week 13

"As we are already aware, debate about the Chief continues to be present on campus and among alumni. Being that this is still an issue, Campus Spirit Revival has decided to host a forum titled 'TRADITION OR TRANSITION: A FORUM ON CHIEF ILLINIWEK' on April 16, 2013 from 5-8pm at Greg Hall 213. Here, both sides, pro and anti-Chief will be able to come together and state their reasoning behind having no mascot, having a new mascot, and bringing back the Chief. The main reason for this event is that communication between us and Stop Campus Spirit Revival and other pro-Chief individuals has been going on mainly via facebook and we have come to understand that this type of communication is fertile ground for misunderstandings, so to eliminate this barrier we have created a public forum."

4/16/13
Greg Hall 213
5-8pm

Going into this debate like lecture event I was sure that there would be more of a two sided argument/conversation. I feel as though they didn't really advertise this event very well. They put a poster on the door after the event had already started. If it wasn't for this class I wouldn't have seen or heard anything of it. So not too many people showed up and those that did we mostly if not all pro campus revitalization/ anti chief. They did a good job on presenting their side and giving proof that what  the chief has stood for/portrayed was politically incorrect based on what native american culture it was being pulled from but i feel as though their argument could have been stronger. I really enjoyed/ appreciated the fact that one of the students who has bee the chief and plays a big role in the pro chief movement was there. He wasn't afraid to stand his ground even though he was being bombarded with questions and rebuttals. I tended to agree or consider more of the points he was making just because he seemed to be more neutral and talking about ways that the chief could possible work if the proper changes were made. The issue itself is super touchy and everyone has their own opinion and ways that they may be personally affected but for this kind of topic to go anywhere alot more research and work has to be done. some people there seemed to be very one sided and  tended to not want to listen to the opposing side or they would say their tid bit and then leave so they wouldn't have to deal with any comments coming back. this forum went on for three hours and although i finally got alot more information and background on the topic nothing was really settled, it wouldnt be able to be this topic is at a much higher jurisdiction at this point. i left understanding more of the topic/argument and glad that i went to this event even if it wasn't perfect it was still insightful.

week 12

"Evolution of Life Histories, Indeterminate Growth, and Perceptions of Age in Turtles"
Dr. Justin Congdon - Savannah River Ecology Lab
Apr 9, 2013
3:00 pm 
1816 S. Oak St Champaign, IL


This lecture was in research park so right off the bat I knew it was going to be something new since I never had to go there once except for the ceramics studios. The lecture room was filled with older aged people except for Molly Anne and I . Dr. Justin Congdon was an outdoorsy looking old man who was quite comical. He balanced his findings and charts with comedic lines or pictures to break up the slides. He began the lecture talking about his time studying the growth and development of various turtle breeds at the Savannah River ecology laboratory. with all the charts and evidence provided i felt like i was back in a high school science class or looking at the questions in the science portion of the ACT (that scared me a bit). it was interesting to learn that just because the turtle is larger doesn't necessarily mean that it is older. he focused more so on female turtles then on male turtles so someone asked "well don't males count? and he responded with a joke that he heard at a colleges lecture "to ten sometimes"." overall even though a lot of the scientific terminology was hard to follow i was still able to have a grasp of what was going on (the charts and comical set up helped a lot) it was an interesting lecture and i think it was all because of the way dr. congdon presented it. it was short to the point and comical allowing for the audience to remain focus and interest.

Week 11

April 2nd 2013
7:00
YMCAScreening of "City of Borders"
[City of Borders goes inside the vibrant community at the only gay bar in Jerusalem where people of opposing nationalities, religions, and sexual orientations create a sanctuary among people typically viewed as each other’s enemy. Co-sponsored by the LGBT Resource Center and Building Bridges. ]

Going into to this screening i thought that it would focus most on this club life or the bar in general. But after watching the movie actually goes into a lot more. The documentary follows about 3-4 main characters and what their lives are like as a LGBT in Jerusalem. They focused a lot on the borders, walls and fences that not only separate Jerusalem from Palestine but also separating the different religious groups within the country as well. they also show a lot of the violence that is brought upon not only by these religious differences but also from anti gay rioters. one gay man got stabbed multiple times during a pride protest/parade another received 300 plus threatening phone calls not only to his cell put to his parents house for having beliefs that were different then others, another received mail with questionable powder inside; the in general violence was unbelievable, to fight over something as silly as differing beliefs.

a quote that one of the charters said that stood out was " I prefer to die my life then live my death" she was a strong supporter of anti violence and a member of the LGBT community.

