you killed someone. In the video games are addictive; often researchers refer to lifestyle changes first-person community, the more people you kill versus the amount relating to video games as “over usage.” of times you have died is a very competitive element in the genre. The idea that video games can be addictive has only a short history, Competitive elements in video games such as these may have a factor roughly around the time when online gaming became popular in in understanding why people play games so much. Being competitive the early 2000s. Up until then, video games were considerably short, is encouraged in the real world. Adding this element in games may offline, and only took a few hours to play from start to finish. The have a part to play in understanding the assumption of video game notion of video games being addictive started to show when games addiction. 90 Weber Writes 2010 Are Video Games Addictive, Or Is Blaming Them? 91 Video games, and the idea that a person can be greatly affected by involves objects in popular culture. But the perspectives that we do them, are a serious concern, both for the individual and for society not know with regards to a person’s motivations are normally where as a whole. Clearly, doing anything too much is a bad thing. The idea we tend to find the real answers. For example, the individual who that we should make the best of us to do things in moderation is not killed his mother because she took away his Halo 3 game could very a new idea, as it has been a practice for thousands of years. There well have been a mentally unstable individual to begin with. Certainly has been, however, a handful of situations where people have done a mentally stable individual would not kill his mother for taking away almost inhuman things as a result of their video game “over usage.” a video game. It does not indicate, or even offer, such perspectives Not too long ago, a couple in South Korea neglected their three- in any article that covered this story, only that he killed his mother month-old infant, perhaps forgetting to feed her and change her, because of a video game was taken away from him. Perhaps a which resulted in the infant’s death—all because they were too busy journalist would not include such an important perspective because spending at least twelve hours a day at a local internet cafe playing a it seems quite common at this day and age that a mentally disturbed popular Korean online game. One of the rather disturbing facts that person would attack and kill someone. There seems to be much more the police discovered was that, in the game these individuals were shock value in our culture when the proposed catalyst for a motive is playing, the “virtual baby” that the two were raising, presumably a video game—an external object that cannot defend itself. having to clothe, feed and take care of, was completely healthy This concept is very similar to the Columbine shooting, when (Tucker 2010). several sources suggested it was the music that the boys listened to Another strange behavior associated with video games and their in addition to their antisocial behavior that motivated them to kill. implied degradation on our well-being was that of a 28-year-old man But the coverage of Halo 3 killing does mention in a few articles that who was involved in a gaming marathon for the online strategy game the family was very religious—perhaps this had some part to play Starcraft. The young man in question apparently played the game for in the role. Additionally, the 27-year-old who attacked his mother over fifty hours without stopping to drink or eat (S Korean 2005). because she asked him to turn the game volume down may have had The man subsequently dropped dead. About a few weeks ago, there other situations going on as well. Of the four articles that I have was a near fatal situation in which a 27-year-old man was asked to read regarding the incident, only one mentions that the 27-year-old turn down the volume of the popular game World of Warcraft. After was heavily drinking when he was playing World of Warcraft and when being asked to do so by his mother, the young man attacked her, he attacked his mother. It seems that if we look at a these incidents choking her and threatening to kill everyone in the house. The young and try to see every angle, video games seem less to blame than the man’s brother and grandfather tried to end the altercation—which player’s overall mental stabilities. resulted in the grandfather shooting the young man, slightly grazing Now it would be logical to understand the possibility of video him in his left ear. The young man was subsequently arrested. From game addiction by first understanding what kinds of people play the source’s point of view, this was all due to the fact that he did them. Clearly in the United States it would be safe to assume that not want his gaming experience to be interrupted (Sheriff 2010). most people have at some time or another taken part in playing an In a more extreme case that occurred last January, a 17-year-old kid electronic video game. Very little research, if any, has been done killed his mother and wounded his father when they had taken the to get a good sense of those who play electronic games that are game Halo 3, away from him. The game was considered an extremely exclusively offline, so we have no statistical information pertaining violent first-person shooter by those who covered the story. It seems to that group. But a study was conducted in 2003 in the form of a that they only wanted to correlate the incident with the game’s survey on a popular game site for the popular massively multiplayer “shoot-to-kill” game style (Turner 2008). online game, Everquest. Individuals who took the survey were self- The aforementioned incidents all involved people who play selected and had to first answer an online questionnaire at the official electronic video games. The different newspapers that had covered Everquest fan site. Five hundred and forty people took part in the these incidents seemed to imply that video games can often be a survey, which was done to get a basic understand of individuals’ catalyst for outrageous behavior. But we as a society love to find an nationality, education level, and gender. Participants in the survey external source as a motivation for an action—especially when it were anywhere between the ages of 12 to 70. It is important to note 92 Weber Writes 2010 Are Video Games Addictive, Or Is Blaming Them? 93 that the authors of this research were under the assumption that psychologist at Rochester concluded that players tend to gain a sense all participants would be over the age of 18, seeing how you must of fulfillment when a game produces a positive experience as well have a credit card in order to play Everquest. However, it seems that as an experience that connects them to the real world. Additionally, about half of the individuals who took the survey were under the the study suggested that games provide the possibility for personal age of 18, and must have had a family member or friend pay for their achievement, freedom, and can also provide the user with a sense playtime. of connection to other players. This study overshadowed the According to the gender breakdown aspect of the survey, the previous idea that only the concept of “fun” was being fulfilled by 93.2% of males who were under the age of 18 were significantly games (Video). These “intrinsically satisfying” elements that players higher than the 79.6% who were in the adult group. (Griffiths, experience from playing video games may have an important role to Davies, and Chappell). With regards to education levels, 33% of play in understanding why some of us consider video games to be adults surveyed said that they had acquired a college degree, and addictive. 21.6% of the adolescents were in college, and about 2.3% of the Simply because video games can be compelling and instill a adolescents had no formal education at all. It was understood that desire for replay does not necessarily correlate with an addictive those under the age of 18 were not likely studying at universities. inclination, as some may suggest. Two common side effects of But the authors of the survey were surprised to see that one-third addiction are withdrawal and dependence. Those who are dependent (35.2%) of adolescents had dropped out of school by 11 years on a substance require it in order to be content, and feel a sense of of age. The authors made mention that those who clicked on this normality. Additionally, those who are dependent on a substance question may have thought that this question asked if they had suffer from withdrawal when the substance is not at their disposal. received at least 11 years of schooling, and that this demographic Withdrawal is normally marked by, but not limited to, anxiety, statistic may be inaccurate. irritability, and insomnia. According to research conducted on video The amount of play time was somewhat similar in adolescents game addiction, withdrawal symptoms stemming from a person and adults, with a median weekly play time of 26 hours and 24 who is presumed to be addicted to video games is very abstract hours respectively. Only a very small amount of players in both (Addiction). Typically, if any symptoms do exists, it is more likely categories offered that they play more than 70 hours a week. The the person’s addictive inclinations than it is the general effect that a most important statistic that I found in this survey showed that both video game would have on the person—much in the same way that adults and those under 18 were attracted to games because of their a person could be a social drinker and not be addicted to alcohol. social features. Is it important to note that most people play online The same concept clearly exists with electronic gamers. Just because games because they are attracted to the social aspect of gaming, a person plays video games does not necessarily mean that they will which is probably why there is not statistical data on those who play become addicted to it. This point of view would certainly suggest offline games, who they are, what their nationality is, their gender, that the addiction is in the person and not the substance. and education levels. A strong piece of evidence that suggests that there is addictive So, it is easy enough to understand that that majority of those who elements in video games is from the use of games as a way to feel play video games are vastly males, with women perhaps increasing better about oneself. Studies show that this has a larger significance their numbers in recent years due to Facebook and iPod gaming. depending on how long a person plays. A study conducted on players At first glance the most common reason for anyone to pick up and who played the MMORPG game Everquest showed that those who play a video game is because of its ability to be fun and entertaining. played 22 hours or more indicated that they feel much better about But simply having the element of fun is not the only reason people themselves when they are actively playing the game, whereas those play video games. Psychologists at the University of Rochester who would be considered casual players, those who only played for institute of technology asked one thousand gamers what motivated about 6 to 10 hours a week, did not feel better about themselves them to involve themselves in electronic games. The study indicated when they played, or that they were neutral on the question that these gamers found games “intrinsically satisfying” (Game (Addiction). This would seem to make sense when looking at this Addiction). Further analysis by Richard M. Ryan, a