A Tale of Two Coopers

“I’m not excusing the racism,” he said. “But I don’t know if her life needed to be torn apart.”
Maybe it's because I just finished reading "A Tale of Two Cities" - a story of love, hate, and revenge set against the backdrop of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, in which many people's bodies, primarily of the nobility, were quite literally torn apart (September Massacres) - but this man's quote caught my attention and made me think of that time, at least in terms of the precipitous actions that culminated in the events that began in September of 1792.
I'm seeing all of these various incidents and events - black men being targeted with their lives threatened and entitled and/or paranoid white women (aka "Karens") being dragged over social media often with their livelihoods dismantled afterwards - and I'm wondering if/when the ax is going to fall. Not literally...hopefully not ever again literally. But there is tension, anger and violence continuing to escalate, and I'm wondering what it might ultimately lead to. Apart from the racial tensions, there is also the tension between the wealthy 1% and "all the rest."
In this particular incident, it was animals (an unleashed dog and some birds) that brought these two Coopers - Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper - together in the Ramble of Central Park in NYC. Amy Cooper was walking her dog, unleashed, which caused Christian, who was observing birds, to admonish Amy to leash her dog, as the signs posted around the park directed. Terse words were exchanged, and then Christian began to video what followed: Amy threatened him with calling the police to tell them that an "African American male" was threatening her life and that of her dog. She then went on to do just that. Thus concluded, not the only, but one of the more recent of incidents that puts yet another lens on racial tensions within modern American society. What followed is that within the span of a few days, Amy Cooper lost her dog and her job, and Christian Cooper is back in the park watching birds and feeling not-quite-comfortable with how this woman's life fell part within a short period of time.
Although this isn't quite like a Dickensian story with the overblown polarity between villains and heroes, there are obviously agitators and peacemakers across the lines. The rest fall "somewhere between" - not all bad but not all good - and I believe that these are the ones who make up the silent majority. That may be what's most unsettling of all.

news article commenting on "The Bird Watcher" vs. "The Dog Walker" in NYC

Contemporary French Culture

There were so many amazing things I experienced during my study abroad trip to France in 2016.

I was able to see beautiful buildings, scenery, and artistic structures of historical significance. It was incredible. I have always been curious about going to visit France, and one of the things I had heard often from other people who had visited was that French people can be snobby and rude. I honestly did not find that to be the case. Their mannerisms are maybe a little bit different from what Americans may be used to, but it didn’t bother me. There were a few things that were different that maybe would be bothersome to other people, particularly people who are not as good adjusting to things that are different from what they are used to, but I welcomed the differences, because it gave me a chance to have another perspective in how people live in a different part of the world. I think that some of the “rudeness” that Americans may be perceiving (or have perceived) are actually just responses from European people in reaction to things that Americans do that we may not realize we’re doing. I will elaborate on some of these observations in the next few pages of this paper.

One of the first things that I noticed that is a little bit different is the food and food service. When we arrived in Frankfurt, a group of us decided to snack while at the airport, and although we joked that McDonald’s was the last place we wanted to eat, that’s exactly what we ate the first hour that we were in Europe. We stood in line, but everyone stayed a few feet back from the register instead of lining up right behind it. Each person went up to the counter one at a time. While I was waiting in line about to go next, a gentleman approached from my left and then just cut in front of me and went to the register. I thought maybe there were two lines that were forming, so I didn’t object. A guy behind me indicated that you kind of have to go up to the register quickly or else people would cut in front of you like that. I thought that was a little strange, but it didn’t make me mad. I ordered sort of a flatbread type wrap with ham and cheese (sort of like the small breakfast wraps you can get at Dunkin Donuts.) It had a few strips of ham and one slice of pasteurized cheese. Fairly scant, but it didn’t bother me. I didn’t want to eat too much anyway, because I wasn’t sure if we’d end up eating somewhere else as a group shortly after that once we arrived in Strasbourg.

The cultural environment wasn’t too much of a jarring difference for me. There were a few things I noticed that were a little different from what you might normally see in the United States that I didn’t notice as much (or at all) in France. For one thing, I’m not sure if I ever saw anyone walking around with to-go cups of coffee. If I did, it was seldom (or one of us.) People treat coffee as an experience or as a ritual more than just something to chug down in a hurry, and I am the same way, so that was a neat thing to notice. I liked that coffee was served in smaller cups and that it was always served with some kind of treat or lagniappe on the side, like a dark chocolate or a biscuit (crisp wafer.) That made it even more like an experience. Another thing that I noticed is that people didn’t smile too much. I smile so naturally and easily that I’ll just smile at almost anyone when I see them, but as I’ve gotten older and been in larger cities, I tend to be more serious now as well, unless I’m already engaged in conversation with someone.

Sometimes smiling seems to welcome or invite unwanted interlopers. I figure that’s maybe why the French/European people do not smile so much or maybe they’re just in a hurry and smiling isn’t considered necessary. Another thing that I noticed was that people tend to keep their bodies tighter and closer together in the sense that they do not have exaggerated gestures or movements. A few times, one of my fellow student travelers would remark that French people don’t say “excuse me” as much as Americans do, and after reflecting on it for a little bit, I got to thinking that maybe it was because Americans tend to “get in the way” more, and because of that, we have to apologize and say “excuse me” more than Europeans. We tend to stand in doorways and aisles more, so when someone French was hurrying by and maybe brushed up against us somewhat brusquely without saying “excuse me”, they might’ve been frustrated because one or several of us was in the way. That was my perception. It’s a possibility anyway.

