Semester Memoir

Freshman year of college: meeting new people and friends, sports events and school activities, roommates, parties, all nighters, and junk food. These are all things that I have experienced my first year of college, and are all things that have changed my overall outlook on life, and my future. The past four months that I have spent at CSU Monterey Bay, have definitely been an eye opener, in some ways better than others. When I began the first semester here at college, I was ready for a change of pace, and a new beginning. I was ready to let go of my high school years, my old friends, and my old life. However, along this journey so far, I realized that moving on creates room for new memories, and holds tight to the bittersweet memories of the past that will always be missed. Many activities and events have lead me to believe that CSUMB has changed my life. From classes, school activities, and the dining commons, to roommates, new friends, and a love life, I have realized a lot of things, and learned a lot of lessons. This I think is because of the school that I am attending. CSUMB has proven to be a school with great vision and core values through the experiences that I have been through and the things that I have learned thanks to CSUMB. 

My first class of the entire semester was FYS, or First Year Seminar. I didn’t know what to expect going into this class, seeing as it was my first college class that I had ever attended. The first day was very informative, and helped me to better understand what exactly this school was about, and how it worked. Throughout the class everything that I may have been confused about was addressed, including my undergraduate 2 year plan, which I would have had no idea that it needed to be done without FYS.  All of my classes this semester helped me to further my education in some way, whether it was becoming a better writer through my English class, or becoming a better swimmer through my Water Aerobics class.  

The school activities that CSUMB has to offer are very diverse, and most very interesting and fun. From the very first day, there were activities all over campus, from ice cream socials, to barbecues, and even dances, there was plenty to do. All semester there have been advertisements floating around of different night clubs to go to, and movie nights with popular films that were being shown. My friends and I, even though people I hadn’t known very long, went to these events together, and it helped me to get involved in the school, and form friendships with the people I was going with. One event that I went to recently was the Tacky Sweater party, which was held in the Student Center. This was a fun event to attend with my friends because we were all able to be a little bit silly, dress up, and enjoy ourselves. 

The Dining Commons here at CSUMB have proven to be deadly. Don’t get me wrong, the food is great, but I have learned my lesson well about the “Freshman Fifteen.” The story goes, “From all that partyin’ that you young kinds are doin’, and all that beer that you been drinkin’ is gonna make you gain fifteen damn pounds!”  However, in my experience, the extra pounds that is being put on comes not from the booze, but straight from the food intake. Sure, there are some healthy choices at the dining commons. But in order to get back to the healthy section, you have to pass by the juicy burgers, the greasy pizza, and the always satisfying taqueria!  For me, this was a lesson well learned, to know and to follow the diet that my mom always told me, no junk food!

One thing that I really wanted to do upon attending college was live in the dorms. This was because I knew that living in the dorms was the way to get involved and to meet people. I got put on the waiting list for on campus housing, but soon got in. However, I was stuck in the Substance Free Hall. My roommate situation turned out to be a disaster. About 3 months into the semester, I got a room transfer, and now I am living with two roommates, and from that have made two really good friends. The situation that I was in before I got a room transfer definitely taught me to accept people, and treat them with respect, even if they are a complete opposite of who I am. This is something that plenty of people have to deal with, and something that I have learned quite well to do, especially now that I am in college.

Meeting people was one of the main reasons why I wanted to live on campus. And I have found out that there is always someone new to meet. I came into college wanting to meet people, and this semester I have done just that. I have opened myself up to other people so that they can see who I am, and so that I can make true friends. Coming here, and moving to a different city forces people to be put out of their comfort zone. How I look at it, is if I am not able to open myself up, and put myself out there, I will not get anywhere. I believe that the friends that I have made here, and the people I have met will continue to be in my life, because of who the way that I opened up, and the way that college opened my eyes to new people. 

When I thought about attending college, there was rarely a thought that it would further anything but my education. But along the way, I realized that all this is a lesson, and it helps to better the life that is ahead of me, and therefor further my knowledge in reality. All of the little things that I have experienced in my days thus far at CSUMB have helped me to grow as a person. I have learned many things along the way, and have realized that college is not only about getting an education, but it’s also a boost for the rest of my life.

Virtual Communities & Real Life: Multitasking

Lila Bushnell, Taylor Miller, and Kristine Brown

As a group we decided to to choose multitaskers because we are all multitaskers ourselves and believe that it is a good thing. We believe that multitasking should be viewed as a good, and productive thing throughout lifestyles. It is most common among students, like ourselves. We chose multitasking as our focus because it is something that we can relate to, and it something that we do on a day-to-day basis. 

