Feeder 3.1

The South has become a less distinct region as time has progressed. It is becoming more and more integrated and similar to places you would find all over America. Because of these changes, the people growing up in the South are not as closely tied to historical background that has defined the South for so many years. However, “Southern Pride” still seems to resonate in many areas throughout the South because of tradition, but according to “Dying for Dixie” by Horwitz and “Drawing Names” by Mason, the beliefs and customs that come along with this idea are not practical for the up and coming generations of Southerners that are growing up in a South very different from the Antebellum South leading up to the Civil War.
In Horwitz’s chapter “Dying for Dixie,” he talks about the murder of a man named Michael Westerman. Michael was killed by a black boy named Freddie Marrow because Michael had a Confederate flag that was hoisted to the back of his truck. The reason that Michael even flew this flag on his truck was not because of the historic meaning that it symbolized, but because “[he] was raised with that flag… it [was] just part of [his] life” and to “make his truck look sharp.” The mascot for the local high school of the town in the story was “The Rebels” which had two Confederates holding the Confederate flag. This is a perfect example of how the ideas of “Southern pride” and the Confederacy are still ingrained in the South. The younger generation has just grown up in that atmosphere and accepted these ideas for what they were, on many occasions, without knowing exactly what they meant.
Furthermore, the South places a huge emphasis on family. Much of the “Southern pride” and obsession with the Confederacy in the South stems from people’s genealogy and their connections to people that were involved the Civil War. The South views the family as a very close knit group. However, today there are more divorces than ever before. Because of this societal trend, this places extra pressure on those families in the South that are unhappy but remain together because of devotion to Southern tradition. This is seen through Mason’s short story “Drawing Names.”
Drawing Names stuff…………………………………
The Southern traditions that have been perpetuated generation to generation are, in many cases, not practical in the dynamic world in which we now live in. The traditions of the South are causing conflict and stress which can be seen through Horwitz’s “Dying for Dixie” and Mason’s “Drawing Names.” It is not practical or necessary to eternalize a symbol that represents discrimination and hardship for so many people. People have been killed over these misunderstandings, and this should be stopped. There are other ways that one’s family can be honored rather than flaunting the Confederate flag. Neither is it necessary to remain in a marriage that causes stress and unhappiness only for the sake of tradition. Although the South has retained its identity through the practices of these traditions, things must change; trying to keep things the same and live in the past is ignorant and not realistic.

Response to Dying for Dixie.

"Dying for Dixie" just shows the problems that can arise from taking pride in something that others take offense to such as the Confederate flag. However, no one should be killed over such a trivial thing. The thing that is interesting about the whole murder is that neither of the parties really even knew a whole lot about the history of the Confederate flag, or at least did not consider it a symbol of hatred. The boy that killed Michael did not even know what the flag stood for, he just knew that black people did not like it. To me, this murder just shows that much of the "Southern pride" that some Southerners show has continued only because of tradition that has not changed, not because the people really believe in it. It is just something that they have grown up with and never questioned. The younger generations cannot identify with the "Southern pride" that is described by Confederate advocates. There is a disconnect or a misunderstanding from the youth, and this can cause violence. Because the ideas of slavery and oppression are associated with the Confederate flag, there is going to conflict among the races as long as it is around. The southern heritage is not all encompassed by this flag, and I feel that, for the sake of getting along, the flag can be put aside.

Autobiography of Me and the South

I have lived in the South all my life. I was born in Wilmington, NC in 1989 and have lived there ever since. Even though the South is my home, I do not feel as though I am a southerner. Wilmington is not the most Southern town either. Of course there are the stereotypical southerners in and around Wilmington, but I feel like Wilmington has a greater mix of tourists and people from all around. My parents had a huge influence on why I do not feel like a southerner. Both my parents are from Ohio and lived in Boston for a number of years after they got married. My older brother was born in Boston in 1986. Because of the history of my parents, our family has never participated in activities that are stereotypically southern. I have never hunted or even really shot a gun for that matter. None of the rest of my family lives near us; they are spread out all over the east coast. Things of this nature were never a part of my life. However, I do like grits and sweet tea which are southern qualities. So when Ms. Webb asked how we feel about people writing about "us," southerners that is, I do not feel like they are writing about me. I do not identify myself as a southerner especially like the southerners who are written about in books like "Confederates in the Attic." They can write about southerners as much as they like; it does not bother me. I really like to travel a lot, and I think when I am able, I am going to move somewhere that is really cool which may mean not in the South. Basically, I am technically a southerner, but I do not identify myself as one and, on many levels, cannot identify with what the stereotypical southerner is supposed to be.