I’m not really sure if I had “cultural surprises” necessarily. I was in no way ever offended or stunned by any of the previously heard of “rudeness” that I’d heard about from other people who had visited France, so maybe because I expected or anticipated that to a certain degree, I was surprised to see that I never encountered any rudeness or at least not any obvious rudeness that I found appalling. If anything, it just seemed to be the expected cultural differences.
As far as anything that I might’ve said or did that would give locals the impression that I’m a foreigner, I guess the most obvious would be when they were talking to me. My accent is a give-away, of course, even when I was trying to speak French, which I did as often as I could. I tried to bring clothes that I thought would blend in more as European: dark pants, tops, and scarves, which is kind of how I dress typically back at home anyway. All of us in the group were taking pictures a good bit, so I’m sure that made us seem touristy as well.

One of the things that became a common joke with our group was a phrase we came up with: “dropping the wheat.” That was our go-to phrase whenever one of us would do something that was obviously “American” in a potentially obnoxious way. That started when Kevin tried to walk over one of the restaurant booths and caused a glass-encased artwork full of wheat to drop from the wall. Occasions that came up that provided the opportunities to be mocked with the phrase “dropping the wheat”: Ryan repeatedly trying to have conversation in French with locals prompting them to immediately switch over to English in a somewhat awkward manner and me nearly getting locked into a bathroom at the train station had I not noticed a red button near the door with “Sortie” right above it indicating that it was for exiting the bathroom, among other such humorously embarrassing circumstances.

When we first arrived in Europe, for maybe the first few days we tried to heed the advice that the other international affairs department teacher had given us during orientation, for instance, not to be too loud, not to wear very colorful clothing, etc. So whenever we were at dinner and found ourselves getting too loud laughing at things and whatnot, we’d try to shush each other back down, but the last week or so, we were kind of like “whatever” and we just had a good time, even if it was in our old obnoxious American way. I thought it was funny how almost everyone in the group, including the two guys, ended up wearing berets and scarves and trying to look French. Sometimes I feel like Americans are the younger siblings of the French, in that we’re younger as a nation with a much younger history and still forming our culture somewhat. We look up to the French to learn how to be more sophisticated, worldly, intellectual, philosophical and artistic. I feel like Americans are more apt to adopt French culture than the other way around. In return, the French, kind of like an older sibling who might roll their eyes at a younger sibling constantly following them around, are actually flattered and amused about it, even if they call us “stupid Americans.” I feel like Americans and French have long had a special relationship that way or at least it’s the way I perceive it.

Contact with the locals helped me learn how to handle myself in certain customs. Dr. Mertz’s dad was one of the first to help me notice how the French culture is a little different as far as restaurant customs. I ordered a coffee late in the afternoon close to dinnertime and because the server seemed a little confused at first, I thought maybe I didn’t request it properly with the right language wording. He assured me that it was probably due more to the timing of the request than how I requested it. One thing that I noticed was that older people in the more rural and smaller areas in North France around Alsace, for instance, were more patient and understanding with us attempting to speak in French and maybe they even welcomed it. Almost every young person we encountered already knew how to speak English, so when we would try to order things or ask directions in French, it was kind of obvious that they were just letting us stammer our way through it to humor us, because it wasn’t really necessary. I was a little embarrassed that so many French people know our language so well more than the other way around. I kind of feel like American education is shortchanged somewhat in that regard. I think foreign language courses should be more integrated into the school curriculums in the United States.

I didn’t have a whole lot of personal time or space while in France, but occasionally I would just go walk out by myself as there was time, particularly when in Paris. I would go up to a cafe alone to get coffee or grab something from the store. I liked having a little bit of alone time, but I also wanted a chance to practice some French without having someone else from my group correcting me or telling me what to say. That frustrated me at first, but then I tried to be more relaxed about it realizing that they were probably just trying to practice, too, by helping me or maybe they were just proud of what they knew and wanted to show it off a little. I didn’t let it become a big deal to me.

Meal times were interesting. Like us, the French like their coffee which was a welcomed thing. It’d be kind of tough for me, or a challenge rather, to go to a country that didn’t appreciate coffee as much. They definitely didn’t seem to require as much for breakfast. Not that I typically eat a heavy breakfast, but I generally have a little more variety, even in small amounts, at the start of the day than what was usually offered in France, if we weren’t at a restaurant. I noticed this especially when we were in Paris. Every day the breakfast was a chocolate croissant or a baguette with coffee and/or orange juice. I don’t think I ever saw a plate of bacon and eggs or an omelette once while I was there. Again, it didn’t really bother me. The bread was actually good and so was the coffee. There was more breakfast offered at the hotel we stayed at in Strasbourg, but I liked the coffee better at the hotel in Paris, and coffee is always more important to me than quantity of food anyway, even back home in the States. I really liked and was impressed with the service in France. They get what you need and then leave you alone. I never got interrupted while talking with someone else. That happens often at restaurants here in America, which bothers me, but I’ve gotten used to it. I think my time in France just made me more aware of how clueless American servers can be. They’d rather just constantly ask if you’re ok and if you need anything instead of observing and doing it without having to ask. And I liked that servers kept portable credit card machines with them so that they could take payments at the table. I also liked that tips were already included. It was far less awkward than trying to calculate the right tip and hoping you left enough, even if service wasn’t great. I’m much more of a fan of how the French do it. Tax and gratuity are both already included so less math for me to have to figure out after I’ve had wine to drink.

In conclusion, I really felt like I acclimated well to the French culture. Anything that I came across that was different (such as men’s and women’s restrooms being side-by-side) was more interesting and amusing rather than frustrating and/or frightening to me. I never encountered anyone saying anything shocking or offensive about the U.S., not that I would’ve cared that much. I liked the transportation systems. I’ve always been a fan of public transportation as long as I understand and know how to use it. We rode the train and the metro- rail a good bit while there. I started to understand the subway system a little better a few days after being in France. I was kind of sorry we had to leave so soon, because just when I felt I had it down and could probably even get around by myself, it was time to go. I really hope that I get to go back!

