I'm Just Sayin'

It does my heart good to see that we fared much better on the "you" portion of the social distance survey than we did on the "family" side. This could mean one of two things: either we are much more progressive and open than our families, or none of us have the guts to admit that we wouldn't really date a black person (or a handicapped person, or a Muslim, etc).

I prefer to believe that we all fall down on the progressive side, since it is uncomfortable to believe that we would really let an issue like race or handicap decide who we date or who we choose as friends. For most of us it will turn out to be irrelevant anyway, because the reality is that it is unlikely that any of us are going to have to face an "I love this person but he/she is black/purple/Muslim" situation. So, it's easy for us to say that we would date a person that falls into a certain category when we can be fairly certain that we will never actually have to date a person like that.

I wonder if we are really as different from our families as we would like to believe that we are. Certainly we are more open to different ideas (as evidenced by the results of the survey), but it seems like that could just as easily be a result of youth as it could be of personality. What if we grow out of that? What if when we grow older, we become like the family members that those of us spending time on the "No" side were cursing all day Wednesday? Scary thoughts...

I suppose we should at least get credit for trying. The results of our side of the survey at the very least show us that we know what is the right thing to do. And as our old friend Socrates once said, "To know the good is to do the good," so whether or not we really are as open as we believe that we are, we know that we should be. And that's good enough for me

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

I have to say that I was pretty impressed by the number of cheaters we had in our class. I suppose that it's just one of those shocking statistics that when you really think about it is true, but it sounds a lot worse than it is. It sounds awful to say that 65% of USI Honors students (or at least those in our section of HONS 101), but you also have to look at the actual question that we answered. We were asked, in simple yes or no if we had cheated on anything anytime in the last several years, so even if it were only one question on one homework assignment that we had copied, we answered yes. I'm fairly certain that the numbers of cheaters in our classroom would be much different if we had asked "Did you cheat on more than 10 assignments?" or "Did you cheat on tests or exams?" Personally, I can count on one hand the number of times I copied answers in my last two years of high school, and a can count on zero hands the number since I've been in college.

I've got mixed feelings about the cheating policy. On one hand, I know that there has to be some sort of policy in effect to keep students feeling threatened and oppressed so that they don't cheat on stuff. My left hand knows that in reality, the cheating policy that we have in effect is not enforceable in the real world. You can provide consequences all you want to, but it won't make any difference if you can't catch the scads of people who "work together" on homework assignments, blackboard quizzes, and lab writeups. The policy we have is good, but there needs to be some way to enforce it.

Intentions and Actions: Hot Air Buffoons

Let’s take a stroll down Memory Boulevard, shall we? Think back with me to this time last year. For those of you who are freshman and weren’t on campus at that time, allow me to set the stage a little bit for you.

One year ago today, we were in the heat of one of the wildest presidential elections in the history of the country – or at least in my lifetime. We were living in an economy that was coming apart at the seams, and the media took it upon themselves to blow it way out of proportion, and blame George Bush himself for all of it, apparently hoping to cause a panic that would do away with this nation forever. Fuel prices were up, stocks were down, people were losing their jobs like it was their job (get it?!), and it was impossible to turn on the news without someone telling you that you would be homeless by the end of the week. And in this time of turmoil and panic, we here at the University of Southern Indiana were starting our school year. On campus, people with clipboards prowled around looking for people whom they could register to vote, annoying every single passerby with the same question (“Are you registered to vote?”) for two months straight. Campus political organizations splattered every square of open sidewalk with obnoxious and scathing political smut.

Collegiate students are an interesting group of people when it comes to politics. For some reason, this is the age when people start to become very interested in what is going on in the world and how they can shout loud enough to make positive changes. At this time last year, I distinctly remember that EVERYONE was talking about politics. We took class time out of all classes to talk politics and economics, and it almost always ended in a heated argument between students. Normally, this sort of thing would interest me, but I quickly realized that 99% of all the people that would talk about it had no idea what they were talking about. The people who shouted the loudest and got the most passionate about the issues were almost always the ones that were most in the dark, typically and predictably parroting sentences straight off of late night opinion shows to showcase their poorly formed views as loudly as possible. By the end of the election, I didn’t even care who won. I just wanted the whole stupid mess to be over with so I didn’t have to listen to stupidity anymore.

Now, I’m certain that at heart, each and every one of these ill-informed media puppets really did want to help contribute to a better world; yada, yada, yada. But their actions (i.e. yelling about stuff they have no real information about) were certainly not helpful to what they were trying to do, and usually ended up being counterproductive. I personally considered not voting just because I was so tired of both sides (while standing at the ballot box, I honestly considered doing a write-in vote for Jesus, because heaven knows he could do a better job than either of the candidates, but decided against it).

But what can we do? As young people, there is a part of us that wants to be involved, needs to make the world better, and is looking for a fight. But we have to be careful that what we are saying makes sense and can be backed up, otherwise we are just blowing hot air. I guess what I’m trying to say is: don’t let your actions spoil your intentions.

The Journal With No Topic

I couldn't help it. My blog page looked so bare and despondent without any words on it other than "There are no posts." I had to post something; the sight of the poor thing was about enough to move me to tears.

Last night I watched 300. Love that movie.

Anyway, just thought maybe I'd give an intro to myself. My name is Blake. If I were meeting you in person right now, chances are that I would be shaking your hand. When I shake hands, I like to use both hands, like this, to show that I am doubly excited about meeting you. It also works as a lovely test to see how easily I can make someone feel awkward (because, let's face it: who does the double hand shake these days?).

If you've creeped on my blackboard homepage, you already know all of what I'm about to tell you, but I like to do a lot of different things. Free-running and rock-climbing are my favorite sports. I also enjoy watersports, snow skiing, soccer, hiking, etc. I like to travel, and I plan on studying abroad next fall.

Oh yeah, and I'm a sophomore here at USI, my major is psychology, and I'm from Mt. Vernon, IN. Although my house is only eight miles from the university, I live on campus because I believe that college is in principle, a time that I should not be living with my parents. Although, I love my parents dearly, I couldn't take living with them year round.

The real reason that I'm writing this blog is to procrastinate on my physics homework. However, my next excuse for procrastinating is fast approaching (I'm going to holiday world today), so I think it's about time to wrap this post up.

Peace out,
blake