The following readings help to define our group’s definition of academic community because all of the readings relate to how multitasking is shown throughout everyday communities, and a lot of times a perfect example is an educational or academic communities. The first common reading was Ferdinand Tonnies on Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. According to Tonnies, the community and society is based off of order-law-mores, dissolution, the people and state, types of real community life, counterpart of Gemeinschaft, and the real state. Order-law-mores: The concept of morality as a purely ideal or mental system of norms in community life. A community grows from beliefs and necessities, intertwined with realities from the social norm. Order and laws are based off of opinion. Dissolution: The substance of a community and society consists of concord, folkways, mores, and religion. War exists to destroy and subjugate between members and nonmembers of a community. Peace and commerce are maintained through conventions of underlying fear. The state protects this civilization through legislation and politics. The People and the State:  The people create the dominating power which creates the houses, villages, and towns of the country. The law changes things, which is useful and efficient. Religion has an immediate contact and is most deeply related to the physical-spiritual. Counterpart of Gemeinschft: Family life is the basis of life, which subsists throughout city, village, and town life. A main focus is steering away from evil and work towards the greater good. The Real State: Public opinion forces everyone to do what is useful and to leave undone what is damaging. The second common reading was Intro to Virtual Communities by Robin Hamman. He believes that different virtual communities are centerd around specifc chat rooms. The term “communitiy” is refered to as an omnibus word, because it is used by so many people. Hamman believes that we should all agree on a definition if we are to talk about something in a meaningful way. The definition given by Hamman is, “a group of people who share social interaction, and some common ties between themselves and the other members of the group, and who share an area for at least some of the time. The third common reading was “The Machine Stops,” by E.M. Forster. This was a story about technology, and basically how is has affected our everyday lives. There was a thing called the “Machine,” that was commonly referred to throughout the reading. This “Machine” was a way for the people of that time to communicate with each other. Each person lived by themselves, and was completely cut off from the world, and lived in space. This was symbolic of what our world will eventually come to if we continue to let the technology around us consume our lives. If we continue to rely on technology, there is no way for us to bounce back if we were to lose it. 

After researching the definition of an academic community, we have come to the conclusion that it is basically a community that surrounds a university or college. The community that is surrounded by the university or college participates in co- and extra-curricular activities. These activities help to form the university or college into a tighter knit congregation, and make it into more of a community. 

According to Fernidand Tonnie, there are two basic forms of human will: essential and arbitrary. Essential will is underlying, organic, and an instinctive driving force. Arbitrary will is deliberative, purposive, and future oriented.  Hamman’s definition of community is determined by one’s surroundings. This means that one will define community by who they are with, or what is around them. He believes that everyone’s community is not the same, but is individually different. “Community is a non-scientific term, unless it is separately defined in every paper which uses it.” This definition in comparison to our group’s definition of community is similar, but our group did not state that  each person’s community was different. We thought that each community was established by many, and many people made up a community.

The “Machine” that is referred to in E.M. Forster’s story, “The Machine Stops,” is technology, and how technology affects everyday life. Without technology, or the so called, “Machine,” all hell would break loose. Now that our entire world is so used to having technology, we depend on it, and it would be a terrible loss if it were to be taken away from us. We would not be able to survive without the means of technology, meaning that we depend so much on it now, that it would be nearly impossible to survive without it. 

The FYS100 course outcomes for this semester were academic skills, meaning students are on a college level with media, texts and content. The academic skills course outcome enables us students to collaborate ethically with others to complete assignments. This has been achieved in our class, and with this assignment in particular because we a forced to work with other people, in a group setting, and it helps us to learn to work with others. Working with others causes us to accept other’s ideas, and to understand how to interact with people who may have other opinions than ourselves. 

