hybridity of culture example

The movie Slumdog Millionaire is a great example of a hybridity of culture. Slumdog Millionaire took the idea of an American game show as the plot of its movie and integrated an amazing plot line that discussed the culture of India. The movie, also produced by Bollywood, an adapted version of the American Hollywood, another great example of a hybridity of culture spread quickly throughout the world and won several international awards as well as the academy award for best picture, the first time a foreign film won the academy award over a Hollywood produced film. I personally loved this film and found it not only to be extremely entertaining, but also very eye opening to some of the culture of India.

Green Disturbance

My green disturbance was putting up a sign on the Danieley L bulletin board that said "each adult will leave a legacy of 900000 lbs of trash. This quote shocked me and I figured posting it on the bulletin board would catch some people's attention since it is surrounded by other important announcements that people need to read as well. Over all I did catch some people looking at the quote and one of my suite mates did ask me about the quote and addressed how shocking that was. It did catch the attention of many people but over all I think more action needs to be taken to really motivate people to make a change, something really drastic and "in your face", to really get people shocked and set into action.

New York Times Article on Beaven

I think that Kolbert's argument about eco-stunts, although very well written, was overly judgmental about Beaven's experiment. However, Kolbert, at the end of her article, did present some good, and possibly more productive ideas that could be taken that Beaven may have let slide, for instance the heating in his building, and simply not worrying about taking the elevator, and instead taking the elevator up to his office floor to tell them how to be more green. Although much of this article seems to have a tone of mockery, it still makes some good points in regards to some of the errors of Colin Beaven, but over all is overly judgmental.

I do agree with some aspects of Kolbert's article, although I do feel she is overly critical of these eco-stunts. I agree that, even though what Colin Beaven and others such as the Green as a Thistle website are trying to do, which is to promote going green and at least try and do one green thing a day, that they often turn out to be hypocritical, going green in some aspects and yet allowing the heat to be on even in warm days in their offices, or let other things slide to live a comfortable life while they go green in easier more suitable aspects. Kolbert's statement that many people all over the world, especially those in poor areas of the world, live much greener lives than Colin Beaven also shows that the way he is living is still luxurious and causing pollution and harm to the earth, even if he is cutting down on his impact a little. However, I do feel that he does a good job of making no impact, and his effort and documentary have produced some good effects in the green movement.

Although it can seem foolish of Beaven to even try to go green, the fact that he is does help the global community and the green movement in ways that Kolbert undermines. Beaven's documentary, although highly criticized, did make many people aware of what he was trying to do and what many people should be aiming to do which is to go green and cut down on their impact on the environment. He was able to go onto tv shows, have radio interviews and also write a book, touching on several areas of media and spreading his message, definately leaving an impact on how not to make an impact. Also, websites like Green as a Thistle help make people not only aware of the problem, but present easy ways, easier and less drastic than Colin's at least, for people to go green and make less of an impact on the environment.

Colin Beaven did have some flaws in his plan to go green as Kolbert points out, but he did make much less of an impact on the environment and also created a healthier living environment for his family at the same time. His wife's pre-diabetic state was cured by how healthy they were eating and this also in turn supported the local farms. He definitely cut down on his electric bill and refusing to use certain means of transportation also cut down on his gas emissions and his bill. Over all, I feel Beaven created less of an impact than Kolbert gives him credit for.

Kolbert does raise some good arguments against Colin, claiming he is slightly hypocritical and that his no impact goal was not all that "non-impactful" but I still feel that she is too judgmental of these so called eco-stunts and that they are more than just stunts. These people such as Beaven and websites such as Green as a Thistle help not only in ideas to go green but also get more and more people to create less of an impact by making them aware of the situation. I think Kolbert's article is well written and makes some good statements but does not fully appreciate what Colin Beaven and other people are trying to accomplish in creating less of an impact.

This piece of trash used to be a plastic cookie container. However, once the cookies are gone, it can be used in many useful ways including a handy storage device for things other than those delicious chocolate chip cookies. I took the plastic container, got all the crumbs out of the bottom, and took all my receipts from my debit card and stacked them in the cookie container, not only recycling plastic, but also all those receipts people leave lying around everywhere or that are thrown on the ground outside of stores. It also serves as a great way to keep track of your debit or credit card purchases for your records!

Neil Shubin Presentation - Cultural Event 1

Neil Shubin, an experienced fish pantologist, gave a rather interesting and unique speech a couple nights ago in McCrary Theater about an interesting discovery he and his partners made regarding a fossilized skeleton of a missing link they were searching for in the evolution of fish to land animals. The talk was interesting to listen to especially since it was in an area I am not quite familiar with and also since his discovery has breached a gap that will now change the way scientists and everyday people view evolution and the journey from sea creatures to land dwelling creatures.

Neil Shubin's discovery is a 375 million year old fossil which was named tiktaalik and many scientists agree that this crucial finding now further proves Darwin's theory that some sea creatures evolved into land animals. Tiktaalik was an interesting find because it had bone structure that corresponded to the shoulder, elbow and wrist. Shubin pointed out that this structure is the link between the regular less developed structure of a fin on a fish and the more developed arm structure seen in land animals, a strcuture that would allow this fish, unlike others to perform some kind of pushing motion.

Neil also talked about the area where the fossil was found, the Arctic, and how dangerous and barren the landscape was. The tents they used were made for the worst weather extremes and they still needed to build wind walls out of the rocks in the landscape to prevent some of the tents from blowing over. I also found it interesting that in the Arctic Neil said he carried a rifle around with him at all times simply in fear of a polar bear attack.

I found the speech Neil Shubin gave very interesting and couldn't believe how casually he was talking about such a major discovery. I find it very interesting that simply looking around a barren land of rock and nothing else could result in such a major find and major breakthrough for scientists. Although some of the information Neil was talking about was a little over my head and a little to scientific for my understanding, he did a great job of presenting his discovery and relating the importance of such a find to the audience, a discovery that will change the scientific view that much more on evolution.

Life at Elon for me has been very enjoyable thus far and I have become very comfortable with the school heading into the second semester.

My days usually start early in the morning since my schedules have consisted of many 8 a.m. classes which I must say are extremely hard to get up for. However, I have enjoyed getting my classes out of the way early and having the rest of the day free, although I usually end up napping for a good portion of it. I never used to nap, but ever since I came to college I have been taking naps almost everyday due to the strenuous and active college life. However, I have really enjoyed college life at Elon. I learned in about the first week that Thursday through Saturday night is when everyone goes out to party at the frats and off campus locations. Night life is very active on campus and I have really enjoyed going out and having a good time but it has been a challenge to balance going out at night and managing a heavy workload. Over all the social life here is extremely active and there are so many ways to get involved and I have really enjoyed becoming part of the Elon community through clubs, club sports and other programs held by the University.

The classes here have been great and the small class size has really made the learning experience much easier as compared to having over a hundred kids in a class like other large Universities. The student population is also a nice size and the campus is big enough yet still allows for a small campus feel. I realized the student population is not all that diverse but I have fit in really well with all my suite mates and the other students here at the school. The adjustment to living on campus away from home has been very easy and I have really enjoyed living in a more southern state as compared to Massachusetts. The weather here is shockingly not all that different from back home besides the fact we get more snow in Massachusetts and our winters last a little longer. I also noticed that there is an overwhelming amount of northern students at this school, so much so that I feel I know more people from the north than I do from the south here. Over all, I have really enjoyed living here at Elon University and look forward to getting more involved with the school over the next four years.