What are your thoughts about Xavier and its mission after your first semester? Friday, Dec 9 2011

I think Xavier University of Louisiana  is an excellent college. The faculty and staff is extremely dedicated to the students and their educational process and future.  Also, the variety of tutoring facilities and labs on campus is wonderful. You really have no one to blame for your failure but your ownself. It is an awesome place to be.

I have grown alot since the beginning of the semester. Resposibility and punctuality are things that you learn pretty fast. There is no one to wake you up in the morning or remind you to do your homework and study. Your work is your own responsibility and business. Furthermore, my faith in God has increased tremendously, at a school like Xavier Unniversity of Louisiana when you need someone to turn to God is always there to lend an ear or a hand and help with whatever may be plaguing you at the moment. From finals to essays, and everything before, after, and in between there is nothing that God cannot help with. You just have to trust in him and believe that everything you pray for will come to pass in the end and above all that everything will be just fine. It gets tough sometimes. I suppose nothing in life is ever free and nothing worth having comes easily or without a little bit of work. So I guess my grades and my learning experiences were definitely worth having.

The mission statement really is expressive of the people and the place of New Orleans. It teaches us to be kind and helpful to all. Not only to use our abilities to enhance our lives but the lives of everyone else we cross paths with in life. If I have learned nothing else my first semester here I have learned that leadership and community service is the real key to a happy, successful, and fulfulling life. This was overall a great year.

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What did you think of the book Fast Food Nation? Friday, Dec 9 2011

The book Fast Food Nation was very interesting. It showed us a side to the fast food industry that we never get to see as customers.We only see the happy side. The part where the food is delievered to us and we merrily drive off into the sunset, never getting a glimpse of what is truly beyond the counter and what people go through just so you can have a Big Mac. I thought the book was an eye opener and hopefully something that will make people take a good long look at what goes on before they step into a fast food restaurant to order.

That being said,I do not plan on changing my own eating habits. Fast food is just so convenient and it has become a big part of my diet and my family’s diet.I think it is a little too late to change now, at least for me. It would be hard and maybe a little more expensive to find food where someone was not exploited to get to the finished product. People all over the world are getting lied to and used just so we can have pretty much all the products we use, not just food. So why is the fast food industry such a big target, i mean other industries do it all the time? Of course it is not right, but if you plan on persecuting one industry you minds well persecute them all. Do not discriminate.

But then again, if we cut fast foodout of our diet we would have less cases of obesity, heart attacks and strokes across America. This is a lose lose situation. If you remove the fast food industry from America billions of people will lose jobs and money. The economy will probably go plummet farther than it has ever gone before and unemployment would sky rocket. You cannot win for losing.

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How do automobiles and interstates play a role in spreading the fast food culture? Friday, Dec 9 2011

Automobiles were the mark of freedom for domestic home bodies everywhere. It was a way to have family adventures and just to pass the time away.  Picture this. Your hair blowing in the wind, top down, and the radio blasting as you fly down the open road. You get hungry and where do you stop? Of course, you see a McDonald’s or maybe a Wendy’s, possibly Burger King and even KFC. Sadly, you don’t have time to sit down so you decide to breeze through the drive thru. You have become another satisfied customer helping to line the inside of the fast food industries’ pockets.

Automobiles and interstates made it possible for fast food restaurants to be in more locations so they could reach more people. They also allowed fast food restauranrts to have drive-ins and drive thrus making the fast food industry more popular, especially with the teen population, a trend that has lasted even until today. You can have the same great food service on the go as if you were sitting there enjoying it in the very restaurant. Drive thrus and drive ins were just another way of making fast food more available and convenient, especially when taking long car trips.

But how many of us agree that this was exactly a good thing? Having fast food restaurants available in more locations and for it to become more convenient to hav, even when you are taking long car trips in opposed to spending time in a restaurant actually stopping and eating, is in a way more harmful than beneficial to the population as a whole. This is just another way to contribute to obesity and laziness. Think about it. Your already in a car, so you don’t have to walk and now you are eating fast food loaded with carbs and tons of fat. Just what this world needs more ways to be lazy! Thanks McDonalds and Burger King, thanks alot.

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Interview a Xavier senior about his/her thoughts on Xavier’s mission and blog about what they say. Monday, Oct 17 2011

I interviewed Kara Edmond about Xavier’s mission statement. She is a senior biology/pre-med major. This was her response:

“My college experience at Xavier University of Louisiana has accurately reflected the university’s current mission statement. Although being a science major is mainly concerned with maintaining great grades and exploring research opportunity, me and most of the people I know have been heavily involved in community service. We realize that we are not just Xavier students, but part of a larger community, and that we have social obligations to that community. Our Xavier experience will make us not only excellent leaders, but also valuable contributors to our local and global populations because we are both academically and socially competent and prepared.”