Virtual Communities & Real Life: Multitasking DRAFT

Virtual Communities & Real Life

Rough Draft

Lila Bushnell, Taylor Miller, and Kristine Brown

1. As a group we decided to to choose multitaskers because we are all multitaskers ourselves and believe that it is a good thing. We believe that multitasking should be viewed as a good, and productive thing throughout lifestyles. It is most common among students, like ourselves. We chose multitasking as our focus because it is something that we can relate to, and it something that we do on a day-to-day basis.
2. The following readings help to define our group’s definition of academic community because all of the readings relate to how multitasking is shown throughout everyday communities, and a lot of times a perfect example is an educational or academic communities. The first common reading was Ferdinand Tonnies on Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. According to Tonnies, the community and society is based off of order-law-mores, dissolution, the people and state, types of real community life, counterpart of Gemeinschaft, and the real state. Order-law-mores: The concept of morality as a purely ideal or mental system of norms in community life. A community grows from beliefs and necessities, intertwined with realities from the social norm. Order and laws are based off of opinion. Dissolution: The substance of a community and society consists of concord, folkways, mores, and religion. War exists to destroy and subjugate between members and nonmembers of a community. Peace and commerce are maintained through conventions of underlying fear. The state protects this civilization through legislation and politics. The People and the State:  The people create the dominating power which creates the houses, villages, and towns of the country. The law changes things, which is useful and efficient. Religion has an immediate contact and is most deeply related to the physical-spiritual. Counterpart of Gemeinschft: Family life is the basis of life, which subsists throughout city, village, and town life. A main focus is steering away from evil and work towards the greater good. The Real State: Public opinion forces everyone to do what is useful and to leave undone what is damaging.The second common reading was Intro to Virtual Communities by Robin Hamman. He believes that different virtual communities are centerd around specifc chat rooms. The term “communitiy” is refered to as an omnibus word, because it is used by so many people. Hamman believes that we should all agree on a definition if we are to talk about something in a meaningful way. The definition given by Hamman is, “a group of people who share social interaction, and some common ties between themselves and the other members of the group, and who share an area for at least some of the time. The third common reading was “The Machine Stops,” by E.M. Forster. This was a story about technology, and basically how is has affected our everyday lives.
3. After researching the definition of an academic community, we have come to the conclusion that it is basically a community that surrounds a university or college. The community that is surrounded by the university or college participates in co- and extra-curricular activities. These activities help to form the university or college into a tighter knit congregation, and make it into more of a community. 
4. According to Fernidand Tonnie, there are two basic forms of human will: essential and arbitrary. Essential will is underlying, organic, and an instinctive driving force. Arbitrary will is deliberative, purposive, and future oriented. 
5. Hamman’s definition of community is determined by one’s surroundings. This means that one will define community by who they are with, or what is around them. He believes that everyone’s community is not the same, but is individually different. “Community is a non-scientific term, unless it is separately defined in every paper which uses it.” This definition in comparison to our group’s definition of community is similar, but our group did not state that  each person’s community was different. We thought that each community was established by many, and many people made up a community.
6. The “Machine” is technology, and how technology affects everyday life. Without technology, or the so called, “Machine,” all hell would break loose. Now that our entire world is so used to having technology, we depend on it, and it would be a terrible loss if it were to be taken away from us. 
7. The FYS100 course outcomes for this semester were academic skills, meaning students are on a college level with media, texts and content. The academic skills course outcome enables us students to collaborate ethically with others to complete assignments. This has been achieved in our class, and with this assignment in particular because we a forced to work with other people, in a group setting, and it helps us to learn to work with others.

Fall Break!

My fall break was a good chance to visit home and see my family. I stayed in my old room, which is now an office to my mom. In the beginning of the week, I was very sick with a cold, but being home and actually getting a good nights rest helped me to get better. I didn't do much school work over the break, probably because I wasn't interested in anything having to do with school, seeing as I just got back and didn't want to think about having to do school work anytime soon. I ended up calling my old job, a pizza restaurant at a ski resort by my house. They put me on the schedule for four days, and eight hour shifts. Working this break took up most of my free time that I had during the days, which was fine because I would have much rather been working and making money than sleeping in until noon everyday. I had thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house in Reno, which is about 40 minutes from my house. We had an early dinner and then went out to the movies afterwards. We saw the movie Blindside, which was really good, and was a good family movie to see on thanksgiving. I was planning the entire break to leave Monday morning, but found out a few days before that it was not a furlough day, so I ended up coming back to Monterey late Sunday night after work.

I think that being in school has changed my outlook on life, and has made me realize that I am now on my own and am making my own decisions, which is a good thing, and I am enjoying it! It's weird to think now that I live in Monterey, and I'm basically just visiting my hometown every time I go back for a weekend, or a break. Being able to go to college has changed me, just because I know now that I am doing something with my life, and I am able to have fun along the way!

Fahrenheit 451 Video Reviews!

