Jessie Daniel Ames Lecture

I recently attended the Jessie Daniel Ames lecture, which was given by Silvia Henriquez, the executive director for the National Institute for Reproductive Health. The lecture was entitled, “Advancing a National Movement for Reproductive Justice,” a title that did not at first make me want to attend. In hindsight, I am very happy that I did attend, as the speech was very informative and well-executed to show exactly how reproductive rights are being affected by the national discourse surrounding illegal immigration. In addition, I am glad that I have waited until now to write this post, as our national government is currently facing the prospect of a shutdown due to the House of Representative’s inability to come to an agreement on the new budget and one of the main issues surrounding this is the Republican-proposed defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood provides free gynecological/obstetrician services and abortions, in addition to their counseling and family planning services. The topic of abortion is why the Republican Party wishes to defund Planned Parenthood as they say taxpayers should not be funding these procedures. Henriquez’ words ring extremely true now and I can’t help feeling that attacking the ideological issue of abortion is a simply a ruse to defund a program that provides medical services to individuals without health insurance, a large portion of whom are minorities, including Latinas.

Henriquez referenced the anti-immigration bill that Arizona passed and the rhetoric that emerged from that bill. She made the claim that the anti-immigration rhetoric of the bill became, essentially, anti-Latino rhetoric. She also referenced bills currently in the works in many southwestern states that seek to abolish the granting of U.S. citizenship to babies born to mothers living in the United States illegally, the so-called “anchor baby” bills. Not only would this be a violation of the U.S. Constitution, but also a major blow to the reproductive rights of all women in the United States. These bills are clearly aimed at Latino individuals, who having the highest birthrates of any demographic group in the country.

These bills are happening on a state level obviously, but supporting these bills while also supporting the defunding of Planned Parenthood seems counterintuitive to me. If Planned Parenthood is defunded, not only would many women without health insurance not be able to obtain proper medical attention during their pregnancies, but they would also lose the place that can provide them with free birth control as to prevent unwanted pregnancy in the first place. Henriquez was right when she stated these bills have turned blatantly anti-Latino, and I would go so far as to label anyone who supports these bills as racists.

If Planned Parenthood is defunded, the message our country would be sending is that we don’t care about babies. We would leave thousands and thousands of women without proper pre-natal care and depriving their unborn children the care that is offered to every pregnant woman with health insurance. In essence, because of the abortion issue, we would not only be endangering the life of the unborn children, but also the lives of the pregnant mothers-to-be. I am ashamed at this moment to think that there are people in this country who would use an ideological, personal belief as a basis for deciding the fates of countless underprivileged individuals. Though I found the prospect horrible upon first hearing it at the lecture, now that it is a tangible reality, I am sick at my stomach. Whoever reads this, please take the time to contact your congressman and demand that he support the reproductive rights of American women. I’m not sure how much good it would do if the Republican-proposed budget is already passed upon your reading of this post, but I do know that it can never hurt to stand up for something you believe in.

Brady

UPDATE: Budget passed before midnight, Planned Parenthood funding intact :)

Brown Symposium

Hello all! Let me start off by stating my elation that this year's Brown Symposium was immensely more entertaining than last year's. I hope that this pattern continues in the future so that individuals such as myself can actually find something about which to write a blog.

That said, it still wasn't how I'd choose to spend my time if I had a choice in the matter. The topic this year was Salons and the culture that surrounds them. I watched two salons, the first and the final and felt that both times, the speakers got held up on small facets of the topics and didn't fully embrace the conversational style.

In the first salon, the conversants discussed the intersection of religion, art and science. The moderator showed an depiction of a genetically altered mouse that is used in cancer research, but showed it with a slightly human form and a crown of thorns adorning its head. It was depicted in a strange standing/sitting position in a box (?) surrounded by viewing holes with many human viewers looking in on the scene. I thought that the image didn't really serve to establish a good starting off point in the conversation, or at least it wasn't one which tickled my fancy. Despite all my criticism, there were aspects about the salon I did enjoy. Jonah Lehrer was witty and informative in his response about where our morality comes from. If only I could say the same for all the conversants, some of whom seemed merely to enjoy hearing themselves speak.