motivational idea at face value, but some critics would argue that similar responses 94 Weber Writes 2010 Are Video Games Addictive, Or Is Blaming Them? 95 could easily be solicited by those who engage in active and healthy There is no evidence, and I submit that there shall never be, any hobbies such as skiing, biking, or dancing. Someone who absolutely evidence to substantiate the claim that video games are physically loved to play tennis or ski may become irritable or anxious when addictive, concluding that they can only be mentally addictive. If they discover that the weather conditions are not fitting enough for something is only mentally addictive then a person has all the tools them to perform such activities. Additionally, being on the slopes, they need to free themselves of such an addiction on hand at all or on the court may produce a similar kind of satisfaction as those times—their free will. If it is our free will that allows us to “do” and who are actively playing a video game, boosting their self-esteem and to “do not” then the only answer for the concept of video games making them feel the way they wish to. It seems that it is only when having any affect on a person is, whether they realize it or not, an individual partakes in an activity that could be seen as antisocial, entirely subjective—so stop blaming the games and start blaming the negative or self-destructive that we use the word “addiction” as the individual. appropriate way to describe their actions. There is a large social element to online gaming that often gets overlooked. Many early studies originally indicated that those “addicted” to gaming were antisocial and often made characters in-game that were their polar opposite. This is absolutely untrue. I personally have been involved, to some extent, in the online gaming environment since Meridian 59, the first 3D MMO to ever come out. I have met thousands of people online throughout my online gaming career and I often find that the reason people continue to log into their games, whether it is a first-person shooter or a role- playing game, is because of its social environment. Most games these days have a voice chat enabled in the game so players can talk to one another. If there is not one, most players will use programs such as Ventrillo or Teamspeak to talk to each other. I occasionally turn on my Ventrillo program with chat channels that have been saved for years. When I enter these channels there are often several people online that I have not spoken to in years. They are still online playing and still friends with other people they have met “in-game”: lifetime friendships from online gaming. This concept may be alien to some but it is quite normal for millions of people. The social element of gaming is a major reason for people to continue playing video games, and the notion of most gamers being “antisocial” is simply nonsense. Video games are fun, they are entertaining and they can provide a sense of accomplishment to those who play them. There is, for the most part, a major social element to gaming that continues to keep people playing. There is a good amount of people who choose to play a video games instead of do their school work, or go out with their girlfriend or boyfriend, or spend time with their family. There is a small amount of people that have ruined their life by attacking a family member, or even killing someone with a video game being pointed to as the catalyst. There are those of us who choose to play games in moderation and not to neglect our real life responsibilities. 96 Weber Writes 2010 Are Video Games Addictive, Or Is Blaming Them? 97 Works Cited “Video Game Addiction and Violence in Underground Video Game Cultures” MAVAV. 27 January 2007. Web. 22 March 2010. Clark, Amy S. “Detox For Video Game Addiction?” cbsnews.com. “Video Game Addiction.” Science Teacher 74.2 (2007): 20-22. CBS. 3 Jul 2006. Web. 22 March 2010. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. Griffiths, M.D., Mark N.O. Davies, and Darren Chappell. “Online Computer Gaming: A Comparison of Adolescent and Adult Gamers.” Journal of Adolescence 27.1 (2004): 87. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. Grüsser, S.M., R. Thalemann, and M.D. Griffiths. “Excessive Computer Game Playing: Evidence for Addiction and Aggression?.” CyberPsychology and Behavior 10.2 (2007): 290-292. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. EBSCO. Web. 21 Mar. 2010. 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Web. 22 March 2010. “Sheriff: Manatee Man Arrested after Trying to Strangle his Mother.” Bradenton Herald. 12 February 2010. Web.23 March 2010. Tucker, Amy. “Baby Dies Due To Video Game Addiction.” Joe.com. B5media.4 Mar 2010. Web. 22 March 2010. Turner. Karl. “ Daniel Petric Killed Mother, Shot Father Because They Took Halo 3 Video Game, Prosecutors Say.” Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper. Cleveland.com. 15 December 2008. Web. 22 March 2010. Verne A. “Video Game Addiction—Whose­ Fault Is It?” Hubpages. (no date) Web. 23 March 2010. 98 Weber Writes 2010 Utah’s Red Rock: A Natural Legacy 99 Taylor Mckinnon even wrote a letter of protest to the Bureau Utah’s Red Rock: A Natural Legacy of Land Management (BLM). He expressed his concern that “oil Kyle Rollins, ENGL 2010 and gas development could pollute the river, blight the scenery, and hurt Bluff’s tourist-based economy and his business that employs othing quite matches the raw beauty of a fiery sunset 12 people” (Kenworthy). The pollution of the San Juan river is a in the red rock wilderness of southern Utah. The very real concern. Drilling and mining operations are very messy Nmountains of flame and the serpentine canyons businesses. Any sort of pollution in the San Juan river would greatly woven throughout the sandstone create a unique landscape. The affect the amount of tourism and recreation on the river. majesty of this wilderness is at risk. Oil and gas companies want Expanded energy exploration in Utah has put not just landscapes to expand the scope and intensity of their operations in Utah. It is at risk but historic resources as well. Richard Moe, president of the ironic that natural resources, the very elements of the earth, should National Trust for Historic Preservation, said, referring to areas that be cause to destroy the landscapes in which they formed. Oil and had been leased for development, “[they] are home to one of the gas companies claim that the resources in Utah will help lead to most significant collections of Native American petroglyphs in the energy independence in the United States. However, the fact is Utah United States, as well as other historic resources representing the produces an insignificant amount of gas and oil. So little, in fact, that lives of early settlers and ranchers in Utah” (qtd. in Kenworthy). The “twice as much oil would be saved by a 1 percent increase in U.S. fuel destruction of historical relics would be a grievous offense. Cultures efficiency than Utah currently produces statewide” (Lemkin). There and civilizations are built upon history. If industry is allowed to wipe is no reason to destroy the wild and untamed beauty of Utah’s red out some of the most poignant remnants of past civilizations, it may rock wilderness in the name of energy independence; its intrinsic very well lead to an erasure of our own civilization. That may seem beauty and value far outweigh any monetary worth. like a bold statement, but if there is no respect for civilizations past, The development of Utah’s red rock wilderness would have many there can be none for the present civilization. detrimental effects on not just Utahans, but perhaps the entire world. Thanks to Utah’s unique landscapes, there is a healthy tourist Some claim that protecting Utah’s wilderness could actually help economy, which boosts revenue for funding of state projects. In resolve global warming. In his article “The Red Rock Wilderness Act: “Ensure Quality of Life for Future Generations,” Robert Garff Our Chance to Be Present at the Creation,” Robert Redford exclaims, states, “Economically speaking, our wildlife habitat, mountain forests, “When you build roads and lay drill pads and pipelines on this kind clean running streams and spectacular natural landmarks are also our of delicate landscape, it rips apart the biological soils that retain competitive advantage in attracting tourism and new business to our precious water and prevent erosion. Scientists agree that protecting state” (Garff). Utah has a lot to offer tourists. There are the rocky large roadless areas is critical for combating climate change” mountains in the north with excellent skiing, and the many varied (Redford). Reducing the effects of global warming is just one very landscapes in southern Utah. From sandstone mountains to winding good reason to protect the vast expanses of wilderness that stretch canyons and raging rivers, there is something for everybody in Utah. across Utah. There are many benefits that stem from Utah’s tourist economy. Some concerns are more local than global warming. In his article Some local residents may feel that tourists just ruin the landscape, but “Sale of Oil Leases Worries Utahans,” Tom Kenworthy discusses most agree that tourism is generally good. Robert Redford discusses the plight of a little town called Bluff, which is located in southern Utah’s tourism economics in some detail: Utah. Bluff is a mostly unremarkable town. What puts it on the map Many Utah residents see the economic benefits of choosing are the Anasazi ruins and rock art close by. River rafting enthusiasts wilderness over industrialization. Back when President riding the San Juan river enjoy going through Bluff and looking at Clinton first proposed protecting the Grand Staircase- the ancient ruins. Bluff ’s mayor, Taylor Mckinnon, stated that Bluff Escalante National Monument, some locals hated the “depends heavily on river recreation, both commercial and private” idea. Now many say it was one of the best things that (qtd. in Kenworthy). The leasing of land to oil and gas companies happened to their region. According to a report by the adjacent to the San Juan river has many Bluff residents worried. Sonoran Institute, using data from the U.S. Department 100 Weber Writes 2010 Utah’s Red Rock: A Natural Legacy 101 of Commerce, labor income and personal earning power There is obviously a discrepancy between what energy companies see increased significantly in the years after the monument was as adequate protection and what will really protect the environment. designated. There are several methods for extracting resources, which oil Tourism makes a vital contribution to Utah’s economy. Many and gas companies claim are less damaging to the drilling site and residents fear that expanded oil and gas operations will decrease the surrounding areas. Kenworthy refers to one of these methods: appeal of national parks, monuments and the overall experience of “In other sensitive areas like those near the San Juan River, energy Utah. The decrease in revenue from loss of tourism would be a harsh companies will have to drill from afar using ‘directional drilling’ blow to Utah’s treasury. techniques.” These energy companies would have one believe With any good critique, it is important to consider more than just they use directional drilling simply to preserve natural formations. one side of an issue. A one-sided tirade is not going to do anyone However, the truth is that directional drilling is much more any good. In order for an argument to be established, there need to advantageous anyway. It allows for more wellheads to be placed be two voices, two groups with differing opinions. So far we have