Group #1:

Christine Moreno

Cassie Pauley

Johanna Stanley

Julia Matthews

• Meets assignment? (Are all members in the video?) Yes, all members appeared in the video. The group did meet the assignment in many different aspects. They did the interview, with six or more questions each, and it was in the display of a talk show, which met the criteria of the interview part.
• Viewer learns about F451/Characters? Each character was fully described by answering the questions. The characters were on point and I knew which people were which characters. They made it funny so it was nice to get information through having humor. I could tell very clearly which characters were which by the questions that were being asked, and the way that the person answered it in character.
• Entertaining? The video was entertaining, funny, and well put together and thought out so it made it fun to watch. It was also edited very well, which made it more fun to watch. At the end, the credits were like a real movie, with pictures of each person and their name. All of this made it very entertaining to watch, and more interesting.
• Compare/Contrast with own team video. My group’s video did not include a standard interview, like this one. Our group was all over the place, and also included a scene from the movie. I think that the talk show idea was very good, and they made it funny like Jerry Springer, and named it Julia Springer. However, all of the other groups did a talk show, and we did not. So it made our video a bit more unique than all of the others. 
• Anything you wish your team thought of? An interview show, more editing throughout the video. The editing made it more interesting to watch, and if we had done as much editing throughout our video it might have made it more interesting to watch.

Group #2:

Taylor Miller

Lindsey Molander

Lindsey Gatlin

Micheal Kwazney

• Meets assignment? (Are all members in the video?) Yes, all members and characters appeared in the video. The interviewer did not stay behind the camera the whole time, which was good. All of the people appeared in the video for the same amount of time. The also met the other criteria of doing an interview with six questions. This group may have even done more questions than asked for in the assignment.
• Viewer learns about F451/Characters? Each character was clearly displayed, and the information that was given made sense with the characters. This was because when the interviewer asked the questions, all of the questions were answered in character. The interviewer was also in character the whole time.
• Entertaining? It was a funny movie, and fun to watch. But sometimes hard to understand because there was a lot of laughing and goofiness, which made it fun to watch, but hard to understand. All of the characters played their parts well so it was entertaining to see them in character, and pretending to be people from the book.
• Compare/Contrast with own team video. My group’s video was all over the place, and there was a lot going on. This group’s video was in the same setting the whole time, which made it easier to follow along and understand. However with my video, it may have been a little bit more interesting because it was all over the place, instead of just in one setting the entire time.This group did not have a scene from the movie, like my group’s video did.
• Anything you wish your team thought of? An interview show, or a more formal interview. My group did not do a formal interview, whereas this group sat down and had an interview, which may have made it more interesting to the viewers.

Which Book Would I Save?

Twilight, without a doubt. This book is a great story about a world that is make believe, and interesting. The story of Twilight is one of true love, and can be enjoyed by many, even if they don't believe in vampires. I like this book because I think that it opens up one's mind to another world, and lets them escape reality while reading it. 

I think that in the world of Fahrenheit 451, Twilight would definitely be illegal because it gives people a false sense of another world. The authorities in Fahrenheit 451 do not want people to have to think about anything other than the world that they are living in. One thing that was said continuously throughout Fahrenheit 451 was that when reading books, it takes you away form reality. That is exactly what this book does, it gives the sense of another world, and a different reality. 

Based on what I know about Twilight, I think that this book is worth saving because it is a fantasy reading. Both adults and children can enjoy this book, and the love story that is within it.

I think that my choice of book would be good in a new society because it gives people a chance to imagine what other things and worlds are like. It may be a chance to get away form reality, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Juu0OwAACAAJ&dq=twilight

Mountain View Field Trip!

On Friday, my CST 104 class took a trip to Mountain View, a town that is home to the Computer History Museum, and the world famous Googleplex. When we arrived to the Computer History museum, we were immediately entertained with an explanation and visual display of The Babbage Engine. This was very interesting, and kept my attention while the employees of the museum shared their knowledge of the history of The Babbage Engine and cranked it a few times so that every student could see what it really did. After the Babbage Engine presentation, we were free to roam around the museum on our own. There were old computers, old video games, anything that you could think of that was technology prone was there. It was so interesting to see all of what old computers really used to look and function like. After the museum, we ate lunch and took off to the Googleplex. This place was amazing, and was it was so interesting to see how many people put work into making Google world-wide known. There were cafes everywhere and friendly people around every corner. What I found that was really cool about the Googleplex was that it seemed as though they were just trying to make the work place a fun and interesting, so that their employees actually wanted to go to work, and they can enjoy going to work. Overall, this field trip was awesome, and it really opened my mind to something I didn't know before. 