Event 2: Student Organization Meeting

I attended a movie showing that was hosted by the Johnston scholar program. This is not the typical student organization, but it still is a a particular group of students that come together for events from time to time. I myself am not a Johnston scholar, but my roommate happens to be one. He invited me to attend the movie with him because he said that they can bring guests and that there was free pizza. A movie and pizza.... how could I refuse, especially since I am running out of meals for the semester. The movie was a film done on one of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novels called "The Chronicles of a Death Foretold." The movie was in Spanish and had no subtitles so I was pretty lost and could not understand a word being said. I do not take or know Spanish so it was difficult for me to understand. However, my roommate speaks some Spanish and would fill me in on the dialogue from every now and then. The plot was pretty easy to follow without the subtitles anyway. I really enjoyed the film; it was very interesting and entertaining. Apparently the version we were watching was a bootleg version from Cuba because the actual film is locked away in a vault in Italy and was never really released to be sold. The movie was about a rich man who goes to this Latin American village to find a woman to marry. He chooses one of the most beautiful women in the village and marries her. On their wedding night, he discovers that she may not be a virgin so he returns her to her family and leaves the village. The family is outraged at the woman and asks who took her virginity. The girl names Santiago Azar, the "bachelor" of the village I guess you could say. The girl's brothers decide to kill Santiago. The odd thing about this part of the movie is that everyone in the village hears of the brothers plan to kill Santiago except him. The whole village fails to warn Santiago accordingly, and he is murdered in the village square.
This was an extremely interesting film to go to, and I am glad that I attended. All of the Johnston scholars that were there all discussed the movie afterward and how they felt about it. It made me want to go to more events similar to this one because it was a good time, and I got free food.

Starbucks Dweller Observation 2

I observed the Starbucks on Franklin Street just off the campus of UNC and the customers still seemed to be predominantly students from the university. However, there were more people who seemed to be from around town or professors maybe. This differed from the Rams head Starbucks significantly because I did not see anyone in it that was not potentially a student. Even though the customers were a greater mix of people, the same activities seemed to be predominant among the people. There were many people on laptops or reading books. This Starbucks definitely had a larger number of people reading the newspaper as compared to the Rams head Starbucks. Some of the people were wearing suits and ties. The people working within the Starbucks seem to enjoy doing work there, and I asked myself why this was. I came up with the idea that many of the people in the Starbucks seemed to be more hip and enjoyed to spend their time in an atmosphere that paralleled their hip or sophisticated persona.

Starbucks Dweller Observation 1

I observed people in the Starbucks by Rams Head dining hall and found that the number of people in Starbucks depends on the time of day. I was in Starbucks around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and there were not too many people there. However, as the evening approached, more and more people began to show up. Almost everyone in the Starbucks had a laptop, and if not that, they had a book that they were reading. Everyone was sitting in their own comfortable area with little interaction with anyone around them. However, there were groups of people who were sitting and chatting amongst themselves. The norm seemed to be that a person would come in, order some kind of coffee drink, find a nice work place, and wait and retrieve their drink. The people would slowly sip their drink as they casually read or worked on their laptops. The atmosphere was comfortable; there were nice slower songs playing on the speakers, and the furniture is similar to that found in people’s homes. There are couches and armchairs for the people to get comfortable and stay a while. It is truly a place someone could “dwell.”

Starbucks Dweller Hypothesis Edited

The micro culture that I have decided to observe for Unit 2 is the people that spend hours upon hours in the Starbucks coffee shop. I like to call them the “Starbucks dwellers.” I have never spent much time in Starbucks myself, just the occasional stops to get a warm beverage. I choose to study in my room more than any other location such as the library or Starbucks. These people interest me because I cannot understand how anyone could sit in one location for such an extended period of time. What makes Starbucks so appealing that one could spend the majority of their day there? Some people I know do find it more favorable to study in Starbucks rather than in the dorm because of the atmosphere that does not encompass as many distractions. These are some of the questions that I am going to strive to answer through my observational study.
This very observation is the basis for my hypothesis. The “Starbucks dwellers” choose to spend time in Starbucks to have a more work-friendly environment, one in which distractions are less frequent and large supplies of caffeine are readily available. The hours of the Starbucks provide an environment where people can come and study late into the night while having caffeinated beverages at hand to help them stay awake. Furthermore, the “Starbucks dwellers” accumulate at Starbucks to study in a social environment, to do group work, or just to have a friend close by to help against getting discouraged.
This study will serve as a basis for understanding how and where students prefer to do work. This knowledge would be essential for the university to continue to provide and expand the facilities available for its students. The success of the student highly depends upon the resources available to them, including the study facilities that are not only accessible, but appealing for the students.