together, which makes the whole process of sucking up the earth’s focused solely on groups that would like to protect the red rock nutrients more efficient and effective. wilderness. We have only heard one voice. It is only fair that we now The BLM and energy companies often express a certain smugness look at some arguments from the defense, namely, the oil and gas when they claim drilling in Utah contributes to the United States’ companies. Unfortunately for them, most of the defense’s arguments energy independence. The BLM’s website states “BLM Utah plays are weak and lacking in substance. an important role in meeting the energy needs of our nation” (“Oil In “Sale of Oil Leases Worries Utahans,” Tom Kenworthy reports and Gas”). This is hard to believe when estimates of Utah’s energy that “Adrienne Babbitt, spokeswoman for the Utah office of the contribution total to “.2 percent of the country’s oil needs and 1.2 BLM, says the agency recognizes that some of the recent lease sales percent of the country’s natural gas needs” (Lemkin). The BLM’s are controversial” (Kenworthy). Oil and gas companies are well aware website also tries to engender a sense of responsibility and a sense of of the value many Utah residents place on their beautiful countryside. Utah’s energy being needed elsewhere: “Utah’s natural gas fuels not They have taken into consideration many of the concerns which only the homes and businesses in Utah; it also is used by surrounding locals expressed. Kenworthy states “For example, drilling won’t occur states” (“Oil and Gas”). It is true that Utah’s natural resources are closer than one-quarter mile from the Green River and will take place used inside of Utah and surrounding states, but one could just as on plateaus high above rafters heading downstream” (Kenworthy). well say that air supports life in Utah. Of course it does. But Utah How considerate of these companies to keep their operations out of is not the only source of these resources. To imply that Utah is self- sight while they ruin ecosystems that have been intact for thousands sufficient in regards to oil and natural gas is misleading. of years. Many environmentalists have raised concerns about the damage In her article “11th-Hour Ruling Blocks Utah Oil and Gas drilling can have on ecosystems and bio-diversity. In response to Leases,” Felicity Barringer describes just what the title implies. The these concerns, the BLM’s website assures that lands are only leased BLM had issued land leases for oil and natural gas exploration on after the “BLM evaluates … environmental factors” (“Oil and Gas”). tens of thousands of acres. Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal One should note that the group receiving money for the leases also District Court in Washington negated the leases on grounds that conducts the environmental surveys. It is comforting to know that “the Interior Department had not done sufficient environmental “once lands are leased, applications to conduct exploration, drilling, analysis, particularly of how air quality might be degraded.” Naturally, and production-related activities are reviewed to ensure technical the companies who had bid for the leases were not happy. Barringer competence, environmental protection, and mineral resources quotes the government affairs director of the Independent Petroleum conservation” (“Oil and Gas”). The BLM’s website says nothing Association of Mountain States, Kathleen Sgamma, as saying that about continued reviews or investigations of drilling operations. the ruling was “a setback for energy security.” In fact, the energy According to the BLM’s website, “Drilling applications in Utah companies even seemed somewhat offended. Sgamma said, “We feel have increased by approximately 250 percent over the last five adequate analysis and protections were in place” (qtd. Barringer). years compared to the previous five-year period” (“Oil and Gas 102 Weber Writes 2010 Utah’s Red Rock: A Natural Legacy 103 Exploration”). This is certainly good news for the BLM. More Robert Redford elaborates on the effect current citizens can have on applications for drilling in Utah means more leases, and more money future generations: “If we pass the Red Rock Wilderness Act, we can for the BLM. Apparently the BLM wishes to convey the fact that tell our grandchildren that we helped birth the latest Yellowstone … oil and gas production in Utah is on the rise. However, there is a We can add to the wilderness inheritance of future generations, and big difference between drilling applications and production. Drilling they will thank us for it.” Future residents of Utah will be grateful operations in Utah, historically, produce little or no product. In fact, for the foresight of the current generation if proper protection there are seven “‘hot spots’ of production in Utah,” which have measures are put in place. There should be no feeling of reluctance in “produced 95 percent of Utah’s total oil and gas” (Lemkin). It is setting aside land for the future. Robert Redford relates, “The truth ridiculous to try and expand mining or drilling operations, after is no generation regrets setting aside land for another. No generation all “the oil and gas produced outside of these areas, including the looks back and chastises the previous one for leaving a wilderness entirety of the proposed wilderness area, represent less than 5 inheritance.” Utah’s red rock is a legacy of life and power. Leaving percent of Utah’s historical oil and gas production” (Lemkin). The this legacy for posterity just makes sense. only thing that a 250 percent increase in applications means is that The benefits of preserving Utah’s red rock wilderness are not the BLM is leasing more land than it did before. limited to long-term results. Current residents of Utah enjoy a very Perhaps my treatment of the BLM and energy companies’ high quality of life due, in part, to the wild and beautiful scenery. In arguments is trite and even insolent. However, the destruction of his article “Ensure Quality of Life for Future Generations,” Robert Utah’s red rock wilderness will impact not just current residents Garff eloquently states, “the quality of life we enjoy as Utahans of Utah and the United States, but future generations too. Current depends on protecting our state’s unmatched natural heritage” residents of Utah have a responsibility to maintain the land and its (Garff). There is something uniquely moving about Utah’s red rock resources for those who will come after. In “A Cry for Wilderness,” wilderness. In The Redrock Chronicles: Saving Wild Utah, T.H. Watkins Terry Williams illustrates how busy some national parks can be: relates “The significance of these areas … goes beyond what they This past summer, Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National hold for us of economic, scenic, biological, or even spiritual values, Park had to be closed for six consecutive weekends. The however important all of these are; these wild places … are part of park was overcrowded. A few weeks later, Yellowstone the natural inheritance that helps to define us as a people” (103). The National Park reported traffic jams in the Lamar Valley. residents of Utah are defined by their environment. The citizens The gridlock was caused by carloads of families with the of the United States are also defined by their environment. Wide wish of seeing a wolf. open expanses of untouched wilderness have always been a part of The simple desire to see a wolf or something of nature has America. They should remain a part of America. brought families from across the nation to Utah’s National Parks and The root of the red rock conservation controversy is not just red rock wilderness. Williams poses the question, “Did our country’s greed and money. The Bureau of Land Management leases land to lawmakers, who held the vision of national parks in the 19th century, oil and gas companies for drilling and resource exploration. The dream of this kind of hunger? In the same vein, can our lawmakers land which the BLM leases is considered to belong to “the people.” today toward the end of the 20th century imagine what the sanctity of However, many feel that the BLM ignores the voice of the people, wilderness in Utah might hold for us as a people at the turn of the doing with the land as it sees fit without regard to the rightful 21st century?” (Williams “A Cry”). It is impossible to know for sure owners’ opinions. The BLM, in whose management the people’s land what future generations will yearn for, but the only way to ensure was placed, did not heed the voice of the people. Thus was the Red they can experience everything is to protect what there is now. Just Rock Wilderness Act (RRWA) born. The RRWA is a cry of protest, as those who lived 100 years ago saw the need to protect the land for an attempt to protect the land which the BLM and oil and gas their children, so too must the current citizens of the United States companies would tarnish. The RRWA “would designate 9.5 million protect the land for their posterity. acres of exceptionally wild and rare public lands in southern Utah’s No one will look back in thirty, forty, or fifty years from now and famous red rock country” as wilderness (Olsen). Designating land be upset if Utah’s red rock wilderness is preserved and protected. as “wilderness” protects it from mining, drilling, and other damaging 104 Weber Writes 2010 Utah’s Red Rock: A Natural Legacy 105 ventures. margin. In the end, future generations will not have the beauty of a The brazen audacity with which the the BLM has acted is natural landscape if oil and gas companies are permitted to drill more shocking. Gas and oil industries have the BLM’s ear. Robert Redford and more holes for rigs. suggests that the Bush administration itself was part of the problem. In the best interests of future generations, people need to cut Redford says, “I do believe that during the Bush administration, those back on energy expenses. There is no need to create more resource voices [the people’s] were not heard above industry’s clamor.” Indeed, mining operations. There is enough wealth in the world. There is there was a large public outcry when the Bush administration “gave enough food in the world. It is up to those currently living to provide 77 drilling leases as a parting gift to their friends in the oil and gas the upcoming generations with a world to be proud of, a world that industry. The leases were all in Southern Utah and many of them they will want to love and protect. Utah is home to unrivaled natural were in full view of beloved national parks” (Redford). Actions like wealth. As Terry Williams states, “This natural wealth is in stark the Bush administration’s unlawful gift not only endanger beautiful contrast to the negligible resources the oil companies want to extract: one-of-a-kind natural landscapes; they also engender distrust of The Federal Energy Information Administration says that Utah holds leadership in government. less than 1 percent of the United States’ known oil reserves” (“Oil About 57 percent of Utah is federally owned. The BLM manages Lays Waste”). There is no reason to disrupt the beauty of Utah’s red all of that land. It is difficult to believe that the BLM will hear the rock wilderness for the sake of transient corporate purposes. voice of the people and take steps to preserve the land. No, it is more likely to heed the demands of the energy companies. It is important to note that when the Redrock Wilderness Act was presented to Congress, “The legislation [had] 123 co-sponsors, but lack[ed] the support of any member of the Utah delegation” (Gehrke). It is shocking that the delegates of the state which contains the red rock wilderness would provide no support for a bill to protect that wilderness. It is difficult indeed to place trust in those who say they represent the interest of the citizens of Utah. The problem with a government that cannot be trusted is that it affects every citizen. Whether it be the BLM or a president’s administration, government entities must be trustworthy. If the senators and representatives of Utah do not listen to the people who put them in power, the people they agreed to represent, then there is a conflict of interest. Senators and representatives who act according to their own favor do not deserve the trust that was placed in them. They become untrustworthy. This misunderstanding between the people and their representatives creates controversies like the debate over the RRWA. These controversies can have a very real and very lasting impact on each and every citizen. If the BLM, and the government in general, lease land to oil and gas companies without consideration of the land itself, what irreplaceable landmarks would be destroyed? At what point would oil and gas companies stop? There simply would not be an end to the lands that they would ruin. Companies need to make a profit and the best way to do that is to continually grow. Oil and gas companies must sell more product than ever before in order to raise their profit 106 Weber Writes 2010 Disembodiment and Disenchantment 107 Works Cited Disembodiment and Disenchantment: Barringer, Felicity. “11th-Hour Ruling Blocks Utah Oil and Gas Disconnection and Society’s Problems Leases.