Closing of a chapter...

It’s Tuesday night, and I’m sitting on my patio at 8:30. There’s a tall dewy glass of Prosecco on the table to my right and an intermittent rush of breeze blowing on the back of my neck. The atmosphere has been beckoning a storm all day, but I’m not complaining. I love when it’s like this.

I’m going to be graduating this Saturday…Summa Cum Laude. I’ll be receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Writing, with my major having been English/Professional Communications and my minor in French . After I give my final presentation for a class tomorrow around 3 p.m., I’ll walk away from the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University after four and a half years of being a student. The first time I’ve been a student since…well, I’m just old enough to not really want to say, if that gives you a clue.

It would sound cliche to say “time has flown by” since I first registered in August of 2014, and the truth is, it’s hard to know if it’s flown by or not. I think I feel like it’s flown by due to the fact that I can so quickly recall the moment that I first decided to enroll in college when it wasn’t that much of a priority for me before. If you want me to be honest, I kind of decided to enroll on a whim. 

The 18-year old daughter of someone I was close to had already taken a semester of college courses while she was in high school, and she wanted to come to Savannah and go to Armstrong. That put things in perspective for me. 

I was an obscure actress at the time, known and respected mainly in the towns I lived and worked in, which included Jackson, New Orleans and Savannah, with a few independent projects in my repertoire but no solid hits; a lot of potential and some connections but no guarantees.

Well…only the guarantee that I was getting older. That was about it. What was going to be my Act 2? Or 3? Time marches on and slows down for no one. I didn’t want to abandon my dreams, but maybe it was time to reshape them.

I enrolled in college first with the idea that I would just get something going…just move forward with something, and I’ll figure out the rest later. I wasn’t even sure about a major. Mostly because I had too many conflicting interests. I already had invested a lot in the world of theater and film, but I also had an avid appreciation for aviation. (How’s that for alliteration?) And I wasn’t too terrible at mathematics. It crossed my mind to try becoming an actuary or even an aerospace engineer. I knew a good bit about the science of aerodynamics from years of pilot training.

Before I enrolled, I already was doing intellectual exercises on a daily basis. That only got me so far. I was still bartending late nights on the weekend. I needed something else.

For the first two semesters, I went to school part-time since I felt like I needed to pay cash for my tuition. At my age, I didn’t think I had a chance at scholarships or whatever else kids get right out of school so they can go to college for free. I took a basic required algebra course and a composition course each of those semesters just to get things going and start checking off boxes to see how feasible this all could be.

The prospect of four more years of school stretched dauntingly ahead of me, but it was also exciting and kind of a fresh new direction. There are more certainties when it comes to achieving academic excellence, especially in mathematics and other scientific courses, at least more so than I could expect when I was going for theater and film roles. With that, it didn’t always matter how much I prepared with the script and how well I prepared my look…I either got the part or I didn’t. I got a few, but there were many more that I didn’t.

In college, if you go to class, do the studying, the homework, and at least some of the readings, you’ll probably get pretty good grades. I wasn’t sure about the writing, because I figured that would be more subjective on the part of the professor.

The funny thing is, I got pretty high marks for my analytical essays. It’s not that I hadn’t been praised for my writing before, but it usually came from friends and people who knew me. This was the first time I had gotten this kind of validation. I discovered that I may have an ability as a writer and communications specialist after all. Now just where it will lead me, I’m not sure.

I know that I have probably felt more comfortable and confident these past 4 years than I have maybe felt in my entire life. I’m sure it has to do with multiple aspects of my circumstance. The kind of circumstance that has allowed me to accomplish many things in nearly half a decade. 

I’ve had two study abroad trips–to France for a few weeks and then Italy for several months–which opened up in me a passion for ancient history that I never knew I had. I got to complete a creative internship at a production studio in Los Angeles, at the end of which I was offered a job to work closely with a screenwriter and producer for a television show. I also finally achieved my long sought after pilot’s license at the end of that summer.

And then my brother got into a catastrophic aviation accident while piloting a plane. He lost his leg and nearly lost his life. 

That changed everything.

A vital part of me wanted to make my dreams of becoming a successful film industry professional a reality more than ever, if for no other reason than to help my brother and my family after this ordeal. I’d already come so far. I had people at big studios telling me to move out to Los Angeles as soon as possible.

But then I sat with my brother for lunch at a bar in my hometown over a year ago, and he said that if he “had a billion dollars,” it wouldn’t give him back what he had. That stuck with me for a long time. Even if I could somehow make a billion dollars–which I most likely wouldn’t–the best I could hope to do is just make him a little more comfortable with this new circumstance of life that he found himself in. I’d never be able to give him back what he had. Not even with the best that money could buy.

The same went for everyone I deeply cared about. I wouldn’t be able to give them back what they once had: their youth, a working body part, someone they lost in death. All I could do is live with them and for them now and try to give them the best I could give in my own circumstance. My brother’s reality has touched my entire family and even beyond family. Everyone who knew him, and the vibrant, athletic, independent, adventurous person he used to be, was likely hit with the reality that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. And even if you do get a tomorrow, there’s no guarantee that it will be the same as today.

One decision, one incident, one moment can change the direction of our entire lives and also the direction of anyone close to us. The decisions we make have outcomes that cause ripple effects on others in ways we might not even fully realize.

There was just no longer a place in this new reality for me to be chasing dreams in the wilderness of Los Angeles and elsewhere, even if I had every tangible reason to believe that some aspect of them could’ve finally been achieved.