Starbucks Dweller Hypothesis

The micro culture that I have decided to observe for Unit 2 is the people that spend hours upon hours in the Starbucks coffee shop. I like to call them the “Starbucks dwellers.” This was not the original group that I wrote my initial observation blogs about, but I feel that this micro culture will be a better fit for my purposes in this unit. I have never spent much time in Starbucks myself, just the occasional stops to get a warm beverage. I choose to study in my room more than any other location such as the library or Starbucks. Some people I know do find it more favorable to study in Starbucks rather than in the dorm because of the atmosphere that does not encompass as many distractions.
This very observation is the basis for my hypothesis. The “Starbucks dwellers” choose to spend time in Starbucks to have a more work-friendly environment, one in which distractions are less frequent and large supplies of caffeine are readily available. The hours of the Starbucks provide an environment where people can come and study late into the night while having caffeinated beverages at hand to help them stay awake. Furthermore, the “Starbucks dwellers” accumulate at Starbucks to study in a social environment to do group work or just to have a friend close by to help against getting discouraged.
This study will serve as a basis for understanding how and where students prefer to do work. This knowledge would be essential for the university to continue to provide and expand the facilities available for its students. The success of the student highly depends upon the resources available to them, including the study facilities that are not only accessible, but appealing for the students.

Disturbing the Norm

I have not actually tried to disturb any of the norms at the gyms yet,but if I was going to, I have a few ideas of how I could do so. The most obvious way that I could disturb these norms is to try and bring a more social attitude to the gym and try to talk to my fellow gym goers. I could also possibly disrupt some of the courtesy gym practices and see how people react. I could leave my weights on the bar to see how people react. Although, I would imagine most people would just get angry or frustrated with someone that is hindering their workout. This reaction seems to fit with the people that go to the gym. For the most part, it seems as though anger would be a common reaction among people that are working out and trying to use so much power to lift so much weight. The other thing I was thinking of doing is just trying to start racquetball games with strangers at the courts. This is something that I feel no one is used to happening. I know I have never had anyone come up to me to try and start a game of doubles or anything.

Observation #1

One of the public spaces that I have observed around campus is the gym. I go there every now and then mostly to play racquetball but occasionally to do some lifting. The norm for the gym seems to be to keep to yourself and get your routine done as efficiently as possible and move on the next workout. No one really talks to each other that much and most of the people are shutting themselves off from everyone by having headphones in their ears. Most people are not their to socialize; they are their to "work out." There are certain courtesy practices as well of course. You know... wipe down the machine after you are done, put away your weights when you are done, etc. The same kind of deal goes for racquetball players. No one mingles, they came to play with whoever they came with, not anyone else. The extent of interaction among different groups of racquetball players is only when the ball happens to bounce into someone's court, and you have to get it back. This seems to be the norm when you go to the SRC or Ramshead.

Event # 1: Academic Lecture

I attended a really interesting lecture a while ago about sustainability for the future. The CEO of a company came to speak about how his company has reacted to the rising global issues dealing with resources, pollution, and global warming. He is the CEO of a yogurt company that makes all natural, organic yogurt. They do not use chemicals or preservatives in the yogurt, and they actually pay their farmers to not use any chemicals such as pesticides or anything. The CEO talked about how being sustainable can actually be quite profitable. There of course is an initial cost in the beginning, but over the long run, many of these investments will save money later. An example of this was his company investing in a large waste holder facility that was very expensive. However, the facility stores the waste as it decomposes and traps the methane and other substances that are given off and is able to reuse this for energy for operational needs. This saves a whole lot of money in energy costs over the long run despite the huge initial investment. This is most likely what the future of many businesses is going to be like. I am really interested in sustainability and the future of our planet. One of the topics that really interested me was the idea of mimicking structures in nature to construct our buildings and other things. One of the examples was a building that stays relatively cool without air conditioning which is modeled after giant termite hills in Africa that are built with passages to allow air flow. This flow of air keeps the inside of the termite hill at a stable cool temperature compared to the outside surrounding temperature. It was a very interesting talk, and I got some free yogurt out of it.