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Jan. 2009. Michael Young, ENGL 1010 Web. 23 March 2010. Gehrka, Robert. “Long Running Utah Wilderness Debate Renewed e live in a world of machines. Tools and technology in Congress.” The Salt Lake Tribune. The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 are everyday parts of our lives; we rely on them for April 2007. Web. 23 March 2010. Wour survival. They have been one of the greatest Garff, Robert. “Ensure Quality of Life for Future Generations.” assets to our species and with them we have grown to dominance Deseret News. Deseret News. 28 Feb. 2006: A08. Print. on this planet, but our greatest asset could easily be the cause of our Kenworthy, Tom. “Sale of Oil Leases Worries Utahans” USA Today. downfall. Rebecca Solnit’s essay “The Disembodiment of Everyday USA Today, 25 May 2006. Web. 23 March 2010. physical disembodiment with nature, and that sense of disconnection Lemkin, Mark. “An Analysis of Utah Oil and Gas Production, has effects that go far beyond the physical. Our modern way of life Leasing, and Future Resources.” Redrock Heritage. Redrock ignores and destroys a fundamentally important connection to the Heritage, n.d. Web. 24 March 2010. I have never met anyone who would say that all is as it should “Oil and Gas.” U.S. Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land be and nothing was wrong with the world. There have always been Management, 19 Nov. 2008. Web. 24 March 2010. against the physical elements. We meet these challenges with tools, “Oil and Gas Exploration and Development.” U.S. Department of and have done very well; survival is a relatively simple task for a lot the Interior: Bureau of Land Management, 19 Nov. 2008. Web. of us. The focus of technology now is more about comfort and 24 March 2010. world to function, it is done by less and less people. Manufacturing Olsen, Sigurd. “Best Wilderness Prospects.” Wilderness 2007: 32-40. is a virtually dead industry in America, but the service industry is Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 March 2010. growing. People need to work less and have become addicted to Redford, Robert “The Redrock Wilderness Act: Our Chance to comfort. Be Present at the Creation.” OnEarth.com. Natural Resources People are increasingly frustrated at the lack of ability of the Defense Council, 1 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 March 2010. expectations rather than give us more free time (Solnit 547). My Watkins, T. H. The Redrock Chronicles: Saving Wild Utah. Baltimore: mother is one of those people who will troll the parking lot for Johns Hopkins UP, 2000. Print. fifteen minutes to get a parking space thirty feet closer to the store. I Williams, Terry. “A Cry for Wilderness.” National Parks. 69.11/12 have taken a bus one block because I didn’t feel like walking up a hill. (1995): 24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 March 2010. We use technology to save time, but we don’t enjoy it; instead we use Williams, Terry. “Oil Lays Waste to the West.” The Salt Lake Tribune. that time to cram in something else that has to be done. We get busier The Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Dec. 2008. Web. 23 March 2010. and busier, and notice the world around us less and less. Anyone who’s ever been in a traffic jam knows that sometimes the attempt at speed and convenience is self-defeating. At the beginning of the movie Office Space, as the characters are driving to work, they are being passed by an old man with a walker. Many things that used to be considered luxuries are now considered necessary. We think we have to have a car to get to work on time, we have to have a phone 108 Weber Writes 2010 Disembodiment and Disenchantment 109 to keep in touch, and we always have more to do and less time to do possess: a deep connection with the world and their place in it. it in. Technology has reached a tipping point where a great deal of it Solnit’s conclusion is that “Space—as a landscape, terrain, really is a necessity for survival, such as the way modern agriculture spectacle, experience—has vanished” (553), but that is only a matter feeds millions that would otherwise starve; but it has gone beyond of perception. That space is still there; it just seems smaller because mere survival into an attempt at total separation. Humans spend we are moving faster. Our technology has built walls against nature, a great deal of energy keeping Mother Nature at bay, but those but we can never truly separate ourselves from it. If we could, there inconveniences we avoid make it easy to forget we are part of the would be no need to simulate through exercise the work we have natural system. delegated to machines. The faster and busier we get, the less we The disembodiment Solnit is talking about goes beyond simple notice the space we live in; my niece and nephew have never had a physical connection to the world. There is a sort of personal good look at the Milky Way. You can’t see it anymore unless there’s a disembodiment as well, and meaningful connections are on the blackout. Every summer I am anxious to go camping and get as far decline. The Information Age has allowed us to connect on an away from civilization as I can, a feeling shared by millions. There’s unbelievable scale, with almost anyone, regardless of distance. The a good feeling in gathering firewood, hiking, and generally not individual person has access to resources that would stagger the doing anything relating to high technology. The hard-core campers mind of someone from the ancient past; but at the same time the scoff at those who bring campers and televisions, which go against quality and value of those connections has diminished. Take salt the entire purpose of the camping trip: to reconnect with nature. for example—a simple but essential mineral. It is mined from the These longings are a hint that on some level people are aware of this earth and harvested from sea water. Ancient Roman soldiers were disembodiment and long to reverse the process. paid wages in salt. If you had a connection to salt a thousand years Living disconnected from nature has consequences that are ago, you had potential to be very rich. The merchant who traded in slowly becoming realized. Anxiety and depression are often cases salt and other spices was an important man; you can be sure people of chemistry in the brain, but not always. I don’t believe depression knew his name. In today’s world we have no idea who makes what we should always be presented as a case of something being wrong consume; we don’t even know if it was made by human hands or by with the depressed person. Could it not also be a problem with the machines. world the person lives in, a society that ignores certain needs and Rebecca Solnit makes the most interesting connection in this with which they are very unhappy? Disenchantment with the world essay. She starts off by stating that the treadmill is a worthless is a natural result of a way of life that conforms to everybody. The invention, comparing it to the futility of Greek Sisyphus, endlessly state does not exist to serve the people anymore; people exist to pushing a boulder uphill. Exercise is only practical when food is serve the state. Not everybody can cope with that mindset, and it abundant and the need for physical exertion is not (549). Solnit then has a way of homogenizing culture too fast; the shock damages connects the treadmill and suburbia. Solnit is saying that in some way people’s sense of identity. All too often there are extreme cases as industrialized society is as pointless as the treadmill; “a device with well; school shootings, people going “postal,” and Ted Kazinsky which to go nowhere in places where there is now nowhere to go. (The Unabomber). The sense of disembodiment is not just physical Or no desire to go…” (552). The treadmill lets you walk while going and personal; it is also environmental. The Native Americans have nowhere, and suburban life allows you to survive without necessarily mourned their lost environment for centuries. If you drew your living with quality. The modern industrialized way of life does come drinking water from a well, you would certainly be complaining about with its own peculiar set of problems; I do not hear much news of tainted water. We are all aware of the problems with the environment, anxiety, depression, and suicide in tribes and band-level societies. but we never examine why we are so slow to act. I doubt that there are many Aborigines on Prozac. I’m not saying Disconnection from nature is a major factor in all these problems, that people in so-called “primitive” cultures do not have problems, and they will only grow worse with globalization. Problems with but they certainly don’t have the same problems as those who live in the environment at least give us no choice but to seek a more industrial/commercial ones. One does not have to look long at tribes sustainable way to live. Responsible use of resources is a step in like the Hopi or the Inuit to realize we have lost something they still the right direction but is by no means a solution. What we need are 110 Weber Writes 2010 Disembodiment and Disenchantment 111 resources that are infinitely renewable so that everything we consume Work Cited is replenished. We need a way of life that does not drive segments of the population to murderous rampages. None of these problems Solnit, Rebecca. “The Disembodiment of Everyday Life.” Reading will be solved until we learn as a species to be a part of the system and Writing From Literature. 3rd ed. Ed. John E. Schwiebert. we were born into. It’s the best way to start overcoming all these Boston: Houghton, 2005. 545-553. obstacles and restore the wonder, spirit, and, most importantly, the survivability of life. 112 Weber Writes 2010 A Puritan Prison 113

A Puritan Prison Jomar Giner, ENGL 1010