By the time the second salon rolled around on Friday, I'd had lots of time to talk to others about the salons and realized that my issues with the salon were not unique. Many others talked about the forced nature of the salons in comparison with a conversation. I thought there was too much of a desire to maintain good relations with everyone, which resulting in no one expressing anything that would step on the toes of others in the salon. The second salon was about arts, ethics and public policy, and was just as interesting as it sounds (not). This conversation seemed especially forced, and I later learned that some of the conversants had been given an order in which to speak. My biggest problem with this salon was that it got hung up on discussing funding for the arts, which I feel is important but doesn't nearly encompass the broad scope of topics from which the conversants could have chosen.

Again, let me state that I feel this year was an immense improvement over last year's symposium, and I appreciate the exploration of salons and what they can offer a learned society. I just don't feel that what I saw was an adequate representation of the power of conversation and how it can actually help one realize how they truly feel about a particular issue or topic. I must not be the only one who has engaged in a conversation thinking one thing only to emerge on the other side holding completely different opinions. I didn't see anything of this nature occur. Also, I had a problem with the introductions for each person as they seem to have been unnecessarily lengthy (I can express my precise sentiment in our next meeting).

All in all, this Brown Symposium was not as good as my first two, but wildly better than my third (last year's). It gives me hope that the next couple of years will be even better, especially with Dr. G's year approaching!

Au revoir,

Brady

Activists Speak!

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this year's Activists Speak event, and not just because of the free sandwiches, though I'll admit they did help. I feel that this year's topic was a very timely one considering the many news reports involving instances of bullying perpetrated against young gay people in our schools and towns, with some of the bullying ending with the students taking their own lives. There is an obvious problem with the way that bullying is viewed by school officials and parents of the students involved as well. Though new efforts to combat bullying have been initiated in many school districts, they are basically just addressing the problem as opposed to the cause.

This event addressed the cause. I, along with the rest of my cohort, attended two sessions on the issues of homophobia and men and violence. The first session explored the many different PC terms that have gained widespread usage in connection to the issue of homophobia as well as soliciting personal experience with homophobia from some of the audience members. I came away from this session feeling that too much time was given to explaining terms such as heteronormativity, as opposed to focusing on specific actions one could take in order to combat homophobia in their everyday life.

The second session focused more on encouraging the raising of boys in a way that doesn't cause them to associate violence and aggressiveness with masculinity. Not only this, but teaching them that expressing their emotions is healthy and necessary to their emotional well-being. I felt that this session did a better job of providing solutions to situations that one might encounter. We were even provided with a list of steps that men could take to end acts of gender violence.

All in all, I felt that this event was a major success, especially when I compare it to my past experiences with the event, when it was held in a much smaller room with a small attendance. I'm incredibly proud of the work that the Office of Civic Engagement is doing at our school and in the surrounding community. Events like this one shine a spotlight on the causes of the recent bullying epidemic as opposed to just talking about what a shame it is that we have this problem. By providing events that propose solutions and by having the kind of conversations that talks like this encourage, we are getting closer to addressing the problem than ever before. It is my hope that gender violence is an issue that will garner more attention at the city, state, national and global levels, and that curriculums will be initiated in schools worldwide to help educate the children on gender equality and the dangers of things like homophobia. Hopefully, my children will live in a world where this issue is a non-issue, or at least one in which it is not at the forefront of the national psyche.

Semi-Coherent Ramblings

Author's Note: The following is an exercise in stream of consciousness writing. Owing to the mental condition of the author when written, it might not follow in a logical pattern, but trust me, he was trying to get somewhere with it.

It's the week before finals and the week of my Capstone presentation. I am going absolutely crazy, like raving mad. The light at the end of the tunnel is so close I can almost feel it bathing my skin in it's effervescent glow. Yet, at the same time, I'm sitting here fumbling around in the darkness, hoping that my legs stay underneath me and allow me to continue heading towards the light. Again, I'm not sure I can over-emphasize the madness that has descended on my existence.