Local Newspaper Article-Monterey County Might Alter Speed Limits in Prunedale, Marina

Local people have been complaining recently about the speed limits in Marina. One street, in Prunedale has been getting complaints that the speed limit is too fast, and it's unsafe. Another street, Reservation Road, has been getting complaints that the speed limit is too slow, and it needs to be bumped up a little bit. After several complaints, Monterey County is considering doing so. As for the too fast complaint, new stop signs will also be put in to avoid any unsafe activity along Tustin Road in Prunedale. Having more stop signs along the road will ensure that the new speed limit is being enforced. I think that this is a good thing for Monterey County to do because not only is it making the town safer, but it's also showing the local people that they do have a say in what happens around the city, and their voice will be heard. 

Majors Activity..

When first assigned an activity in a group, I was excited. I love working with other people, and learning from them. My group consisted of four girls, and we all got along very well. We exchanged numbers right off the bat, so that we were able to contact each other about our presentation. That same day in class we made a time on Tuesday and on Friday before class to meet and do our project. When we met up on Tuesday, all of the group members showed up on time, and participated. We just helped each other with each individual question, and did as much as we could to get every part done. We took each question individually and all answered it together, putting all of our ideas into the answer. Also on Tuesday, we put all of our information together in a powerpoint. We each helped pick out pictures and text fonts, as well as backgrounds. On Thursday when we met, we went over the information that we had, made sure the powerpoint worked, and divided up the sections in which each of us were to present. Overall, the meetings with my group members went really good, and we completed all that we needed to. Our intentions in meeting up at the library were to get everything completed and to not be rushed and unprepared come Friday. 

It ended up that were anything but unprepared on the day of presentations. Our powerpoint was done very well. We had bullet points, and images, and plenty of knowledge about our majors so that we could talk more about it than what was just on the screen. The only problem that we experienced was when we went to hook up one of our computers, we didn't have the right cable cord. We ended up having to step outside and allow another group to go in front of us. Overall though, our presentation went really well, and were were able to cover all the requirements. 

I learned a lot about the majors that my group studied. I am an undeclared major as of right now, and doing this presentation helped me look deeper into the majors that we presented, as well as a lot of the majors that other groups presented. One interesting major that was researched and presented by another group was Japanese. I though this major was very complex, and I learned a lot about what the actual requirements are, like traveling and living in the country of Japan as one. It was interesting to me to find out the depth of some of these majors, and definitely made me think more about my major of choice. 

I think that working in a group environment forces you to communicate, and communication is a great, and very necessary skill to have. Within my group, we had a lot of communication and that definitely helped us to make a better presentation. For example, one of us couldn't make a meeting that we had planned, so instead we all communicated with one another and scheduled another time that worked better for all of us. In the future group assignments, I hope to also have good communication with the members, and if for some reason we don't, then I will be doing whatever it takes to install good communication within my group members. 

Local Newspaper Article-Fiesta Del Mar at the Aquarium

On Sunday, October 4th, the local aquarium on Cannery Row celebrated the "Hero of the Environment." This year, a woman in particular was noticed for her efforts to help sea life. All day of sunday, the aquarium hosts activities such as music, dancers, food, and raffles. All of the tours that go on for the day are said in spanish and in english. While there are different activities like music going on, there are arts and crafts for children of all ages, and the parents can have fun also.

I think this is a great way to being a little bit of a different culture into the streets of Cannery Row, especially the aquarium. The aquarium already has a great way of attracting people from all over, and this event makes it even better. Because of the change in activity, this is a good way to get the locals to go out and enjoy the aquarium as well. There is many different cultures around us, and I think that of we can intertwine the culture with a popular venue, it only makes it better to enjoy.

Major Fair!

On Wednesday, CSUMB put on a major fair, which is a bunch of booths that represent the majors that CSUMB has to offer. Seeing as I am currently an Undeclared major, the major fair was very helpful to me. In each booth they had brochures and pamphlets describing the basics of the major, the requirements, the job outcomes, and more. One pamphlet that I picked up was from the Business major booth. The pamphlet was very helpful in telling me just what I would get out of a Business major. One thing that I like about the brochures at CSUMB is that most of them listed actual places to get a job or an internship once you have graduated. The major fair helped me get a better understanding of all of the majors, and made me think more about what I might want to major in soon.