y poor Aylmer … you have aimed loftily; you have done nobly. Do not repent that with so high “Mand pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the world could offer. Aylmer, dearest Aylmer, I am dying” (Hawthorne 616). These are the last words of Georgiana, a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark.” Killed by her husband, Aylmer, Georgiana is a tragic character who is unfortunate enough Literary Analysis to have been married in eighteenth century America. Nature intends her to be flawed, yet science is not the primary cause of her death. She seals her fate when she decides to marry in a time and a place where divorce is not permitted. Trapped in a psychologically straining marriage, death is her only escape. Emotionally abused by a husband who is repulsed by what nature gave her, Georgiana seeks salvation from science, aware that it can bring her happiness in two ways: death or the admiration of her husband. In “The Birthmark,” science is a mere catalyst of the death Puritan society brings upon women through illegality of divorce, objectification of women, and a flawed concept of love and marriage. Published in 1843, “The Birthmark” takes place a century earlier, an era in which most of Hawthorne’s work takes place, and of which he was critical (“Nathaniel Hawthorne”). The institution of marriage was already firmly established, although divorce was not allowed. Women were expected to be passive, obedient, and pleasing to their husbands. Of course, not all women could adhere to these expectations, and Georgiana is a good example. Early in their marriage, Georgiana stands up to Aylmer’s criticisms. At the onset of Aylmer’s obsessive preoccupation with her birthmark, he tells her, “ … dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection.” She replies, “Shocks you, my husband! Then why did you take me from my mother’s side? You cannot love what shocks you” (Hawthorne 606). Although Georgiana is defiant, she still holds marriage to a high degree, denouncing her husband for not treating her with the respect a man should give his wife. Although Aylmer is not physically abusive and genuinely cares for Georgiana, his love is perverse. He puts her on a pedestal, which is admirable, and flattering to Georgiana who has been treated the same 114 Weber Writes 2010 A Puritan Prison 115 way by her previous lovers, yet it is his obsession with her perfection tells him, “It has made me worship you more than ever” (Hawthorne that makes him unable to accept her birthmark, a small handprint on 613). “Worship” is a very strong word to use, a little disturbing her left cheek. Hawthorne wrote: even, and depicts a woman who is either prone to exaggerations, Had she been less beautiful,—if Envy’s self could have expresses a morbid love, or is influenced by her conservative society found aught else to sneer at,—he might have felt his to “worship” her husband. Although it is apparent that Georgiana affection heightened by the prettiness of this mimic hand, believes she is bound to her husband, it is more likely that she is just now vaguely portrayed, now lost, now stealing forth again sincerely infatuated. However, this infatuation is still not sensible for and glimmering to and fro with every pulse of emotion that she is in love with a borderline deranged man. The story must still throbbed within her heart. (607) be, however, read in context of the society in which it takes place. It is baffling why Aylmer only becomes preoccupied with If divorce had been an option, it would have entered Georgiana’s Georgiana’s birthmark after they marry, but then it is only natural mind at the time of her emotional distress. After all, she is capable that couples begin to notice each other’s flaws once their relationship of defiance. It is bad enough that society exerts a lot of pressure on stabilizes and they pay more attention to, and sometimes are bothered women to be beautiful. The added pressure to stay faithful to one’s by, each other’s nuances. husband can really make some women suicidal, as Georgiana has Hawthorne paints a romantic picture of Aylmer and Georgiana’s become. In such an environment, society kills women, as it robs them wedding. “Such a union accordingly took place, and was attended of their freedom. The noxious elixir that Aylmer gives to Georgiana with truly remarkable consequences and a deeply impressive moral” is only a catalyst of her death, which has become apparent early (606). Hawthorne himself was in love with a woman named Sophia on, when she finds herself stuck with a husband so disgusted by a Peabody and worked hard to save money for their wedding. Divorce birthmark, of which she was once so proud. was illegal in the nineteenth century; however, the Hawthornes were Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” is truly a tragic tale. It is happily married so neither would have wanted a way out (“Nathaniel more than a story about science’s futile attempt to conquer nature; it Hawthorne”). This is not the case for Georgiana and Aylmer, and is also a portrait of life in a time and place where women had limited Hawthorne used their tale as an example of how a marriage could go freedom. Marriage should not be a prison. It is about true love. bad and end tragically. Georgiana’s fate could have been prevented Ideally, it should last until death, but if the love between the couple had she been allowed to get a divorce. Instead, she becomes so dissipates, one and/or the other should be allowed to leave the union. psychologically scarred to exclaim to Aylmer, “Danger is nothing There are many reasons why marriages fail, and in this story, it is to me; for life, while this hateful mark makes me the object of your because of the defective love between two people, a relationship in horror and disgust,—life is a burden which I would fling down which one cannot see past the other’s imperfection and causes her with joy. Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched emotional abuse, yet this other half continues to love the abuser life” (Hawthorne 608). This statement contrasts with her previous nonetheless. Neither Aylmer nor Georgiana is perfect. Nature has sentiment regarding her birthmark when Aylmer first mentions it to never been perfect. Science has never been perfect. Certainly, society her: “To tell you the truth it has been so often called a charm that I has not been either. was simple enough to imagine it might be so” (Hawthorne 606). Although it is Puritanical America’s unjust society that truly led to Georgiana’s demise, she herself is flawed. She continues to love Aylmer despite the emotional harm he brings her. She condemns him for not accepting her birthmark, yet she still sees something good in him. After they decide to use an untested method to get rid of the birthmark, Aylmer takes Georgiana to his laboratory where he shows her one of his “sorcerer’s books,” and although Georgiana does not understand a word of the notes, she thinks they are the work of a genius, a man to whom she is proud to be married. She 116 Weber Writes 2010 The Beauty of Silence 117 Works Cited The Beauty of Silence: An Introspective Look Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birthmark.” Reading and Writing from at Ray Bradbury’s “The Murderer” rd Literature. 3 ed. Ed. John E. Schwiebert. Boston: Houghton Micah Hassett, ENGL 1010 Milton Company, 2005. 605-617. “Nathaniel Hawthorne.” 1870. Grimshaw Origins and History. 2009. hen does convenience become more of a burden Web. 10 April 2010. than a gift? “The Murderer” by Ray Bradbury “Nathaniel Hawthorne.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 31 March Wexplores the possibility of society losing itself 2010. Web. 4 April 2010. to technology as they become increasingly dependent on it and “Sophia Peabody Hawthorne.” 1884. Wikimedia Commons. MediaWiki. surround themselves with an ever increasing amount. This story 2009. Web. 10 April 2010. confronts the issues that society might face someday soon as access to technology, for example a cellphone, surpasses the access to a clean toilet (Giridharadas). Society as a whole seems to be falling into a dependency on technology as people are spending more time on their phones than off. Already the inhabitants of civilized living are surrounded by constant noise, from radios to televisions to phones. What must be decided is where to stop the dependency of technology and rediscover the natural beauty around and inside of this world. Finding balance between natural surroundings and the artificial ones that have been created is difficult due to the vast number of differing opinions. In the story of “The Murderer,” Ray Bradbury explains the danger of falling into dependency in a descriptive and unique way: It was all so enchanting at first. The very idea of these things, the practical uses, was wonderful. They were almost toys, to be played with, but the people got too involved, went too far, and got wrapped up in a pattern of social behavior and couldn’t get out, couldn’t admit they were in, even. So they rationalized their nerves as something else. (626) Some would say that the conveniences should not be wasted that are coming about everyday as our technology advances in leaps and bounds while others would say that all technology is evil since it takes away self-awareness and individuality. The definition of technology can be explained as “the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order to achieve some value” (“Technology”). Technology is not, in definition, evil, nor is it good. To determine if it should be classified as one or the other, it is required that the application, or use, of the technology is looked at rather than the technology itself. Moderation is required in all things in regards to life, including the use of technology. Our 118 Weber Writes 2010 The Beauty of Silence 119 dependency on technology is beginning to reach a critical stage where Earth is a unique planet capable of sustaining life of all kinds. we will be required to choose to either further our dependency or Trees, flowers, rolling hills, majestic mountains, and sparkling lakes to begin to look in new directions. Our advancements save lives as cover this planet, yet their beauty is constantly taken for granted. we make new discoveries in medicine, and they also take away lives American author Henry David Thoreau confronted this in his as we improve our ability to make war. In modern day society, we essay “Walking.” He discusses the destruction of nature for the are expected to constantly be in touch and be accessible to everyone improvements of man: else. Technology has reduced the amount of time given for self-­ Nowadays almost all man’s improvements, so called, as contemplation to such an extent that most aspects of life are now the building of houses, and the cutting down of the forest dictated by technology and the requirement to stay up to date and in and of all large tress, simply deform the landscape, and the know. make it more and more tame and cheap … I once saw the Silence is taken for granted in the hustle and bustle of modern fences half consumed, their ends lost in the middle of the day living. Bradbury describes the pleasure of silence, saying “I just prairie, and some worldly miser with a surveyor looking rode around feeling of the silence. It’s a big bolt of the nicest, softest after his bounds, while heaven had taken place around him flannel ever made.” (624) Stress from work and family dominates … I looked again and saw him standing in the middle of a life, leaving us exhausted at the end of a day where the clock has boggy, stygian fen, surrounded by devils, and he had found controlled our lives. There is noise all around, constantly blaring out his bounds without a doubt, three little stones, where a stake of speakers, television sets, and phones. Silence has lost its place in had been driven, and looking nearer, I saw that the Prince the world and few miss the respite it