There's an irony in the photo that I've chosen to put at the top of this blog. It's a photo of Jenkins Hall, the place where theater majors and performance art students spend the majority of their time. It's the only hall I've never gone inside during the years I've been a student at Armstrong. I spent nearly 10 years of my life actively pursuing a career in theater and film, even studying at a prestigious theater academy in London for a period of time.

It might seem like I’ve given up those dreams, but as I said in the earlier part of this piece, I realized when I started college that I might have to reshape my dreams. And in actuality, I’m reaching out for much bigger ones, with a much more tangible reality to grasp in the end.

Someday I’d like to tell you more about it, if you’re interested.

#CATmageddon - social media case study

#CATmageddon

a social media case study

by Hannah Hanlon

A tweet for a hook

Ahoy, matey! Did you know that cats are twice as likely to get cancer if their owner smokes? And if there are no more cats, there will be no more videos of cats?? Arrrrrr you going to be the generation that helps prevent #CATmageddon ???  #catvideos=saved #lives=saved 

Why?

This brand was trying to solve the problem of cats being put at risk due to secondhand smoke from their owners by making the target audience (particularly teens) aware of certain facts about this issue. The brand had specific goals set for this anti-tobacco campaign. 

Problem: “Most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about tobacco or its consequences.”

Goal: “Connect smoking to something the audience cares about as much as themselves: their pets.”

This campaign was produced by Truth (a national campaign which produces television and digital content to encourage teens to reject tobacco and to unite against the tobacco industry) and paired with TMZ (a celebrity and entertainment tabloid news site). Keegan Allen was the celebrity spokesperson featured in several posts. Allen is an actor, author, photographer, and musician located in Los Angeles who is known for his work in the television show Pretty Little Liars. 

The collaboration of all the above parties makes sense, because the target audience was teens, and this group probably makes up a large part of Allen’s fanbase. Keegan has a large fan following —currently 2 million Twitter followers and just over 6 million Instagram followers—and on his Instagram page, there are several posts of dogs and cats, which indicates that Keegan is an animal lover, particularly of cats. He even has a short video story on his page labeled “cats and jazz.”

The campaign also featured partnerships with Petco, Adult Swim, and BuzzFeed.

Brand Context

The #CATmageddon (Truth) campaign was launched at the Grammy awards in 2016.

The primary agenda of this campaign was to find a way to make people (particularly teens) think more deeply into the use of tobacco and its consequences. It showed teens that smoking is bad for cats and therefore there would be a "CATmageddon," a "world devoid of furry kittens and the adorable, hilarious videos that come with them.”

Mission:  “Make a cultural impact and change teens' attitudes about smoking by using the fact that cats whose owners smoke are 2x as likely to get cancer.”

Ways this was accomplished:

• Simple slogan:  smoking=no cats=no cat videos
• Call to action:  Prevent #CATmageddon
• Media and platforms used:
• TV campaign launched at the 2016 Grammy awards
• Digital and social media platforms (Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Vimeo, Instagram, etc.)

Solution

What made this campaign so unique was that they spread the truth by finding a new way to tell an old story. The problem campaigns like Truth face is that people just don’t care enough about their own health to stop smoking or to not begin smoking in the first place. So instead of showing facts about how hazardous it is to human health (been there, tried that), they released cute memes and videos of cats —playing piano, dressed up as sharks—to drive home the point of how hazardous it is to cats’ health and what the world would be like without viral videos and pics of those silly, adorable furballs. By being aware of the risk to cats, people (starting with teens) will look at tobacco use differently and reduce the use, thereby protecting, not only the life of cats, but their own lives as well.

I saw several examples noted from the textbook Social Media Marketing by Tracy L. Tuten and Michael R. Solomon of tactics and strategies demonstrated that make for effective social media marketing campaigns. These include:

Market segmentation in which the brand targeted a distinct group based on common needs and characteristics and beyond this, demographic segmentation, which utilized common characteristics. This campaign was very similar to the the Secret’s Mean Stinks Campaign in that it targeted a younger audience by appealing to the 7 social currency dimensions:

• self-image and self-esteem
• sense of belonging or kinship
• being engaged by the brand
• social connections and relationships
• helped the audience to discover, evaluate, and make decisions about the brand
• engaged the audience by enhancing the value gained from the brand

As far as the motives and attitudes on the part of the consumers, a campaign like this would most likely trigger the altruistic impulse, which is how some participate in social media as a way to do something good or “make the world a better place.” In some cases, this could be deemed as virtue signaling (also known as “hashtag activism”) by others (p. 53).

The resources used to pull off such a campaign would likely include:

• Social media strategists
• Marketing professionals
• Graphic designers and artists
• Analysts
• Networking

Results Analysis

The #CATmageddon campaign is recognized as Truth’s “most successful campaign ever in terms of cultural impact and changing teen attitudes towards smoking.” In qualitative terms, the campaign received accolades such as Mashable releasing an article that declared #CATmageddon as “the best part about The Grammy’s” along with celebrities tweeting and sharing content. In terms of quantitative data, the campaign drove 3.18MM owned-channel social engagements, 110k mentions and 110 million views, along with 900 million PR impressions that received a boost from Upworthy, Fortune, Mashable and USA Today. The campaign’s 399,000 CATfluencer engagements reached an additional 7.3 million followers. The campaign saw a measurable change in attitudes and perceptions among teen audiences with a 21% increase in agreements with “Tobacco companies make me angry” among those aware of #CATmageddon and the facts that they were exposed to about the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Lessons Learned

• Keep it simple:  Smoking=no cats=no cat videos
• Find a new way to tell an old story:  Smoking is bad…for your cat!
• Mix facts with cuteness and humor—> logos and pathos
• Create a memorable hashtag (#CATmageddon) and shareable content
• Know your target audience and find sponsors and partners who share the same audience/fanbase.