The one comforting thing about this madness is knowing that there are plenty of people wearing straight jackets right along with me. Feeling crazy is one thing, but feeling crazy along with other people makes it seem as if we have all contracted a temporary virus that has afflicted our ability to perceive reality as it truly is, or to question if that's even possible. See, who writes crazy thoughts like that on a blog post?!

This week, the week before finals, has always been a particularly trying one for me. My first semester at Southwestern, 3 years ago, this week saw me crying hysterically in the Wal-Mart parking lot while on the phone with my mother. It got better after that semester, but that same hysteria seems to be creeping back into my life. I anticipate having a hysterical crying moment sometime in the next week, just hope you're not the person around me when it happens. For safety's sake, better carry a package of tissues in your pocket, just in case.

How do I sum up the fall semester of my senior year? I have always felt that the only person who stands in the way of me doing something I set my mind to is myself. This semester has seen me question that notion. What if I truly don't have what it takes to make it through? I've never doubted my ability with regards to school, but I have found myself doing so several times in the past couple of months.

In the first couple of weeks of my Capstone class, I seriously considered dropping my Communication major to a minor and keeping only my other major, Spanish. Then I thought about all the years of hard work and studying I have put in to get to this point and wouldn't allow myself to quit. At this very moment, I regret that decision, but I won't come next Tuesday when I drop off the final copy of this godforsaken assignment. That's the light that's keeping me going. As long as I keep my eyes glued to the only source of hope in the darkness, I've got a chance of making it through.

In case you, too, find yourself in a dark tunnel with a light at the end, would you mind walking with care, as it's quite possible I could be on the ground rocking back and forth in the fetal position? If you find me, please just grab the collar of my shirt and drag me along with you. I might need the assistance.

Insanely,

Brady

Off-Campus Activity Blog

For my off-campus activity, I chose to attend the Up the Chisholm Trail Cattle Drive & Chuckwagon Cook-off, presented by the Williamson Museum. It was held on Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th of September at San Gabriel Park here in Georgetown. I attended on Saturday, mostly because my friend Kelly was using my camera to take pictures and asked me if I was free to attend with her. I'm glad I did, as it allowed me to take a step back in Texas history and my own history.

The Chisholm Trail is the cattle driving trail that led from ranches in Texas to railways in Kansas, where the cattle were distributed to buyers. Interestingly enough, the town where I graduated high school, Ozona, Texas, is also located on one of the main feeder trails to the Chisholm trail. At the event, they hold a miniature version of the cattle drives that occurred during the trail's heyday. They also, as the title of the event would indicate, hold a chuckwagon cookoff that requires that participants be dressed in period costumes, attire that would have generally been found on the ranch-hands that drove the cattle north along the trail.

I mentioned earlier that going to the event was a step back in time in my personal history as well. I grew up outside Lubbock, Texas, for 12 years of my life and have been many a time to Texas Tech University's National Ranching Heritage Center, where there are chuckwagon cooks who demonstrate the cooking typical to the ranch lifestyle. There is also a museum that shows important dates in the history of ranching in the United States.

I went many times to the Center because my family on my mother's side were farmers for many years. Now, the family farm is a state-designated wildlife habitat. My mom has a few of the old farm "relics," like barbed wire and picture frames made from the the barn doors. It's interesting to me how quickly the world has progressed in terms of technology and output potential. If my family hadn't moved away from the farm due to the effects of the Dust Bowl, they would probably have delved further into debt trying to maintain a lifestyle when big corporations could produce the same crop at a fraction of the cost. That, however, is a thought best left to discuss another day.

Though I am only now getting around to writing this blog, I am sitting here wondering why I left it until the last minute as I always do. I didn't have much stress about school during September and I now have more than I feel I can handle. The life of rancher, riding a horse up a dusty trail sounds appealing in contrast to all this hard work I'm doing in pursuit of my degree. Then I remember that I would be sleeping outside on the ground and not showering for days on end and snap back to reality.

Brady

On-Campus Activity Blog

For my on-campus activity, I chose to attend the lecture over magic that was given by Dr. Larry Hass last Monday, November 15. I was joined in attendance by two of our cohort members, Dr. G and Steven. When I read the description of the event, I thought it definitely sounded like something that would be interesting to write a blog post about. When I left the event, I did so with many ideas about which to write, though none of them fit my original expectations.