Local Newspaper Article-2009 Monterey Jazz Festival

Every year the city of Monterey hold a jazz festival lasting a weekend long. After celebrating the 52nd anniversary of having the jazz festival, this year proved to be one of the best. An article in the Monterey County Weekly named off just a few famous musicians that helped bring the amazement to the finale on Sunday. Not only were there several actual jazz players, but there also was a new twist, blues. Susan Tedeschi has a blues band, and she brought to the stage a powerful performance with her guitar based band. I believe that this is a truly amazing thing that the city of Monterey puts on every year. I think that it brings good life and entertainment to the streets, and it gives people a chance to experience the true beauty of the music and soul of jazz. 

Club Fair

On Wednesday there was a club fair held at the Student Center. There were a lot of different clubs and activities that are put on by the students of CSUMB. One booth that I stopped at was the bicycle club. They had an offer up for anyone in the school to go on a 4 mile bike ride on Sunday. 

Another club that I liked was a "Ladies in Pink." This is a club of girls that do volunteer work throughout our community. I have always wanted to volunteer in a homeless shelter and serve food. When I looked at their pamphlet later on in the day, it said that they have perviously volunteered at Dorothy's Kitchen, a local women's shelter. I am now considering joining this club because I like what there mission is. 

Going to this club fair was a good thing because it opened my eyes to what is going on in our school, and made me want to become more involved with school activities.

Technology

Technology, something that each and every person uses on a daily bases, even something that people could not live without these days. Take the clock for example. The clock that is used in the classroom, as well as in every modern home, is something that we rely on every day and every hour. Time is something that is very important, it keeps everyone on track , and it keeps everyone organized. Without the clock's helpful display, nobody would really know what time is was, and everyone would be on different time schedules. The clock and time affects me in a lot of different ways, it helps me to organize my life, and keep my life on track as well. As James Burke states, a "technology trap" is something that you literally cannot get out of in the case of a technology break down. Another example in my opinion would be theme parks. In the case of a technology disaster, the roller coasters of our days would stop in an instant. Therefor, we would be trapped, until a reboot of energy, or an alternate power source was used.  My opinion on our dependence on technology is that we do depend very much on technology, and it would be hard to live without it. However, I believe we could live without it. It's been done before, and it could be done again. But few people today would choose to live without it after having lived with t for so long. I believe that technology has made a giant leap since the 1960's. If we were ever to have another blackout like the one in New York in 1965, I believe that it would be more of a tragedy. I believe this because we now have even more technology, and more things that we would need to worry about if we were ever to have another blackout. I think that technology may stray us away from our natural instinct for a moment, but they always kick back in. Once technology bails on us, our natural instincts come back, as they always will. It may seem as though it has separated from our true beings and nature, but past all the wires and technology, it is still there. I think that if the power were to ever go out in CSUMB, we would run out of resources very quickly. For example, in the dining commons, we are constantly refilling and restocking everything. As far as the alternate power source goes, the generators, they only last for so long. And once those generators crash, there is not another source of energy to back us up. This is where we would panic, meaning that we may depend a little too much on technology itself.

Local Newspaper Article-Coordinating Anti-Gang Efforts

There has been an outbreak of gang violence among the Monterey County recently, especially in Salinas. There has been a mass effort of people trying to control and educate the people of gang violence. However, it seems that the community around is the least bit of help. There has been several anti-gang violence programs launched, but the little of community support with these programs seems to flush them all away. Too much of the city budget is being used on these programs, with no result of better changes, therefor the city no longer wants to fund them. Although Salinas was unwilling to participate in the past programs, a recent meeting was held, and an expert in national crime prevention stated that he sees a lot of potential in Salinas, and there is hope for the future.

I believe that this is very important to continue raising awareness and prevention for gang violence, even if it continues to get shut down. Gang violence has been a problem in Salinas for a long time, and the constant effort to stop it will pay off in the long run. 