Works Cited

http://shortyawards.com/9th/catmageddon

Tuten, Tracy L. and Michael R. Solomon. Social Media Marketing. Book. Sage Publications, 2018.

Capitalism vs. Environmentalism: A Neo-Marxist Lens On Why America Refuses to Embrace Truly Clean Energy

Many students and philosophers of Karl Marx will observe in his writing, particularly in Volume 1 of Capital, that man and nature are one; they are inseparable. In that sense, doing damage to the earth is comparable to doing damage to one’s own body. The earth nourishes us and is our home. Why then are there such divisive conversations here in the United States regarding the use of clean energy vs. fracking for oil and natural gas? 

A progressive view would be to immediately phase out all fossil fuel usage and replace it with truly clean energy, which we know as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydro energy. One might even have the opinion that nuclear energy, while not fossil fuel, still produces toxic waste, which endangers the environment and also needs to be phased out. Capitalists push nuclear power as a fossil fuel alternative for energy, though we know that the aforementioned genuinely clean energy generators are cheaper in the long run and are obviously less harmful to the environment. Why is there such a global problem with resolving natural energy exploitation? There are a variety of reasons, but my thesis aims to prove that there are three main issues which stand out, and they are capitalism, global demand, and media manipulation. Careful analysis shows that demand is fueled by consumerism, which is fueled by our media (contributing to ignorance on the part of the population), and capitalism is fueled by competitive greed. 

First, there is the issue of demand and consumerism, which is what drives capitalism to exploit the environment at a ravaging pace. In the United States, some 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is consumed each year, while almost 3 trillion cubic feet was consumed in Canada, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The production from shale gas in North America is expected to increase as much as fivefold in 25 years measured from 2010 up to 2035. Due to the constant demand, conventional natural gas is in decline, non-conventional shale gas will be exploited in order to meet and maintain the rates of consumption, and social and environmental concerns will be neglected. As Marx noted, the more a country starts its development on the foundation of modern industry, like the United States, for example, the more rapid is this process of destruction.

One might wonder why more of the general population here in the United States, and even globally, is not making a more concentrated and aggressive effort towards environmentalism and conservationism in regards to the use of natural energy. A big explanation and area for concern to ponder is that the media is possibly suppressing, misdirecting, and even outright manipulating news coverage about the exploitation of natural energy. According to the Business Insider, 90% of American media went from being owned by 50 companies in 1983 to being controlled by 6 major media corporations in 2011. They are GE, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS (Lutz). Why are there not more conversations in the mainstream media about climate change?

It is reasonable to think that big media conglomerates and other capitalistic multinational companies are bedfellows. Big Money needs Big Money in order to stay wealthy and in power. They benefit each other. It is all about money, and they do not want to disrupt a system that is working for them. A scrutinizing look at the assets and holdings of these various media company’s owners and CEO’s could reveal who may have invested in fossil fuels or plastics and what their political persuasions are. For instance, Sumner Redstone, the majority owner and former chairman of Viacom and the CBS Corporation, endorsed Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 election, despite previously calling himself a “liberal Democrat.” Allegedly, it was because he argued that Bush would be better for the economy and for his company. In Hong Kong, where some of America's and Asia's top executives gathered for Forbes magazine's annual Global CEO Conference, Mr. Redstone declared: "I look at the election from what's good for Viacom. I vote for what's good for Viacom. I vote, today, Viacom. We believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company.” And in response to this, Steve Forbes, CEO, president and editor in chief of Forbes and a former Republican presidential aspirant, replied: "Obviously you're a very enlightened CEO” (Wall Street Journal). It is interesting to note that George W. Bush was linked to Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oil field service companies, via his Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of this multinational company. 

Capitalism is fueled by greed, power, and the need for short-term profit. There is little question now that the dominant capitalist economic system is not able to be sustained. There is a harrowing connection to be made between the increasing inequality between the very rich and the very poor which is causing social tensions with the severe breaching of ecological boundaries and biodiversity loss. Private enterprise and free market have been given too much reign over the global capitalist system and not enough aggressive measures have been taken to shift levies from income to waste and pollution. One possible conclusion for this is resistance from those in charge who have vested interests and large control of the voting percentage of their shareholders. “This is made worse by how even the progressive investors and companies who see the need for change remain largely silent. Not rocking the boat, they mainly go with the flow, even as they drift toward collective disaster” (Juniper). This ties in with a quote made by Marx which implicates that capitalism is exploiting the fertility of the earth to the point of its eventual ruination: “Capitalist production…disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and earth, in essence, prevents the return to the soil of its constituent elements consumed by man in the form of food and clothing; it therefore violates the conditions necessary to lasting fertility of the soil…all progress in increasing the fertility of the soil for a given time is a progress towards ruining the more long-lasting sources of that fertility." Capitalism, such as is seen in industry-driven nations, like the United States, is pushing the environment towards disaster.

Climate change is all the more impossible to resolve without the cooperation of the worldwide community. A good start to improving this situation is by making others aware of what is going on, assist them to become conscious of it, which leads to research, which leads to increased passion, which leads to a strong desire to want change. As noted by Robert C. Tucker in Philosophy & Myth in Karl Marx, “knowing is spirit’s means of reintegration or ‘return to itself’ out of the state of self-division that obtains when spirit as conscious subject (man) is confronted with spirit as external object (the world). Hegel calls this state ‘self-alienation’ or ‘self-estrangement” (Tucker, 49). Indeed, if man and the natural world are one, then causing damage to the natural world is causing damage to ourselves…our innermost self. 