The lecture added to my experience as a college student because I felt as if I was an informed citizen of the college community that participates in enriching activities. The lecture was definitely geared towards an audience that is interested in business and current environmental issues such as resources and population. However, the speech was very easy to understand and very interesting. I find myself becoming more interested in environmental issues that face the world now and in the near future. Maybe I will be able to incorporate these interests into whatever major I decide to pursue.

Rushing Franklin!

I, like the majority of Carolina students, watched the Tarheels beat the Blue Devils in the basketball game on Wednesday night. This is one of those huge rivalries in college sports. It was fun watching the game with some friends because it was a close game for most of it. After we won, all my friends and I rushed Franklin Street to join the giant crowd and celebrate our win. There were people everywhere, and it was quite an experience. There were people climbing the light posts to stand on the stop/walk machines to cheer. I saw one guy do this and then right when he got down a cop was ready to handcuff him. I did not do anything too crazy just "moshed" for a while and put my friend on my shoulders. My friends and I left the crowd and ventured down Franklin to retrieve the pokey sticks we had ordered from Gumby's Pizza. We got two boxes and ravaged them right in front of the pizza place. It was an awesome night except for that I knew I had to wake up early to turn in my chemistry lab report. Despite the work I should have done, the workless night was worth it. This kid I know even ended up getting his picture on the front page of the Herald Sun newspaper crowd surfing on Franklin Street.

Bad Day...

Today was not a very good day to say the least. The only positive so far is that now I am done with everything, and it is Friday. This morning I overslept and missed biology. Then woke up to go to chemistry and french... and this was okay but I knew I had to still go to a doctor's appointment. I left french got some lunch then headed towards the doctor. I hate going to the doctor because it is a big hassle and a waste of time. It was unfortunate because, being as it was a Friday afternoon, the office was pretty busy. I had to wait in the waiting room for an almost an hour before they finally called me into the back. Then I had to sit in that room for multiple periods of ten to fifteen minutes. Then they finally let me go, but I still had to get blood drawn at the lab. Then after all of this hellishness I get to walk all the way back to my dorm. It was not a very good day at all but now I just get to relax and enjoy the first night of the weekend.

Australia

Australia is one cool country. I went there about two summers ago by now, and it was one of the best trips I have ever taken. There I was getting dropped off at the airport about to fly alone for the first time. I have always been somewhat scared of flying... especially alone. It is funny because my first time flying alone and my destination is halfway around the globe. Needless to say, after this trip I got over my fear of flying and the worries of flying alone. It was so worth it though. However, I did lose one of my bags on my transfer through New Zealand. I landed in Sydney with my dad waiting at the airport because he had already been in Australia for a few weeks previously with his class from UNCW. It was great; Sydney is the prettiest city, and I loved every minute while I was there. One of the only downsides was the fact that it was winter in Australia in July, but it was not too cold. My friend actually came with me too but we had different flights the whole way to Australia, and he arrived a day after I did. We all stayed in Sydney for a few days, but my father had a condo in a town called Wollongong which is about an hour and a half south of Sydney. The condo was pretty nice but it was a temporary place to stay while my dad taught this class for a duration of about five or six weeks. Wollongong was also a really cool place. It definitely had a "beach town" feel even more so than Wilmington where I am from. The beach was just down the street from the condo and th waves looked incredible. The view at the beach was amazing because much of the coastline in this area was more like rocky cliffs without much actual sandy beach spots like I am used to. Then we flew to Cairns which is a city in Northeast Australia. The worthwhile experience I had here was to be able to go out on a dive boat to a section of the Great Barrier Reef and go scuba diving. I saw a giant sea turtle that had to be as big as I was. On the way back to the US, we stopped in New Zealand for a few days and stayed in Auckland. Auckland was an awesome city, and I became a fan of the national rugby team there called the "All Blacks." This explains why I have a coat that says "All Blacks" on it if you have ever seen it and did not understand what it was. I returned home after about three weeks, but these three weeks were some of the most enjoyable weeks I have ever had. I am yet to travel to Europe, but I am confident Australia and New Zealand will always be two of my favorite countries. I am partially planning on studying abroad in Australia, but this is till up in the air. But if anyone ever has the chance to travel to Australia or New Zealand, I highly recommend it.

