The Grand Finale

Junior themes were turned in this week (well... I HOPE yours were turned in!) and it is honestly such a relief. Its amazing how much there is to learn about every little topic, yet during this project, I truly did realize there is a way to "over-research."

Ask me anything about television in the 1970's and I'm sure I know it! That is a great feeling. On the other hand, after weeks and weeks of reading materials surrounding the same subject line, I am more than ready to move on to The Great Gatsby!

Looking back, I liked the Junior Theme project. I felt it gave each author "wiggle room" to test the limits of their knowledge. Also, I felt that being able to choose your own topic, benefited not only your paper, but also everything you took away from this project.

If I were to do this again, I would change two things. First being, to take full advantage of library time. Second being to spread out the actual writing process over a couple days (suggested 3 or 4) instead of 1 or 2.

I am really proud and excited that its all done!!!

The Golden Gate Bridge...Asking for Suicide?

First. Click HERE and read this article.  It is very powerful and important to read for this blog post!

I hope what you just read strikes you as hard as it struck me. A quote from the article states: "The Golden Gate Bridge is considered one of the world's most popular spot for suicides, with a jump survival rate of only about 2 percent."

Yet it is also one of the most beautiful, elegant and useful structures in the United States?! What! How can the two go together?

In the past ten years the have been almost 300 deaths on the Golden Gate Bridge. Wikipedia says, it is the most popular suicide location in the entire world. Given such a huge number, shouldn't we do something about it? Look at the picture below. Right on a pole on the bridge is a crisis hotline and payphone for anyone to call if suicidal. Is this promoting the bridge as a commonly used suicide location? I'm not sure about how I feel about the sign.

One more thing to notice. See in the picture, how low the red bar is. It is SO easy to jump off of and SO easy to even fall off of! Couldn't California put some sort of net or chain fence a little bit higher? It seems this sign, and the easy access is just asking for trouble.

I felt personally impacted by the story, I, myself have been to the gorgeous Golden Gate many times. It hurts me hear these stories accompanied by shocking statistics. Do you think we are doing enough in prevention? Or have we seemed to "accept" it and moved on?

Glued to the Set

For my junior theme, I am reading a book called Glued to the Set by Steven D. Stark. Its about television shows from the forties, by century, all the way up to the nineties. What I found interesting while reading this book, is to compare eras. For example, "The Dick Van Dyke Show" was a television show that came out in 1961. It was about a very successful suburban couple with an upscale life. It was an all white family, with one son. The show consisted of nights out with friends, bar mitzvahs, etc. An issue on the show was marriage counseling. Nothing much out of the box. Now look at "All in the Family," a show that came out in 1971, ten years after Dick Van Dyke. All in the Family is a sitcom displaying a downscale, lower-middle class lifestyle. Issues like racism, homosexuality, rape, miscarriage, abortion, and war all played a significant role in the show. Now lets look a bit more modern, to "Roseanne" which aired from 1988-1997. This show revolved around a working class family, struggling to get by. A portly mother (Roseanne) and father, two daughters, a son, a crazy aunt, all encompassed the show. Issues such as poverty, alchoholism, teenage pregnancy, race, social class, domestic violence, were all a reality for the family.

It is amazing to me to see such change in television over the years. Yesterday I was talking to a specialist from Columbia College downtown and she strongly believed media reflects a truthful image of our society today. Yet also she said, media has a positive impact on us and the realm of television is the absolute best place for such issues to be discussed. What do you think television says about us? Does media portray the reality of our society?

Looking for an Interviewee?

Glenna just suggested a fabulous site to me, and I figured I would share it with all of you! It is the Northwestern Library.  It lists, by subject, specalists in all sorts of fields! It is extremely inclusive and I'm sure your Junior Theme topic would be there. Here is the site: http://www.library.northwestern.edu/research-help/ask-librarian/subject-specialists. ENJOY!