Once we know of the facts and ramifications of how much environmental damage is being done by companies exploiting natural energy, and perhaps even realize we have been complicit in the global consumerism for these natural commodities, particularly oil and gas, what might we be motivated to do about it? Well, again as noted by Marx on his eleventh thesis on  Feuerbach, “the point is, to change it." That begins by turning to search inwardly “of a solution for self-alienation” and indeed, when one realizes that he/she is one with nature, then damaging it is a course of self-alienation (Tucker, 101).  A good form of taking action could be by writing letters to one’s local paper when environmental exploitation is witnessed. Activism is another form. A good example of effective protest happened this past year in British Columbia against Kinder Morgan, the largest oil and gas pipeline company in the U.S. Their motivation to stop Kinder Morgan was in defense of the indigenous peoples, fish, and water which would have been harmfully affected. The residents of eastern Georgia took similar action recently in protest against Kinder Morgan condemning their land in order to continue its Palmetto Pipeline project, and as a result, were able to get the project suspended. It is interesting to note that Canada has used far less natural gas by cubic feet annually in comparison to the United States. In addition to protesting and writing to local papers, it is effective to write and call your local and state representatives and to be aware of which political candidates are 100% anti-fracking, CLEAN ENERGY supporters, as well as proponents for the removal of special interest money in politics. It is only by the cooperation of the global community to resist exploitative capitalism that damage to the environment can be reversed.

Resources

Marx, Karl. Capital, Volume I. 1867.

“Guess Who’s a GOP Booster? The CEO of CBS’s Parent Company Endorses President Bush.” The Asian Wall Street Journal. Web. 24 September 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

Lutz, Ashley. “These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America.” Business Insider. Web. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2016.

Juniper, Tony. “Capitalism v Environment: Can Greed Ever Be Green?” Web. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
Tucker, Robert C. Philosophy & Myth in Karl Marx. Transaction Publishers, 2001.

Final reflections of my semester study abroad in Italy

I thought that this would be the easiest piece for me to write, but it’s turning out to be the most challenging.  I hardly know where to begin. I was not sure I would even be able to go on this study abroad for 3 months, mostly in part to a family crisis that happened in the previous Fall semester that almost ended up being a tragedy. I will explain more about that in a bit. Ultimately, it made me appreciate and savor my experiences in Italy - the good and the “could’ve been better” - all the more. This was one of those big opportunities in life that I had at my grasp to make the most of, and I didn’t want to take a single moment for granted.

Over a year ago, when my philosophy professor first told me about this “experimental” 3-month study abroad that Armstrong was going to be trying out with the Dante Alighieri Institute in Siena - a school they had partnered with in the past for shorter programs - I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to do and for the next few months, I continued to think about it, even in the midst of getting ready to do a 2-week study abroad in France.

My last spring semester went by fairly smoothly, and I felt rewarded by ending another grueling semester successfully with my 4.0 GPA still intact by going on a study abroad trip to France. It felt deserved, and I was also going with several good friends and a few other acquaintances from French class. It was a fairly large group - 13 of us, plus our professor - but we had a great chemistry among us and bonded enough that I believe several of us will be friends for a long time; maybe even beyond our days at Armstrong.

I started the summer off equally well. Immediately after returning from France, I departed for Los Angeles where I would begin a coveted summer internship with a production company founded by producers and executives who had worked for the biggest Hollywood studios and won major awards for their film and TV projects. I completed it successfully (with a job offer on the table post-graduation), came back to Savannah to enjoy the rest of the summer with my boyfriend, and also to resume the last of my flight training needed to finally earn my long-sought pilot’s license. I received it in August near the end of the summer. It was another hugely important lifetime goal that I had successfully achieved for myself in 2016, but the year was not over.

As well as the first half of 2016 went for me, the second half went in nearly the complete opposite direction; it was almost a disaster. Very early morning on September 26th, I woke up to a text notification from my sister that my only brother and youngest sibling, Vincent, had been in a catastrophic flight accident while piloting a small aircraft. He sustained severe injuries, and it was not certain if he would even make it past the next couple of days. I immediately flew to Jackson, MS, and sat in between two other passengers with tears silently streaming, unsure if my brother would even be alive when I got there.

To shorten what could become a longer story, my brother pulled through. Despite the ordeal of severe blood loss, multiple internal broken bones, a developing systemic infection, and ultimately a right leg below-the-knee amputation, my tough younger brother survived, and he did so despite refusing to accept a strongly urged blood transfusion. It had almost become a nightmare for us all. The ordeal wasn't over for him or any of us who had stayed close by his side for several months, but he made it through the worst and so had we. Due to the crisis, however, I had to drop two classes so that I could stay near my brother and help out the rest of my family to support him. It had also taken a toll on us financially. At the encouragement of friends, I later created and promoted a GoFundMe campaign for Vincent to help raise money for him and my parents with social media community funding. After all of this, I had serious doubts that I would be able to go to Italy. Not after everything my family had sacrificed, including my boyfriend with his help getting me back and forth from Savannah to Jackson, and most of all, knowing what my brother would be facing with the stark reality of his new circumstance.

Once I realized he was on his way physically and that the rest of my family might be ok as well, I started to consider my own life, and I began to think about Italy again. After several conversations with my professor who was directing and coordinating the program, I bit the bullet, and I made my first deposit. I was committed.

Around that time, the general campaign for the Presidency had come to a close, and Donald Trump was elected. Fast-forwarding a couple of months, I began my journey to Italy on January 20th, the date of Trump’s inauguration. My first few months in Italy would be his first few months as President.

I’ve covered a lot of the details about my various travels within Italy as well as outside it when I traveled briefly to Greece and Switzerland in addition, but I wanted to follow up with some of the highlights of my time there in this final reflection.

It has always been one of my biggest dreams to visit Italy. There are many places still that I would love to see, and I’ve already been able to knock a few off my traveling wish list. However, Italy was at the top. It is the country I’m the most closely connected to because of my ancestry and also because of the fascinating and complicated (even controversial) history it has as a world leader in art, science, and civilization.