I believe Kara is right.   Xavier is not here only to give us a quality education,but to also teach us how to take that education we obtain here and use it to help others and better the community. As Xavierites we are expected to be leaders and to be examples. We should value every moment here and take every opportunity to learn everything there is to know in our field of study, because when we leave here we are going to be somebody’s teacher or doctor or maybe even lawyer. Every one of us has to be mindful that these jobs we will assume later on in life will make a humongous impact not only on our future but the futures of others, as well as the future of this country as whole. When we graduate from Xavier University of Louisiana each and every one of us will be more than prepared for the road that lays ahead. We will have been trained by the best and the brightest making us the best and the brightest students the world has ever seen.

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Send an email to your favorite teacher at Xavier thanking them for their work, and post the text of the email in your blog. Sunday, Oct 16 2011

Dr. McFerrin,

You are a great  academic advisor. You are pretty laid back and sensitive the student’s work schedules.I would just like to thankyou for all your good advice and hard work this semester. I really appreciate all your effort to help us and the fact that you have flexible office hours. I hope that you continue to have a good year and God bless.

Sincerely,

Brittany Richard

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Do some research on Katherine Drexel. Do you think she would be happy with Xavier today? Why or why not? Sunday, Oct 16 2011

Katherine Drexel was born on November 26, 1858 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Langstroth. Mr.Francis Drexel was a well-known philanthropist and banker, making the family extremely wealthy. Both parents instilled in their daughters the idea that their wealth was simply loaned to them and was to be shared with others. Katherine Drexel carried this idea well into her adulthood and really put her money to good use.  On February 12, 1891, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament whose dedication would be to share the message of the Gospel and the life of the Eucharist among American Indians and African-Americans.Katharine found in the Eucharist the source of her love for the poor and oppressed and of her concern to reach out to combat the effects of racism. Knowing that many Afro-Americans were far from free, still living in substandard conditions as sharecroppers or underpaid menials, denied education and constitutional rights enjoyed by others, she felt a compassionate urgency to help change racial attitudes in the United States. Founding and staffing schools for both Native Americans and African Americans throughout the country became a priority for Katharine and her congregation.Her crowning educational focus was the establishment in 1925 of Xavier University of Louisiana, the only predominantly African-American Catholic institution of higher learning in the United States.

I believe that Katherine Drexel would be extremely proud of Xavier University of Louisiana if she were here to see it today.  Her goal was to care for the poor and use her money to help others in severe need. She saw the opening of Xavier University as a way of giving a people an education so they could empower and better themselves in a not so perfect society and in turn help the society to become a just and humane society by leading by example. She wanted her pupils to have compassion on others and use their talents to benefit others. Xavier is doing a great job in carrying on her legacy.

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Does the author have a political agenda? Give examples to support your claim. Sunday, Oct 16 2011

Yes, I do believe that Eric Schlosser had a political agenda when he wrote Fast Food Nation. He wanted this book to influence current and near-future political news and debate,because the exploitation of lower class Americans for the profit of big corporate fast food franchises is a big deal in this country and should be stopped.

The fact that he researched various fast food industries and had the courage to put this type of information out there is proof in itself that he wants to revolutionize the way American think of fast food and hopely change or put a stop to what is doing to this country. He spent countless hours doing research on obesity rates and traveling the country interviewing and meeting hundreds of people.

Schlosser intended for this book to make a big splash in politics, and maybe it did. Restaurants and even some government officials are making special efforts to help our kids make healthy food decisions. They also put out and sponsor programs such as “Get Active” and “Let’s Move”,the latter of which was initiated by First Lady, Michelle Obama, herself.  So is his book making an impact in the political world? Yes,I would say somewhat. People are finally taking notice of our children’s serious health situation in this country and doing something about it.

Unfortunately there is still the problem of blatant exploitation of people of the lower American class to make profits for big fast food corporations. The lack of benefits, care and overall humaness of  these industries is downright shocking and astounding. Who would have thought that anyone could be so heartless as do to do what these corporations do to millions of people on a regular basis? These people are taking out and mistreating their employees on a daily basis and no one else in taking a stand and noticing it. Our applaude Mr.Schlosser for having the courage to speak out on such an important issue.