The best way to describe the magic show portion of his show is how Steven characterized it as we walked through the Bishop's Lounge after leaving the event. He said, "When someone starts out with card tricks, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the performance." That statement accurately describes the rest of the magic performance. At one point, he put his hand and a deck of cards under a handkerchief that he had draped over his hand. I find that if a magician has to hide (outright) the trick, then I can no longer extend my disbelief enough to think that he has performed something that I cannot explain. Not to berate the man, but I'm just trying to give an idea of my view of the magic show.

Though he was far from the best magician I've seen, his ideas about what we stand to learn from the study of magic were intriguing. The "everyday magic" that we perform are the things we do that seem to have an effect that we cannot explain, such as shushing a baby soothingly to soften their cries. I didn't interpret this as magic, but I would like to see it as more than just a sound that soothes them. One connection he touched on, but didn't develop as fully as I would have liked was the function that magic serves in teaching us that some things cannot be explained on the surface, but in experiencing them, we learn to look at the world in different ways. Or, at least, that's what I gleaned from the lecture.

I also saw that the Communication Studies department was co-sponsoring the event, in addition to other departments. I enjoy the co-departmental events because I feel they bring a wider perspective to an event. However, this event was rather boring and I am having a hard time finding connections to any of the communication classes I have taken thus far in my time here at Southwestern.

I really found no meaningful connection to the event and though I didn't think it was awful, it definitely missed the mark and failed to live up to my fairly low expectations. That said, I think the kind of academic questions events like this one bring up are helpful and assist us in broadening our academic horizons, being open to new ideas and ways of thinking. That's what a lecture should be about, and in its goals, this event accomplished that.

Brady

Mid-Semester Progress Report

Hey all,

As with everyone else in the group, this semester has been so busy for me that I have hardly had the time to reflect on anything I've done thus far. I've simply been living day-to-day and sleeping on the weekends only. I wasn't anticipating being nearly as stressed out or busy as I have been, so I quit my summer job (that I wanted to keep) within a couple of weeks of starting the semester. To sum up, senior year is hard.

I'm currently doing my Capstone in Communication Studies and it is easily the hardest paper I've ever written. As I told you all previously, I'm doing my paper on the HBO television show True Blood. I've written the literature review and have the rest of the paper sans the conclusion due next week. To clarify my topic, I'm attempting to comment on notions of citizenship as they are brought up in the show. Specifically, I'm using the Great Revelation on the show - vampires revealing their existence to the world due to the invention of synthetic blood by Japanese scientists - as an event in the Badiou sense, meaning that it was an "event" that restructured the way that we look at reality, thus laying bare the social constructs that existed all along, but were simply hiding underneath the surface. I'm not so certain as to how successful I am in achieving my goals, but I am trying harder than I ever have to say something that is valuable to the academic community as a whole. I hope that when I present the fruits of my labor at the beginning of December, people will see my research as contributing to a larger community of media scholars. I'm currently in freak-out mode, death con level 7. But, besides wanting to throw all of my materials from the class into a deep crevasse, it's going pretty well. But, I really don't like talking about Capstone, at all. So, let's move on to something more pleasant.

I have really enjoyed the conversations we've been having in class this semester. I think the complete, smaller group is nice and allows me to get to know more about each person than I would if the class was still as large as when we began Paideia. I thought the conversation we had involving Laurel's reading was interesting, because I didn't initially take the same concepts from the reading as others seemed to. We spoke about the chauvinist assumptions in German modern art (during the same time period) that dictated that women could not make the same art as men, even questioning the ability of them to be artistic. Thus, German art from the modernist period is still evolving as a movement as we move further and further away from those chauvinist assumptions. I also like how our conversations embrace the tangents that arise during discussion, as opposed to always trying to get back on track. I think this more closely mirrors everyday conversation that one might have in a similar, non-school setting. In this, I see Paideia as being incredibly valuable because it does something that no other class at this school does. It allows genuine conversation to develop and then the participants get to decide in which direction to take the class.

In all, I can't wait for this semester to be over.

Brady