Another scene people on the street were being asked there opinions of being gay. Their responses:
they should be in jail
they are contaminating the beauty of the city
its against the lord/religious beliefs

one thing that shocked me most because i didn't know this fact before hand was when one character moved to the states and was talking about marriage in the future with his partner. even if they moved to a state where gay marriage was legal his partner still wouldn't be able to sponsor him for a green card even after they were legally married! because the laws for immigration are different depending on if you are gay or straight.

overall it was an insightful and interesting documentary that i didn't mind watching.

Week Ten

St.Germaine Eighth grade presentation of The Passion of Christ
St. Germaine Passion Play
Thursday 12:30, Thursday 7:00 friday 7:00 (i went to both)
9735 S Kolin Ave Oak Lawn, IL 60453
(708) 425-6063

The passion Play is something St. Germaine School has been doing for years (i was in it back in 2006) the play is a two hour lip syncing performance where the eighth graders act out the parts of the passion of christ. They show the baptism the choosing of disciples, the last supper the call before king harod and pontius Pilate the crucifixion and the resurrection etc. each year they change up the songs a bit to keep them a little more current. i feel as though there were hardly any of the same songs from when i was in it and that wasn't that long ago. Because i was a student at St. Germaine and i still have siblings there i have seen the play a lot so i knew what to expect but i brought my boyfriend along and he didn't know it was going to be as long as it did and didn't think the kids would get into their parts a much as they did. he sort of couldnt contain himself from laughing at how into some students got, which is understandable if i saw a bunch of eighth graders lip syncing a bunch of songs and exaggerating their dance moves and other movements i too wouldnt able to contain myself from giggling.
for the past few years i have also been helping my mom decorate the lobby of the gym for the preformance so i did that as well and helped take it down after.
after watching my brother's i went home and actually watched mine to compare the two...i thought mine was better :) but his was still enjoyable to watch and entertaining and filled with adolescent awkwardness too. i have one more sibling left that has yet to preform in the Passion Play (4/5) and cant wait to see how his will be in a few years.

 girls we babysit and cousin (in middle)

 brother as a leaper wanting to be cured

 gangham style Harod scene

 brother as the solider whipping Jesus
 brother as lead solider

some of my family (dad, second youngest brother, third youngest brother, me, younger sister) mom was talking and younger brother away at marquette.

week 9

jack Buser, Senior Director of Digital Platforms, Sony PlayStation

"Gaming is for Grown-Ups: A View of the Industry"

going into this event yeah i knew i would be out of place because i for one do not consider myself a "gamer" or at least the anti social type that plays for endless hours each day. the event took place in Everett lab and was filled with pretty much all males. the speaker was a younger guy who got a job out of college with Dolby sourround sound for ten years and hes been at Playstation for five. I feel as though even though i couldn't directly relate and consider mysel a gamer the speaker found ways to include every type of person along with all the different types of games and markets (interactive,mobile, etc).
the speaker was also a graduate of the university so i feel that he knew what to tell the crowd. he was very personable and was in the same classroom and situation himself not to long ago. so i didnt mind listening to what he had to say. the lecture wasnt boring, i found myself listening to everything that he said. but one thing that stood out to me most was when he said to "apply your passion" and go with it. meaning do what you love and you will be happy. he loved playing video games and working with sound and such so he made a career out of it.

at the end they had free food and prizes but it was a madhouse so we left before getting trapled by gamers.

week eight

Tesla Coil Concert

Barden Quad 

Friday March 8th 9pm

Im glad that I decided to go to this event even if it was late on a friday night. It was something new, exciting and entertaining. There were tons of people there and they had the main stage area roped off. After witnessing the first song i kinda wish i brought my good camera out rather then just my phone. They took requests and had a mix of popular tunes and one that the creator/guy in charge (i don't know what you would call him) came up with on his own. for a few of the songs they did additional show trixs. for one they had someone dressed as Frankenstine walk in-between the electrical charge allowing the charge to go through his hands and bolt like glow sticks they had connected to his neck. for another they brought out a slab with lightbulbs attached and when the electrical charge went through that the light bulbs turned on. overall this was one of the better events that i attended and didn't regret going to at all. it was a cool experience.

week 7

UI University Band and UI Campus Band
Tuesday, March 5th 2013
7:30pm 4$ student price
@ Foellinger Great Hall

This was a nice change of pace from the lectures/events that we have been going to last few weeks. i have never been to a classical music like concert so this was something different/new from what i would typically attend. i enjoyed it and thought it was both relaxing and entertaining. i found myself thinking what type of movie this song would be playing in pretty much the whole time which i strange but that was just one of the ways i was able to make connections with what was going on. i also focused in on the director and the musicians that looked really into the music. the motions they made really showed me just how much work they put into their piece and how deeply they are moved by what they are doing.
It wasn't a huge crowd but it was still an enjoyable experience where i didn't feel uncomfortable to be there or felt singled like the last few lectures. i wouldn't mind attending more lectures like this.