I have always been a fan of the Renaissance Age and, in particular, Leonardo da Vinci. I admire how he has always been the foremost historical figure at the intersection of art and science. He is known not only for painting masterpieces such as The Vitruvian Man and Mona Lisa but also for being an early engineer of sorts, with sketches of his found that show prototype designs for aviation machines. In many ways, I have tried to model my own life to be the same way. In my social networks, I am known for being an actress and artist and in more recent years, a writer, but I am also known as an aspiring pilot and aviation and space science enthusiast. I actually had serious considerations about pursuing aerospace engineering or physics, but due to some life circumstances (and an intense 4-week pre-calculus course that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped), I decided to instead pursue an English/Professional Communications major and maybe make my contributions to science by developing writing and filming projects inspired by scientific topics, thereby doing my part to increase public enthusiasm and support, especially for the aerospace sciences.

During my art history and appreciation course, I learned how art and science complimented each other with Renaissance artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Botticelli inserting “codes” for other artists within their paintings to show what they had discovered about the human body after secretively opening up cadavers, which was forbidden by the Catholic Church. For instance, in Botticelli’s La Primavera, behind the Roman goddess, Venus, the leaves of the garden form what appears to be the shape of human lungs. Another example is the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, which is an artistic study of human anatomy and physiology. Finally, there is what may be considered the mostly widely viewed and celebrated masterpiece: the scene of God and Adam with their fingers outstretched and almost touching each other at the center of Michelangelo’s majestic frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. There is what seems to be the unmistakable outline of a human brain formed by angels and red robes surrounding God. Some theorists have proposed the hypothesis that this scene is symbolic of God, the head of all creation, bestowing intelligence on the first human.

During my anthropology course, which was a study of the history and sociology of Siena, I learned a lot about the Etruscan civilization, which pre-dated and influenced ancient Rome, and it made a big impression on me, especially what I learned about Etruscan women. They enjoyed eating well, dressed extravagantly, and lived freely as equals among the men. I even bought some big bold jewelry while I was there, including a few sets of earrings that were mismatched but still meant to compliment each other. (One of the sets is a “lock” on one side and a “key” on the other, made in Rome from recycled aluminum; it suits the bohemian environmentalist in me.) Learning about the Etruscan women influenced me to feel more confident about living life fully and freely, making my own informed and independent choices, being a strong leader when the occasion calls for it, but also being comfortable following others when they have good ideas and clear direction.

Although not part of the course, I was motivated to study more about ancient Greek civilizations and art history while I was there because of how much the Greeks influenced the Roman culture. After reading and learning about important sculptures like The Calf-Bearer and The Kritios Boy, which were found around the Acropolis, I decided to go to Athens where these masterpieces were kept so I could see them for myself. I especially appreciated The Kritios Boy. It made an impact on me. The young man is missing the lower half of his right leg, which reminded me of my brother. He stands straight and tall, and his eyes gaze ahead calmly and self-confidently. What is interesting about this sculpture, dated around 480 B.C.E., is that it represents a transitional piece between two major ages of Greek history: the Late Archaic period to the Early Classical period. I reflected on what could represent a transitional moment in a person’s life; that time when you could see the effects of change on someone, for better or worse, after they’ve been through a significant event.

The hardest part for me about being in Italy was being away from my loved ones and feeling guilty. I felt guilty that I was able to spend this time learning and studying other cultures with few responsibilities except completing my assignments, and even those deadlines had a certain amount of flexibility. But I realized that this was part of the transition of life; sometimes things go from difficult and challenging to pleasant and rewarding and then back again. It is like that for the entirety of life, but every experience, good and bad, is something that can be learned from to apply to the next.

My studies of the various states of flux that the civilizations in ancient Greece and Italy induced me to reflect deeply, not only about my own personal transitions from one phase to another or that of my nearest and dearest, but also of those happening within my own country and outside it. I saw a lot of parallels about the disputes between Athens and Sparta which led to the Peloponnesian War, as well as the events leading up to the dissolution of the great Roman Empire, which left it vulnerable to invasion from outside forces. Where it will all lead to, what we will lose in the process, and what will be the ultimate result, I don’t know. However, I feel sure that after my experience abroad, where I was able to devote most of my time undistracted to study and make connections, I will be more observant than ever before to watch how things unfold and to see if worldwide civilization today is possibly at the end of an age and in transition to begin a new one. We are creatures of re-invention, after all. It will be interesting to see where we go next and what we will become.

Language

“Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.” CESAR CHAVEZ

“Learning a foreign language, and the culture that goes with it, is one of the most useful things we can do to broaden the empathy and the imaginative sympathy and cultural outlook of children.” MICHAEL GOVE

“To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.” CHARLES BAUDELAIRE

“Yankees don’t understand that the Southern way of talking is a language of nuance. What we can do in the South is we can take a word and change it just a little bit and make it mean something altogether different.” LEWIS GRIZZARD

“Even in the deepest love relationship - when lovers say ‘I love you’ to each other - we don’t really know what we’re saying, because language isn’t equal to the complexity of human emotions.” DUANE MICHALS

“Welsh is my mother tongue, and my children speak it. If you come and live in this community you’ll work out pretty quickly that it’s beneficial to learn the language, because if you’re going to the pub or a cafe you need to be a part of the local life.” BRYN TERFEL

“We have our own history, our own language, our own culture. But our destiny is also tied up with the destinies of other people - history has made us all South Africans.” MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI

When traveling throughout Italy, I found it to be a curious matter that English was not as universal throughout the country as I thought it would be, even in larger cities such as Rome and in particular, Naples. For me, this was a welcome challenge - a thorn on the rose stem, so-to- speak - as I navigated my way down the meandering pathways one takes to explore the diverse gardens of foreign language. At times it is uncomfortable and even tiresome, but it is mostly rewarding.

