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!

 

3rd Quarter Comes to an End

Bolos and OC,
Please read Who Have We Become? I think I triggered a lot of interesting comments, which is a bloggers dream come true!

Spring Break...AKA...Mental Health Week?

Hi all. Spring break is nearing, so I figured I better whip out a blog post before its too late! I'm sure you all have exciting plans, whether traveling or staying home, this break is most definetly needed and deserved.

I was glancing through the calendar earlier (yes, procrastinating), and noticed that in the school year of 2010 (from August to December) we had exactly 3 days off school, combined with 2 early dismissals and 2 late arrivals. In the year 2011 (from January until now) we have had 1 day off, 0 early dismissals, and 0 late arrivals. Why such a polar difference? Lets not forget how we lucked out with those two snow days during that grueling febuary month.

Anyway, my point is school is hard! And weve had a tough winter. So take this spring break as a refreshing, new start. Take a break from those junior themes (Yikes dont kill me for saying that OC and BOLOS!) and relax. Time is officially...on your side.

Follow Up on Huck Finn and the N-Word

On sixty minutes tonight there was a story on the new version of Huck Finn without the N-word, and all the controversy behind it. I strongly suggest you check it out at this site: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7360250n or click HERE for link.

Why?

Why why why why. That seems to be all I have been hearing the past week in AIS. The world is so complicated with so many "why" questions. Why is the sky blue? Why are basketball players tall? Why does electricity work? All of those have definite answers. But what if you start to ask questions that have multiple why answers...? or maybe no answer at all...?!

That is our assignment for junior theme this year. I have found it VERY interesting to see the topics fellow students have come up with, for example, students have delved into controversial topics like Racism, Hybrid Energy, Assisted Suicide, Genes, TV Tokenism, War on Terror etc. The first step in the paper is to ask "Why Questions." I found it very helpful to come up with multiple why questions so you don't get stuck on just one. Also, given the fact that the paper must be 5-7 pages...it is crucial that you cover different angles of your topic and ADDRESS THE OTHER SIDE! If your struggling with this part, I do have one tip... Do some background info on your topic BEFORE you narrow in on a why question. There are very useful online databases that give general information about topics. You need to be sure you can write 5-7 pages!!


In summary, this junior theme project has amazed me! "We've Got Issues," its called, and it surely is true about America. The class of AIS is the perfect setting to ask yourself: WHY?