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In the readings for last week, Schlosser writes about a man named Kenny. Write about someone you know who has suffered parallel misfortunes. Sunday, Oct 16 2011

Kenny Dobbins was an employee at the Monfort slaughterhouse in Grand Island, Nebraska. After working at the slaughterhouse for a couple of years, Kenny got into an accident on the job. A ninety pound box fell on Kenny from the upper level of the factory and he was thrown into a conveyor belt.The conveyer belt ended up piercing his lower back and when he went to the company doctor, Kenny was told that he had merely pulled a muscle.  Kenny was still at work and experiencing excruciating pain, so he finally consulted with another doctor. The doctor then explained to him that he had a pair of severely herniated disks. Poor Kenny never filed for workers compensation, even though he had to get back surgery and spend nearly a month in the hospital. When Mr. Dobbins finally got over the horrific injury he just went back to work at the slaughterhouse.  His experiences and hard work at the slaughterhouse now cause him daily pain and rendered him unable to work at nearly any other occupation. Sometimes I believe that working in the slaughterhouses is one of the most, if not the most, dangerous and most unappreciated job in America.The things that some people have go through in this country just to make a living astound me sometimes.

 

Fortunately, I have never had the misfortune of meeting any one who has experienced an ordeal such as Kenny Dobbins had. Although I did find an article about Elias Cabrera, a former fast food restaurant employee who was being conned out of his paycheck. He worked as a cook for seven days a week for three years at the unnamed fast food restaurant and was never paid overtime. This poor gentleman was being exploited the whole time, instead of being valued for his hard work and dedication to the company. When he testified before a legislative committee on Tuesday, it was found that his former employer owed him a total of $12,214.50 and that includes his unpaid wages for his final week of work, during which he worked 57 hours. Just another example of just how much the fast food industry truly does not care about its employees as long as the company gets their money everything is supposedly fine. 

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What is your favorite class at Xavier and why? Sunday, Oct 16 2011

I would have to say that my favorite class at Xavier University of Louisiana would definitely have to be chemistry lab with Dr.Luo. My favorite part would have to be the hands on work. We get to do experiments and actually use chemicals.

 It is just such a new experience for me, because in high school we were never allowed to do experiments, let alone work with chemicals. At each high school I went to, either the lab equipment was horrible, the school did not have enough money to fund experiments or the students just simply could not be trusted with that type of responsibility. They would break the lab equipment we were privileged enough to have and use the chemicals to do stupid stuff.

I also like the fact that you have to be so careful and accurate. It is almost like a new recipe. If you do not follow instructions or pay attention to the details your experiment can turn out to be a bit of a mess. But I guess that is all in the fun.

Not only that, but I like wearing lab coats and goggles. They make me feel professional like I am not just here to play around and am actually making some type of difference or progress in the world. I know it sounds a little silly. I mean who likes a class because of the dress code? But I think I just like it because it help me look into the future, where I can see myself wearing a real lab coat that actually has Dr. Richard on it.

And of course, what is a class without the teacher? Dr. Luo is a pretty good teacher. He takes the time out to explain stuff to us and does demonstrations so there is no reason to fail. His office door is always open and he is just helpful.

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How did Sinclair’s The Jungle (1906) dramatically change the food industry? Will this book Fast Food Nation do the same? Why or why not? Sunday, Oct 16 2011

The Jungle was a novel written by Upton Sinclair in 1906 exposing the unsanitary practices used by the meat-packing industry.  Some of the practices described in the novel included dead rats being shoveled into sausage-grinding machines, diseased cows being slaughtered for beef and being served to the public as bribed health inspectors looked the other way, and how filth and guts were swept off the floor and packaged as “potted ham.” This book greatly disturbed the American public and they began to call for a reform. After the reading The Jungle, President Theodore Roosevelt,himself, called upon Congress to pass a law establishing the Food and Drug Administration and, for the first time in history, set up federal inspection standards for meat. Who knew that one little book could cause such an uproar? Could you blame the American public for being so concerned? Who want dead rats in their sausage  or hamburgers made from diseased cows? This food was not only putting you at risk but also your family and the rest of the United States. The practices used in the meat packing industry, had they not been exposed as soon as they were, could have still been poisoning and killing off people today.

You have to keep in mind that people, especially incoming generations barely read anything over the occasional Facebook status. We are so engrossed in technology and friends that any considerably normal teenager hardly ever even thinks about picking up a book unless they forced to for some type of assignment for school or otherwise. Therefore taking into consideration the common facts, I highly doubt that Fast Food Nation will make an impact on the United States at all, especially one as big as The Jungle.  People just don’t read enough. 

There is also the fact that fast food restaurants are convenient and have been serving the American public for years. Things like that just don’t change instantly or overnight. It’s going to take more than a book to change this generation’s mind about their beloved fast food restaurants.

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