can give from the stress and of Darkness was his surveyor. (Thoreau 14) pressure of life. The ability to take time to relax and look inward has In this technologically controlled era, nature has taken a back seat become a luxury that is no longer readily available. With the loss of to the human being’s ability to manipulate and claim ownership of its something so simple yet so fundamental, the human race has begun surroundings. This planet is slowly dying as more room is required to lose touch with the thoughts and feelings that produce deep and to put new technology into action and to continue the advances that intellectual thinking. If the great minds of the past had been too busy are constantly being made. Forests are plowed over, rivers run dry, to ask the important questions, this world would be a much different land for admiration and the growth of food has become scarce, all place. because of the greed which drives mankind for more power and Good versus evil: the age old battle between the most basic of more wealth. The economy of technology is always booming, and, concepts. So many things in this world are involved in the struggle since it spreads over the world, human greed feeds off of the success between the two primal forces of good and evil. Technology can be and fortune that are involved with such industry. For this reason, considered one of the greatest two-sided swords with this topic. On technology takes priority over anything that nature has to offer. “In one hand, technology offers us the improvement of living conditions, their relationship to Nature men appear to me for the most part … the ability for people to live longer, and even small pleasures with lower than animals. It is not often a beautiful relation, as in the case no real benefit to society except self-satisfaction. The latter of of the animals” (Thoreau 52). Greenhouses are used to simulate those examples can be said to be a two-sided sword itself. What ideal environments for plants while the natural homes of them are makes our lives easy can also be turned to lessen the value of our being burned to make way for monstrous buildings of cold steel and lives. With advances in technology come advances in war, increased an ever increasing human population. As mankind grows, so does personal indulgence and greed, impatience, selfishness, new crimes, the pursuit of more technology to make life better for everyone. and new ways to abuse the power that technology offers. To say What cost will this world have to pay for humanity’s quest for that technology is either a good or bad thing is nothing more than improvement? Earth has already been scarred by mankind and their an expression of opinion since it has applications to both side. The pursuits will only lead to the destruction of the natural beauty and world is faced with the fact that the more improvement to technology life sustaining ability of Earth. in any area will also lead to the increased chance of it being abused Humanity’s blind pursuit to improve life and maintain advantages and used against humanity. in political power does not need to cease. Humans are as much a part 120 Weber Writes 2010 The Beauty of Silence 121 of this planet as anything and need only to learn to live in harmony Works Cited with it. Balance between what nature has offered and what mankind has created would allow for continued advancement as well as Bradbury, Ray. “The Murderer.” Reading and Writing from Literature. improving the longevity of the planet. 3rd ed. Ed. Suzanne Phelps Weir. New York: Houghton Mifflin Finding a meeting place between communication with the world Company, 2005. 621-26 and introspection leaves room for a balance of thoughts; this Giridharadas, Anand. “Where a Cellphone Is Still Cutting Edge.” in turn can take technology in new directions while considering New York Times 9 Apr. 2010. Web. 21 Apr. 2010. multiple sides and consequences. Acknowledging that both good “Technology.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 18 Apr. 2010. Web. and evil come of the use of technology will begin a new era where 21 Apr. 2010. consequences are thought about more seriously before the blind Thoreau, Henry David. “Walking.” 1862. Massachusetts: Applewood pursuit of advancement brings about the ability to destroy everything Books, 1992. Print. of true value. There is no need to pick one side, but what is needed is the knowledge of all sides and the ability to discern the value of them and put them to use in an effort to avoid the loss of valuable gifts such as silence, time, freedom, life, nature, and individuality. 122 Weber Writes 2010 A Look into the View of Adolescents 123 connections made so the reader would never be caught off guard. Tom Sawyer: A Look Into The View of Adolescents However, according to Wexman, the second world is the world and the World Around Them of reality. Each of the events in this novel has serious consequences. Anthony Tran, ENGL 2010 The world is never as light and childish as seen by the youths; however, since we were kept “in the dark” over many of the events, hat makes an adolescent’s view differ from the views the perception is that these events had little if no meaning to of adults? How is it that most adolescents usually them. But, on the contrary, each adult in the novel takes them very Whave a different perspective of the world than seriously; however, the novel is written from the perspective of a our own? At times their views can be innocent, imaginative, and youth who overlooks the serious nature of these events, relationships, almost impressionistic. How does this affect them and the people etc. around them? Are there major differences in the brain patterns of Author David Frisby of Sociological Impressionism: A Reassessment adolescents or is it just simply less life experience? of George Simmel’s Social Theory explores the view of people in society The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written in 1876 by author Samuel and the differentiating views of how society works between social Longhorne Clemens (traditionally known as Mark Twain). Clemens, elites and your “average Joe.” He explains the divide that occurs who adopted the pen name of Mark Twain, was born in Florida, within the social norms during the advances in women’s rights, the Missouri, and describes his novel as a culmination of the events and rise of socialism, and the evolution of the working class (12). These individuals he encountered growing up in a small town on the banks divides cause a rather skewed view of the world that can be identified of the Mississippi. almost as two separate views, which make many similarities to the The novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer allows us an inside look contrasting views of the youths and adults in novel The Adventures of into the prospective world of an adolescent. As we dive into Twain’s Tom Sawyer. classic novel of life in rural St. Petersburg, we meet our young The Adventures of Tom Sawyer begins with the subtle introduction star Tom Sawyer and begin to see two clearly separate worlds. The of our main character Tom Sawyer, who, along with his half brother novel begins with many anecdotal stories that frame the tale of the Sid and cousin Mary, are under the care of their Aunt Polly. The coming of age of young Tom Sawyer in backdrop of a tragic murder. relationship between Tom Sawyer and the matron of our novel, Throughout the novel, we see the events unfold as they are [the Aunt Polly points very clearly to Wexman’s idea of the two opposing reality of the events] and how Tom Sawyer and the other youths in worlds. the novel perceive them to be. Aunt Polly’s relationship, however unclear Mark Twain may make As Virginia Wexman has noted, two worlds exist within the novel it appear, is one that is clearly very serious. Aunt Polly has deep and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. As Wexman explains, the first world that affectionate love for young Tom Sawyer. She is constantly trying to we engage is the world of Tom Sawyer where life is described almost nurture the growth of the young boy and care for him as his own as a game. mother. At times, she thinks she “aint doing my [her] duty by that The world of fantasy can be seen clearly through Twain’s use of boy” (Twain 2). To Aunt Polly her stewardship of young Tom is of humor and satire in the novel. As Joe Fulton notes in his book The serious consequence. The world can be harsh and cruel, and during Reverend Mark Twain, Twain uses many forms and literary devices, one the era of the novel, a “mother” had many worries about the things being the use of Tom as a medium, allowing Twain to perpetuate his that could happen to her young. own ideals and mores to the reader (14-17). This type of projection However, on the contrary, Tom’s perception of his relationship allows many of the more serious events and relationships, and with Aunt Polly is viewed almost as a game. Tom is constantly getting political and moral institutions to be attacked by the youth in the himself into trouble, and when the time comes for discipline, “he novel. The first world is full of fun and merriment, and the theme of knows if he can make out to put me [Aunt Polly] off for a minute this world can be seen through the entire novel. The novel never gets or make me laugh, it’s all down again and I can’t hit him a lick” into much detail about many of the major topics, most of which is (Twain 2). Tom always manages to escape punishment, and he feels believed to keep the reader in this world where there are no serious he is capable and entitled to it because of his perception of the 124 Weber Writes 2010 A Look into the View of Adolescents 125 relationship between himself and Aunt Polly. receives many glares (Twain 95). As described in the article Within-Family Differences in Internalizing The best example of the difference and intermingle of the two Behaviors: The Role of Children’s Perspectives of the Mother-Child worlds as described by Wexman is in the life of Huck Finn, which Relationship, we find that the cognitive appraisal done by Sawyer may treads between the worlds of naiveté and harsh reality. be the root cause of this clash in ideology on the relation between As we found in the “return from the dead” of Tom, Joe and him and his Aunt Polly. In this study we find a “body of research Huck, the town had little interest in the “raising” of the lost has begun to look at this effect in children; evidence indicates that Huckleberry Finn; with the exception of Aunt Polly whose embrace children also formulate negatively and positively biased appraisals, “lavished upon him were one the one thing capable of making him and that such biases are critical in predicting behavioral and more uncomfortable than he was before” (Twain 95). Huckleberry emotional outcomes” (Frampton et al. 2). Finn, who was the town pariah through the novel, was little concern This type of negative or rebellious cognitive appraisal of the to anyone. nature of the relationship between Tom and Aunt Polly may explain The harsh reality of it was that our pariah, the son of the town many of the antics that Tom engages in the future. drunk, is declared a “poor motherless thing” by Aunt Polly (Twain In Chapter 13 of the novel, we find Tom, who becomes 95), was the victim of this harsh cruel world. Huck was a son despondent with the world around him, devising a plan to escape. forgotten and abandoned by the civilized world, left to be equally Tom finds Joe Harper feeling equally upset with his world so they unloved and despised by all the “civil” adults, save Aunt Polly and decide to run away and become pirates. This idea that they could Widow Douglas. Huck