My quest to become proficient in several tongues apart from my native one began years ago when I had a Canadian tutor, Ms. Agnes Manbourdon, who taught me French. I would meet with her at her apartment near the water at the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Jackson, Mississippi and over café au laits we would conjugate French verbs and exchange common French expressions for approximately an hour. Afterwards, I would go to my second job at St. Dominic Hospital to transcribe radiology reports - medical terminology is a language to learn in itself.

Before meeting with her, I had an early morning job at the Jackson International Airport working as a ticket agent, and it should be mentioned that at this time I had begun to take pilot lessons, so I was also learning the language of aviation. After some time, Ms. Manbourdon went on her annual trip back to Canada for a month or so, and we lost track. I never saw her again. Later that same year, I began taking Japanese lessons with Ms. Eiko Tashiro, who became my sensei for a little while. We would meet at her house for a lesson in Japanese language and a Japanese tea ceremony. Sometimes we would practice origami. Along with learning her language, I was learning her culture. Again, due to certain circumstances which I do not remember, we also lost track, and I never saw her again either.

Two years ago, I began taking French lessons formally at the university level. I have since traveled to France to study abroad for several weeks and am most likely going to pursue French for my college minor. While in France, I discovered that there is more to learning a language than memorizing vocabulary and verbal conjugations, and it is not enough to merely practice vowel sounds. There is a cadence and a rhythm to being French that is sensed in more than the language and speech itself; it is embodied in the culture of France, and the sooner one picks up on that rhythm, the easier it will go for them to learn the language.

I found this to be the case also while I was in Italy for several months and because of the lessons that were ingrained while learning French and being in France, I found that picking up Italian came much swifter to me. I embraced the nuances of the language and the cultural rhythm of Italian daily life which varies throughout Italy. The fact that the majority of my ancestry is French and Italian motivates my enthusiasm to learn both of these languages the most, because I want them to be considered part of my identity.

There was a young man I met from Ghana, Africa in my last few weeks of being in Siena, Italy named Mr. Nartey. He specialized in International Relations and Language and was working on getting his Master’s Degree while in Tuscany. He shared a paper with me that he had written about Pidgin English, which is commonly spoken in Ghana. He explained to me that Pidgin English lacks inflection but is a more efficient language. Where standard grammatical structure and inflection for past tense in a verb has been dropped, it has evolved to become a more simplified language to get the point across. For instance, instead of one saying “I went there,” they might say “I go there.” This has been found to be a growing trend particularly in schools in Ghana. In order to avoid grammatical errors, students will resort to using Pidgin. It is a more straightforward English. I inquired as to how Pidgin English was developed and why it started to be used in Ghana. He explained to me that “those who write the books” - or the history of Africa - threw out tradition when Africa was colonized. The colonial masters decided to document certain things down. They claimed that the language was simplified. This is the way he put it to me: “The person doing the writing will write it in a way that you expect it to be written.” Over the years, it was almost as though there were two languages in Ghana: the language that was taught, and the one that was acquired. The first language is the one you use to reflect certain ways you were influenced (British colonialism). Pidgin was acquired to reflect a language that is closer to the native tongue. During a military regime, students also observed soldiers in the streets using Pidgin English and therefore they began assigning machoism, aggression, and power to the usage of Pidgin. Therefore, the trend of students in Ghana using Pidgin began to grow and increase as a means of adopting an identity and also to defy the performance pressures put on them to use proper English.

In the United States, there are similar debates and differing opinions on what is or should be considered proper standard English and what has evolved into deviated versions of it. I recall reading a passage of critical theory written by Lois Tyson regarding Black Vernacular English (BVE, also called Ebonics or African American English), which fulfills all the grammatical criteria of a genuine language but is still dismissed by many white and some black Americans as substandard or incorrect English rather than recognized as a language in its own right; a language that may have evolved due to what is known as double consciousness or double vision, the awareness of belonging to two conflicting cultures: the African culture, which grew from African roots and was transformed by its own unique history on American soil, and the European culture imposed by white America.

It has occurred to me that a regional or local language can evolve into more than mere vocabulary from the root words it shares with the original language. For example, even though each region in Italy has its own pride and claim to what is “the best” - “Napoli has the best coffee and pizza,” “Liguria has the best pesto and anchovies,” etc. - it is common opinion that Tuscany boasts the usage of the pure Italian language. Whereas a native Tuscan might use the formally taught phrase “Sono di Firenze,” a Roman would shorten the phrase a bit to a more efficient “So di Roma” to express where he or she is from. Recently, I grappled with the choice of whether to use the spelling of “favourite,” which is the proper English way to spell the word to express my preferred flavor, versus “favorite” which is the more popular American spelling. Although I was tempted to use “favourite” as my preferred spelling of choice, I instead went with “favorite” so as to not falsely identify myself as British when I am, in fact, American. So language - by way of spelling, inflection, gesture, nuance, rhythm, and pronunciation - is the foremost way of identifying oneself and, in some ways, his or her worldview.

In a way, it almost seems as though Pidgin is used in some measures in Ghana to defy the colonial influences and to reclaim their native tongue and therefore their culture. Mr. Nartey’s opinion is that though Ghanians speak Pidgin, English is their official language, and it should not be compromised. At the same time, he reflected that someone else’s point of view might be that Pidgin English is part of a Ghanian’s identity and that they need to be proud. Indeed, after I said goodbye to this intelligent young man, I observed him walk to his bus stop with a quick long stride as efficient, straightforward, and proud as the hybrid makeshift English language he had described.