Multitasking

Often times, people may see multitasking as a distraction, and a bad thing. But others, like me, see it as a good thing, and a very helpful thing at that. Multitasking for me is a way of getting more than one thing done at a time, or enjoying more than one thing at a time. Being focused on one task at a time, has been proven to be more efficient, according to Charles J. Abate, the author of "You say Multitasking Like It's a Good Thing." The myth in question is that multitasking saves time. This is true, however your brain is simply incapable of focusing on two tasks at a time. Therefor, whatever it is that you are doing, is getting done faster, but not better. Another myth that Abate talks about in his article is that multitasked learning is as good as single-tasked learning, when in fact it is not. Studies show that when you are in an uninterrupted learning environment, you learn more efficiently. Whereas in an interrupted environment, you just don't learn as well. I believe this is true because your brain can only truly focus on one thing at a time, and when learning multiple things at once, you are not getting every bit of information. A myth recently brought into question is that multitasking is the forte of the young. That kids these days are much better at multitasking than the olden days. This may seem to be true, but its not. No matter your age, multitasking is a habit, and people do it. I do it, and I realize that it is probably not as efficient as a single minded activity, but its a way of life now. And people rely on the ability to multitask, including me.

Jazz Exhibit Experience

My overall impression of the Jazz: The Syncopation of Democracy exhibit was good. I was impressed with the variety of examples and information that informed us about the jazz age. I was very impressed with the music part of the exhibit. For me, hearing the music, and hearing the soul throughout the songs was my window. I appreciate music very much, and it is a big part of my life. I felt like I was personally connected to the music part of the exhibit because in my life, music reaches out to me. So when I was listening to the Summertime songs, I felt like I could relate to the soul within the song.  believe that the connection between jazz and democracy is similarity. In democracy, you  have to be willing to hear another’s point of view, and acknowledge it. Within the music of jazz, the music is the conversation, and people respond to just what you are playing. George Gershwin worked on the opera, “Porgy and Bess,” while composing “Summertime.” Summertime is sung multiple times throughout the opera “Porgy and Bess,” in many different ways and tones. The connection between jazz and opera could be that both genres of music come from within, and from the soul. The juxtaposition of Nina Simone’s lyrics and Tupac Shakur’s writing was intentionally done in the exhibit because I believe that it symbolized the connection between the two, and the similarity of meaning. It also displays the fact that maybe music hasn’t changed as much as we have thought. These days, a lot of popular music is in the genre of rap. Tupac Shakur is still very popular amongst people today. However, the language of rap has changed. Tupac’s music was focused around real life things, and his intentions were to get something across to people. Whereas today, it’s simply for brief entertainment. 

Local Newspaper Article-Jewish Food Festival

The Jewish Food Festival is held every year in the Carmel Valley. This event is held to interest people in the jewish culture. At this event, they have food that you can buy, and food that you can sample. In order to buy the food, you have to exchange your american dollars for wooden "gelt" that they used as a form of currency. They also have activities like a tour, live music, storytelling, and even a jewish wedding re-enactment. Every year this event becomes more popular. This year, crowds were up to 3,000 people. I think that the jewish food festival is a good way to get people familiar with other cultures, and to just get a taste of what is out there. I didn't know about the jewish food festival this year, and I was bummed to hear that I had missed it. After reading this article, I will definitely be attending next year to expand my horizons, and learn some new things!

Growth and Fixed Mindsets

My mindset throughout the last week of school has been an on and off mixture of growth and fixed. Beginning my week in a new environment, and in a new comfort zone, I had an open mind. For my first two classes, FYS 100 and CST 104, I believe that I went in with a fixed mindset. I figured that it would be an easy class, no big deal, and I wouldn't have to work as hard. However, after the second session of FYS and CST that I attended, I realized that I was in for a little bit more of a challenge, but that was okay. My mindset then changed from fixed, to growth. This was because I realized that this class was meant to better my knowledge, and I needed to accept the learning experience that was being provided. I saw this as something that I would not give up on, but instead learn and grow from.  To sum up my entire week, I believe that I had a growth type mindset. Once I was knocked out of the fixed mindset, I realized that I needed to constantly be in the growth mindset, and unceasingly be accepting of improvement. Not only in the next few weeks, but in life as a whole. 

The Jazz Age and Chicago-Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet was a very memorable musician, and was known by his amazing technique in playing the clarinet and the soprano saxophone.
Throughout his life, he traveled all over the world to play his instruments. He was good at any instrument that he picked up, and he was well known for it.
After touring throughout Europe, Bechet recorded two albums.
All of his hard work paid off as he became a national icon and was then a role model to several young musicians everywhere.
Bechet was a very admirable and unforgetable musician, and inspired many along his journey.

http://www.neajazzintheschools.org/artists/bechet.html