is in destitution, and in his situation, he has escape from the world that they knew and take on new personas is done quite well for himself. He has managed to survive without the so naïve in its nature. The boys, who also enlist Huck Finn in their aid of the adults, sleeping in the wild and eating whatever he can adventure, quickly learn the harsh reality of living on their own. The acquire [steal]. This is the harsh reality of it, the dark and cruel nature boys face the moral pressures of being thieves and stealing from of his misfortune; however, this is not how his life is portrayed by people. They begin to reflect on the fact that “there was no command Tom and even at times by Huck himself. against that [ stealing] in the Bible” (Twain 75). However, feeling Tom is rather jealous of the freedom that Huck has: he wears the guilt of their actions “they inwardly resolved that so long as they whatever he feels like, and sleeps till whenever he wants and speaks remained in the business [piracy], the piracies should not again be however he wants. He believes that Huck has it all, and despite the sullied with the crime of stealing” (Twain 75). constant whippings Huck takes, his situation is much better than Though the youths are facing real dilemmas that are associated Tom’s who is at the will of the authority of his Aunt Polly. Huck with the “real world,” they do not yet understand the consequences himself feels that he is entitled to his own freedom, escaping from of their abandonment of society. The reality of the fact is that their civilization at any chance he gets. Twain really makes fun of the actions have impacted the lives of the entire town. Later in the novel, situation of children with negligent parents in the character of we find the entire town is in an uproar over the lost boys. When the Huck Finn. Huck’s world in the perception of the youths is one boys see that a ferry is in search for people assumed to have drowned of amazement and adoration; when in reality, it is a rather sad and in the Mississippi, Tom concludes “Boys, I know who’s drownded— horrible misfortune to be subjected to such harsh conditions. it’s us”(Twain 79). The two worlds parallel each other through the story; however, The severity of their actions and the reality that the town is in an the light and engaging world exists exclusively in the mind and eyes uproar do not dawn upon the youths until their return to town. The of the children: Tom Sawyer, Joe Harper, Becky Thatcher, Amy town, feeling the pain of losing loved ones, begins the mourning Lawrence, etc. We find that the world of reality is always present period with a memorial service for the children. Unlike the free and in the minds of Muff Potter, Aunt Polly, Injun Joe, and even at marvelous world of piracy that the youths were involved in, the town times Huck Finn. It’s been said the novel is “written for boys. It is a was dealing with the faux reality that they have lost their loved one. masterly reproduction of boy’s life and feeling, but, at the same time, The youths upon their return are embraced with tears and open arms it is written above boys” (Warner 1), which may account for its allure from their respected guardians, with the exception of Huck Finn who and creation of these two parallel realms. 126 Weber Writes 2010 A Look into Mark Twain’s Art of Satire 127 Works Cited A Look into Mark Twain’s Art of Satire Framton, Kristen L. et al. “Within-Family Differences in Lori White, ENGL 2010 Internalizing Behaviors:.” Abnormal Child Psychology 38 (2010): 557- 58. Academic Search Premier. Web. 09 Apr. 2010. atire is an art. A master at this brush stroke would have to Fulton, Joe B. The Reverend Mark Twain: Theological Burlesque, Form, and be Mark Twain. By definition, satire is a form of writing Content. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2006. Print. Sthat makes fun of habits, ideas, or customs. In Mark Twain’s Frisby, David. Sociological Impressionism: A Reassessment of Georg Simmel’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, we are drawn into the simple times Social Theory. London, England. Chapman/Hall 1992. Print boyhood brings in a quaint little town. Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain’s Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mineola, N.Y. Dover main character, lives under the care of his Aunt Polly in her home, Publications, 1998. Print. shared with his cousin, Mary, and his half brother, Sid. Throughout Warner, Charles D. “Warner Reviews Tom Sawyer.” Hartford Daily this book, Twain uses his skill at satire to engage his readers in the Courant. University of Virginia, 27 Dec. 1876. Web. 09 Apr. 2010 humorous side of situations and human follies that are easy to ridicule and poke fun at. He does so in a way that is not necessarily upsetting to his audience, but makes a sarcastic point about the human vices within our society and way of life. Many of Twain’s works are adorned with satire, and some of his favorite topics to poke fun at are religion, social classes, genders, authority, and government. Although the age of young Sawyer is never revealed, one can speculate that he is between that of boyhood approaching the transformation period in which a boy becomes a young man. Tom is like many young boys; he’s noisy, sneaky, and, of course, painted in dirt from head to toe most of the time, with no desire to wash and be presentable when required. On the other hand, he’s kind and compassionate. Tom’s heart is about as big as his imagination! Tom’s imagination and ingenuity are what set him apart from other characters in this book. Chapter after chapter, whether he’s at a church sermon or trying to impress a girl, Tom Sawyer turns anything into an adventure. The story is set in the small town of St. Petersburg along the Mississippi River during the 1800s, a couple of decades before the Civil War. Tom’s adventures take him from imagination and pirate play, to the real life drama of witnessing a murder while in the midst of one of his childish adventures. As the story sets off, we are quickly aware that Tom makes mischief of one form or another that gets him into trouble. Aunt Polly hands down the typical punishments with exhaustion shaded in love to Tom. One such episode of punishment is when Aunt Polly has ordered Tom to whitewash her fence after being found to have skipped school, gone swimming and then tried to cover it up. Twain uses this opportunity to mock authority using Tom’s clever skills at deceiving his friends into wanting to take on his job and pay him for it in return with simple treasures, that of boys. Tom proudly gets his 128 Weber Writes 2010 A Look into Mark Twain’s Art of Satire 129 punishment carried out while he is enjoying a sweet apple (token paid prodigy! At that moment, Tom Sawyer comes forth and presents Mr. by one whitewashing victim) under the cool shade of a tree in less Walters with nine yellow tickets, nine red tickets, and ten blue ones time than feasibly capable of by himself. Tom returns to his Aunt and then demanded a Bible. Twain mocks this moment with, “This Polly before midday and reports that his punishment is carried out. was a thunderbolt out of a clear sky.” Tom is elevated to a place with Aunt Polly is astonished at the quality and completeness of the job the Judge and other elect, and the production continues in its grand and rewards Tom the rest of the sunny Saturday to play (Twain, The and moving way as the Sunday school teacher hands Tom a Bible Adventures of Tom Sawyer 11-18). for his tickets, showing off as much as possible, for inside, he knows One section of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer where Twain single- that there is a mystery as to how Tom could have obtained all those handedly glides a humorous silhouette of satire across several topics tickets. is in chapter four. Tom goes to Sabbath-school one Sunday and But nonetheless, it’s done, and when we can only hope for this before class begins, Tom is hanging around outside at the entrance, tale to end pleasantly, Twain adds to the array of colorful satire just greeting his friends and other children coming to attend Sunday one more hue when the Judge, in his magnificent way, asks Tom to school. Tom begins to bargain with the ones he greets for tickets of go ahead and recite something he had learned to earn those tickets blue, red, or yellow. Tickets are currency to obtain a plain bound Bible and take up some of this wonderful glory around him. Tom tries to (worth forty cents in those easy times). This award is given by the be modest (fear of being found out) but with much encouragement Superintendent (Sunday school teacher). It’s a high cost of labor to from the Judge and Mr. Walters, there is no hope, and the grandness earn these tickets. A pupil must recite a Bible verse to the teacher to is muted out with one smear of satire of the master, Twain’s hand— earn one blue ticket. Ten blue tickets equaled one red ticket; ten red Tom, being beckoned by the Superintendant to at least give the tickets would equal one yellow ticket, and finally, ten yellow tickets names of the first two disciples answers, “David and Goliath!” And turned in to the Superintendent would earn you that forty cent, plain the curtain is drawn on this chapter (Twain, The Adventures of Tom bound Bible. Here, Tom is bargaining for these tickets off of friends Sawyer 23-32). This was a grand chapter for Mark Twain as he poked and comrades that in many exchanges were done so with the same fun at authority, genders, religion, and even the culture that surrounds items Tom was paid with, for the honor of whitewashing earlier! How this event. It was one of his masterpieces in regards to satire in all it many children would even attempt the task of earning a Bible from touched! the Superintendent in an honest manner? Tom’s cousin, Mary had Mark Twain also captures us with satire in other works he has acquired two such Bibles, and that was done with the patient work of done. In The Diaries of Adam and Eve, one can probably guess by two years! just glancing at the book’s title that satire is used on religion. Adam Tom Sawyer is grand with his timing of collecting the plain and Eve are that of the Christian faith and thought to be the first to bound Bible from the Sunday school teacher. When Mr. Walters, dwell on earth, a perfect place until Eve, having been beguiled by the the Superintendent, stands and gives his Sunday school speech to serpent, partakes of the forbidden fruit and all is lost. Adam and Eve the children, Twain is poking fun at authority figures showing how are to live with knowledge, but work all of their days as commanded they can be quick to put away their “worldly” ways and put on their by God. Yes, religion is mocked, but not in so much of a harmful “Sunday face.” The speech was long and typical up until the final way as one could imagine. What Twain made fun of were the distinct section where Mr. Walters introduces visitors that had the children differences between men and women. Twain is witty and clever with whispering in suspense before their grand appearance. Mr. Walters was his fun and fanciful ways; he casts Adam and Eve in their simple daily puffed up and hoping for all the children to display themselves in the diary entries. It’s an enjoyable read that we could even call “mind most pleasing way. The visitors, Judge Thatcher and his family, sat at candy.” Not nourishment really, but definitely pleasing to the cerebral the highest seat of honor. To impress them, Mr. Walters, the librarian, taste buds! In comparing the diary entries of Adam’s to that of Eve’s, the lady teachers, the gentleman teachers, and even the pupils were Twain humors