So I've just watched the video link Dr. Ingvoldstad posted on Cornel West talking about Barack Obama and Colorblindness. I must say I found it a very interesting speech. I like the way West criticizes people for calling themselves colorblind, because it is very true, there really isn't any way to look at a person and not notice the color of their skin. A person can choose to ignore it, or not care what color it is, but they still know the color. I think it makes a very interesting point, one that I interpreted, to show say that some people are just afraid to acknowledge racial differences at the risk of being tagged as a racist, when instead they should just choose to acknowledge another person's skin color and then move on and accept the difference.

I also enjoyed West's critique of all those who celebrated the first black President even though they claimed to be so called colorblind. I thought that this made a good point on whether or not people actually make political choices on qualifications or upon race.

I just wish that I had been able to hear more of what he thought of Obama, since the video seemed to skip over that part. It would be very interesting to hear what his view of him was, considering he is a big figure in racial equality.

History Department

So I realized something today that I found rather interesting. The is a vast difference in ratios of minority to whites in the History department, at least as far as I can tell. Bridgewater may not have a very high population of minorities, but I do believe that the differences aren't that extreme. That being said, their are not a lot of minority students in the History Department, or at least in all the History classes that I have taken as a History Major, which are quite a few. For that matter, I can't remember a high population of minorities when I was Political Science major for a year and half either. I wonder why that is. I am assuming that the majority of the students in our Comm 300 class are Communication majors, so let me ask you what proportion of minorities you find? Am I totally wrong about the population of minorities at Bridgewater? Is the ratio that different?

Non-Dramas

I would like to again touch upon a post by my friend Mike Mullen. In one of his recent blogs, he started talking about the treatment of women on television, and also the treatment of women in the workforce. This caused me to think a little bit, and I realized that, you do not see a lot of situational comedies on television where a woman is cast in the lead role. Sure they are all over the place in drama tv, but not in situational comedies. The last one I can think of is Ellen's show, back in the nineties sometime. I mean I could be wrong on this, and if I am feel free to point it out. But I thought it tied into our class a bit. I mean I really don't know off the top of my head what the nation-wide ratio of man to woman is, so I can't say if they are in fact a minority, but they do still sometimes get treated as such, and under-represented. And I just thought that was interesting.

Facebook and twitter

Why do people constantly feel the need to update their status on facebook and twitter to tell people what they are doing every second of the day? It seems entirely unnecessary. Is it the people are afraid that they are not connected to others without this? Or is it simply the fact that sports-stars, and music stars started to do it that it became a trend?

Also, what are with all the apps that facebook now has. It used to be such a simple site where people could connect with old friends from high school or college. Now it has turned into this craze where you get 12 different requests a day asking for either silly Mafia Wars, where you "kill" people, or even fake food fights. It all seems to pointless, and quite sad that people spend so many hours a day on this site, that they can't find anything else to occupy their time with. Will it eventually come down to us never leaving our computer chair, and we just communicate through the internet and experience life through it as well?

Something I just don't understand

Television and other media outlets, have portrayed African Americans in a poor light. They have shown them to be poor, and unfortunately ignorant. Yet for some reason, certain groups of people seem to idolize it. They wind up copying their style of dress, and their language. Which if you ask me, perpetuates the problem. What further boggles my mind is when people who aren't even from poor urban areas decide to follow this style as well. What is so appealing about it all? Why aren't people more individual?

The Ticking Clock

Time is the cruelest and most fickle thing. It's only been a week and a half into the semester, yet I already feel like I have been here for a month. Four and a half years at college is a semester too long. The college scene no longer holds any excitement, it no longer holds any thrills. It just something that's dragging along, making me wish for a change of scenery.

It's funny too. Because the first four years flew by, always too fast, and it was the summers that dragged on. Now it's the exact opposite. The even more cruel twist is the fact that my grandmother was just diagnosed with cancer of the spine and has 6 to 12 months left. And of course this means that at the same time that I want the clock to spin faster, so I can leave the monotony of college, and move on with my life, I don't want it to move at all so my grandmother won't pass on. Then again, now that I think about it, it would probably be better for her, because she is probably in a lot of pain.

Life is a cruel sometimes.

Problems persist

It came to my attention tonight while watching a movie, that the problem of minorities not being represented in the media is still prominent, despite what some might believe. A lot of the hit movies of this decade and previous decades, do not feature minorities as the main characters. And if they do, they are from lower class families and from the poorer sections of urban areas. Also they tend to be hooligans in some sort of dance movie as well, or part of a gang or something. Now I realize this is the whole point of the class I am taking, but I thought that maybe we had progressed some. Unfortunately it appears we have not, and it is very similar to when minorities were stereotyped as being lazy and foolish in those old television programs when the color line was first being crossed. It is really a shame that we have not progressed further than we should have.

A Cry for the Weary

First I would like to start by making a correction in my last blog. Apparently Richard Seymour becomes a free agent after this season, on that account I was wrong. So I suppose that the trade makes a little more sense than it did before.

I would like to blog a little about what Mike Mullen blogged on earlier. Healthcare reform is something that this country has needed for a long while. And people seem to oppose on principle, just because they are Republican and Obama is a democrat. That is not to say that the Democratic Party has not been guilty of such things in the past, which is wrong as well. People need to realize that this country is in rough rough shape right now and its time for stupidity like that to stop. We need to stop and actually think through the problems and solutions proposed and figure out what's best for the country overall, rather than just a select few. We are all citizens of this country, and the welfare of the country rests on all of us. Even the poorest people of this country matter, they wind up doing the things the rich would be appalled to do. They are the invisibles who support this country with their blue collar work, yet people don't seem to care about them, and think they are worthless.

It is very sad to see. Hopefully it things will turn around and the country will start to work together to repair itself. And hopefully, if that doesn't happen, it won't collapse upon its self with a horrible outcome for all.

Crap I am so far behind

I can't remember a time in my four and a half years at BSC where I have ever fallen behind so quickly in any of my classes. I have just had so much to do in this first week that I've been having trouble keeping up with it all, which is why this is my first post. Hopefully I can catch up and keep up because I do not want my last semester to ruin me, nor do I really want to fail and stay another semester.

I might be one of the few who recommend this, especially at this time, when the economy is horrible but I would recommend not attending more than four years. It is so weird being on campus when all of your close friends, that you've known for four years, have all graduated and moved on with their lives. And I always feel so old when I'm walking around campus thinking, "wow I'm in my ninth semester," especially when I see all the freshmen around campus, and man there are a lot of them.

Anyway, as I finish up my last blog, I would just like to make a rant that I think many New England sports fans can share. What the heck is going on with the Patriots? They are making horrible decisions without Scott Pioli. They made a horrible horrible deal with Kansas City, Cassel and Vrabel for what was it? A second round pick, disgusting, Vrabel is worth much more than that, and Cassel showed a lot of potential last season. Now what do they do, they trade Richard Seymour for a first round draft pick in 2011? I mean, I realize that this opens up cap room they are worried about, but I mean come on, They could've waited a season, he doesn't become a free agent until after next season. But I could be wrong on that one. Anyway, hopefully Bill knows what he is doing.