Caffiene in the form of Coffee

I have Biology Monday/Wednesday/Friday this semester at 9 am. This is not too early, but it is still a drag especially cause I find myself going to sleep at 2 to 3 in the morning every night. It is unfortunate that Biology is my first class on these days because I inevitably fall asleep in class every time. This being the case, I have missed huge chunks of info in class when I doze off. I feel behind and confused when it comes to doing the biology homework because of material that I may have missed. So I had to change what I was doing. This morning I woke up 50 to 40 minutes before class instead of the usual 30 to 20 minutes before. I got ready and went out the door with enough time to go grab a caffeinated coffee beverage from Starbucks. I drank it on the way to class and over the first few minutes of class. It was wonderful because I felt up and alert. I did not even think about falling asleep. I am going to incorporate the Starbucks stop into every one of my mon./wed./fri. mornings as well as trying to get to bed a little earlier on most nights. I am sure my biology grade will look much better if I am able to not sleep in class. I have never been a coffee person, but I think I just might have to become one.

Super Smash Bros.

One of my most favorite video games is super Smash Bros. Melee. This game is about 8 years old now, but I still do not get tired of it as long as I have a few good fellows to play with. It is funny because "smashing" (playing Super Smash Bros.) has become a popular activity in my suite. The game can bring out the worst in the suite in the heat of competition. I consider myself to be the best in the suite at smash, but my suite mate Steve can give me a run for my money. The most entertaining thing is watching Erik become infuriated when I spike him into the black abyss of death. It has really become a great suite activity if we are bored or just feel like procrastinating on various assignments. Well, I have to go because some smashing is in the works as I type. I cannot miss out on defeating everyone and stirring up some suite resentment.

Late Night Bike Rides!

One of my most favorite things to do back when I was a freshman and sophomore in high school was to take late night bike rides over the weekend. There were so many times when I would be hanging out with my friends and had nothing to do... no parties to go to... the video games were getting old and I have already seen most of my movies. Then my friends and I came up with the best thing to do. It was much more fun than anything else that we were doing. We would go on late night bike rides anywhere from midnight til three in the morning. We rode the streets of Wilmington around our neighborhood like a biker gang. We of course had to make the usual late night stop at Taco Bell and go through the drive-thru on our bikes. Then we would make our way around the strip malls stopping in front of Harris Teeter. The late night security guy would give us threatening glares and just wondering why these teenage boys are riding bikes so late at night in his assigned turf. We might even go into Harris Teeter to mess around and grab some of the free cookies if there were any at this time of night. On the way out we would buy a large energy drink and split it between us so we could get a rush of energy to help us continue our biking adventure. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) would be close, and we would ocassionally ride through campus. The furthest we ever ventured at night had to be five or six miles to the Super Wal-Mart to just hang out and mess with the balls in the tall rack. Then we made the dark trip back to my house and arrived exhausted but satisified with our aimless journey. Then we would all grab a spot on the couch or on the floor and fall asleep to the sound of the T.V.

Folk Cure...

I am going to do sunburn...

Inauguration

This was the first time I have really watched an inauguration. They usually are not as much of a monumental event, or at least it never has been for me. Although there have only been a few inaugurations in my lifetime, I feel like this one has to be the most important. Everything worked out beautifully on inauguration day; it snowed, most of my classes were canceled, and I was able to watch the inauguration in peace without the worries of hustling to class. Instead, I knew the snow was waiting for me outside. I really wanted to go to the inauguration, and I missed an opportunity to go that I should have capitalized on. My old high school program, the Lyceum Program, takes an annual trip to DC in January and goes to the inauguration every fourth year. This time, because of the historical impact of this inauguration, the program invited alumni of the program to go with them to stay in the Embassy Suites hotel for three or four nights. I would have only had to pay about $160 for a great trip. Anyway, I am still glad I was able to watch it on the t.v. I am glad that Obama is president and am sure he will do good things.

Who am I?

Well, my name is Rowan McCarthy and I come from Wilmington, NC. I was born there and have basically lived there my whole life besides the glorious six months I spent in Barbados when I was around the ripe old age of five. Wilmington seems to be a pretty popular place to come from around here because it has the beach of course. It is funny because for the longest time growing up in Wilmington, I did not enjoy the beach whatsoever. Whenever my friends would invite me to go I would either just shoot them down or come up with whatever lie I could come up with to get out of it. As the years passed I learned to appreciate the beach and spent much more time there over the high school years. It was a great place to go during the summer, especially Masonboro Island on the 4th of July when hundreds of people would flock to the island to drink and enjoy the good summer times.

I think it is going to be difficult to me to come with ideas for my blog later on this semester, but I am confident I will figure it out. I will write about some of my humorous experiences or something... but if anyone has any suggestions just let me know.