us with how men are straight to the point with their all showing off in one form or another during routine Sunday school dialogue and don’t expand on it much. They are simple in mind, and events made into quite a show. To make this ecstasy complete for Mr. feel that women should think the same. They see no need to expand Walters, would be the chance to deliver a Bible-prize and exhibit a or learn any other way. Women, on the other hand, are quick to talk, 130 Weber Writes 2010 A Look into Mark Twain’s Art of Satire 131 talk a lot, and feel that they have a lot to say that is important and Mark Twain is the pen name of Mr. Samuel Clemens. His pen believe others would be enriched to hear of it. They don’t understand name actually comes from the days when he was a licensed river why men don’t see it the way they do, and they long to teach them the pilot in 1858. When it was deep enough water to navigate in, they error of their ways. To see the depth and beauty of all things, as they used the term “mark twain,” which meant it was safe to go ahead. do (Twain, The Diaries of Adam and Eve). Mr. Clemens loved his days on the river! When the Civil War in 1861 Another poke at religion mixed with a little politics by Mark Twain brought the river trade to a halt, Clemens worked as a newspaper is in Letters from the Earth. The use of satire in this book is of a more reporter for several newspapers all over the United States. He later serious nature, but still satire nonetheless, and should be considered began to write books and is best known for The Adventures of Tom with a grain of salt by its readers. Twain elaborates on how man is Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Even after his death, the only “Patriot” and sets himself apart in his own country, under April 21, 1910, more of Mark Twain’s writings were brought out and his own flag, and sneers at other nations not like his own. Man is the published for our enjoyment by permission of those in charge of his Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only estate. animal that has the True Religion … and several of them. He is the Whatever work of Mark Twain’s you choose to admire, you will only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if do so with a smirk or maybe even an out loud laugh from time to his theology isn’t straight (Twain, Letters from the Earth 226-227). time, as he entertains us with his art of satire. Art that could not be In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses his gift of enjoyed in a manner as such, if it were a painting in an art gallery writing with satire to humor his audience with the ways of society hung on a wall. No, there it would not be seen for the beauty it brings and human behavior. The main character, Huckleberry Finn, is and the understanding and insight into the humorous ways in which brought over from the story The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, along we live our lives within the world we are in. Thankfully, we have his with the character Mrs. Douglas the widow, Huck’s father, and other words and his art at satire for our reading enjoyment! Our eyes, our characters as well. The cruel behavior handed down to Huck by his emotions, and our imaginations will admire his works as if hung on drunken father is given more serious attention in this novel. On one the walls of our intellect as a famous painting. such account, Mark Twain uses satire to poke fun at social classes and alcoholism, by using an alcoholic, Huck’s father himself, to mock government. Huck’s father is trying to get a hold of Huck’s money, the money he and Tom Sawyer found. He is using Huck as a tool to do so, and is trying to get the courts to award him that money. He is not having much luck, and in a drunken state in front of Huck, he begins to mock the government out of rage because he wants that money! Huck’s father says, “Call this a govment! Why, just look at it and see what it’s like. Here’s the law a-standing ready to take a man’s son away from him—a man’s own son, which he has had all the trouble and all the anxiety and all the expense of raising. Yes, Just as that man has got that son raised at last, and ready to go to work and begin to do suthin’ for him and give him a rest, the law up and goes for him. And they call that govment!” (Twain, The Annotated Huckleberry Finn 63). Mark Twain belongs without question among the major American writers. His works were studied in scholarly and critical studies. Editor Bernard DeVoto in his own authoritative Mark Twain at Work, written in 1942, has demonstrated that the celebrated humorist was also a great artist (vii-viii). 132 Weber Writes 2010 The Beauty of Silence 133 Works Cited

Smith, Henry Nash. “Preface.” Twain, Mark. Letters from the Earth. Ed. Bernard DeVoto. New York: Harper and Row, 1942. 303. Twain, Mark. Letters from the Earth. Ed. Bernard Devoto. New York: Harper and Row, 1942. —. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2004. —. The Annotated Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Michael Patrick Hearn. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001. —. The Diaries of Adam and Eve. Kindle. Web. 03 April 2010. Mobile Reference, 2008. Personal Essay

134 Weber Writes 2010 When Scooter Meets Weed-Eater 135 just didn’t have what it would take to get us going from such a slow When Scooter Meets Weed-Eater start. Tyler and I were devastated. All those hours of work (mostly Kyle Kapp, ENGL 1010 hours watching John work) had been wasted. “You guys better head home and I’ll think about it tonight then we’ll work on it tomorrow,” rowing up, I was a fan of cheap entertainment. I never was the response we got from John. had video games, and my parents were anti-television, We returned the next afternoon to find that John had already Gso I spent most of my time playing with trucks in the stopped repairing engines for his business and was working excitedly sandbox, riding my bike, or working on projects with my friends. My on our project. “Guys, I was up most of the night thinking about our friends and I almost always had a project going to keep us busy, and problem, and I think I have it figured out,” he said as he held up a oftentimes, yes, out of trouble. We built things out of free supplies small stack of papers with math equations scribbled all over them. He we had found in a construction site dumpster. Our projects resulted went on to tell us that we would never make it go from a stopped or a in some unattractive inventions with some of my dad’s tools ruined. slow start, but with a new, bigger sprocket and more RPMs we could One lucky day we stumbled across an old weed-eater that my get some serious power. John made a new sprocket from a piece of friend’s parents were going to throw away. Motorized scooters were steel and we helped him replace the old one. We also installed an the craze. We dreamed of having one of our own, but as 13- and ingenious clutch system that John had invented. As for more RPMs 14-year-old boys, we had no money. It took all of about one minute to start off with, that was easy: John lived in a convenient location at to decide that we would use the weed eater and my friend Tyler’s Big the bottom of the biggest hill in the neighborhood. It was a famous Wheel scooter to make our own scooter. We quickly had the weed- hill to all the kids within two miles. Any kid who could ride that hill eater disassembled on the garage floor and realized that this particular on roller blades or a skateboard without flailing himself on the grass project was a little out of our league. “Who knows how to weld?” in someone’s front yard was practically worshiped. we thought. There was only one man in our neighborhood who we John figured that when we hit about 15 mph on the scooter the could turn to, John Wood. At the time he repaired small engines in driver could release the brake handle, dropping the fly-wheel spindle his garage and had every tool known to man. on the tire and we would have enough power to at least double our We carried all of our materials to his house and asked for his help. speed. Things were looking a little more serious, so we had to return His eyes lit up as we explained our plans. John thrives on this kind home to put on mismatching knee and elbow pads, and, of course, a of thing, and I think he took on our project to satisfy his inner kid. helmet. The test runs went beautifully. This time it was Tyler’s turn to We spent the next several days in his garage sawing, torching, welding test drive our machine. John and I stayed at a spot midway up the hill, and doing various math equations. We cut the front forks off of an and Tyler ascended to the top. He took off with the engine wailing, old mountain bike and welded them onto the back of the scooter, but not yet engaged on the tire (thanks to our new clutch). As he then put the scooter tire in the new forks. This made our scooter passed us doing what we thought to be about 15 mph, John yelled rather long, like a stretch limo. We mounted the engine behind the “Let it go!” Just then Tyler released the clutch and the engine engaged standing deck and strung a chain onto the back tire. Finally, the and thrust him like a space ship into orbit! He soon disappeared moment of truth, and our scooter was ready for a test drive. We high down the street and we listened as the whining of the scooter faded centered it on a brick and started the motor. We had no clutch device, off. Several minutes later, we saw Tyler down the street pushing the so it would have to be started on the run. The engine was screaming, scooter back toward us. When he reached us we yelled and jumped and the back tire was spinning as I kicked the scooter off the brick for joy. “That was awesome! You have to try it!” Tyler said. We spent and took off at a sprint. I ran for probably 20 feet and jumped on the the rest of the week taking turns riding down hills at frightening scooter expecting an amazing ride. To our great amazement, as soon speeds and dreaming of being the first to break the sound barrier on as my weight settled over the scooter, the engine died. My comrades a scooter. came running over, scratching their heads to see what went wrong. Our fun lasted several days until the inevitable happened. Because “Well, try it again!” was the conclusion. We tried again, and again, the deck was so long it would flex and bounce if we didn’t stand every time with the same results. Our poor little weed-eater motor still on it while riding. We had started to gain some confidence and 136 Weber Writes 2010 When Scooter Meets Weed-Eater 137 skill on the scooter, and that’s when accidents usually happen. Tyler came zooming down the street; fearlessly, he bounced up and down to make his ride a little more fun. As the scooter flexed the chain shortened and soon found itself caught in the back tire, sending Tyler flying through the air and sliding across the asphalt. Because of our new-found confidence, we had long since stopped using our protective gear. The scooter hit the curb and bounced high into the air. Tyler ended up limping away with lots of cuts and scrapes, but still living. In the end, that was the price we usually paid for our fun. We weren’t usually successful in our high-speed endeavors until someone was bleeding. Most kids these days spend all their time virtually flying through the air or racing across the ground that they never leave the house to experience it themselves. It’s a sad thing that holes in jeans and scraped elbows are becoming things of the past. As for me, I’m glad that my parents never allowed me to have video games or to watch TV. Bored kids and creativity will go a long way if they are given the chance.