Longhorns and Totem Animals

(This is one of my favorite songs, and I've been waiting for the right time to use it. Finally! Lyrics here)

The history of the longhorn is written all over the spirits of Texas and UT

On very lazy Sunday mornings, I sometimes eat at a table in Kinsolving that has a very large painting of longhorns overlooking it. The painting describes that the longhorn represents independence, fortitude, and adaptability, for “he moved elementally with drouth, grass, blizzards, out of the Arctic and the wind from the south” (X819). These are also the characteristics the University of Texas hopes to instill within its students, thus why the longhorn is the mascot. Of course, to my friends from camp, the longhorn signifies only a lethargic and slightly dumb animal. These are also the friends who have come to associate Texans with chewing reeds, playing banjos, and wearing boots with spurs.

Texas is one of the few places where passersby smile back

I have lived in other states before moving to Texas, and I can say that Texas is a state that I’m proud of. I have never felt a greater sense of pride and camaraderie here, and I believe that the University of Texas tries to keep the independent Texas spirit alive with the idea of the longhorn. “The Longhorn comes to connote courage, fighting ability, nerve, lust of combat, efficiency in deadly encounters, and the holy spirit of never-say-die.” (X886) Although many of the students at UT are not hoping to engage in battle or such “deadly encounters”, the fighting spirit of the longhorns is something that all students have learned to appreciate in themselves.

Another connotation of the longhorn is his love for the places he came from, something that UT takes great pride in. Not only does this school hope to educate and mold its students into freethinking, passionate, and successful individuals, but it also wishes to instill the love and pride of home, of the university. “The Longhorn was also a home lover and a persistent returner to his querencia” (X820). As these students are out forging their way in “No Man’s Land” (X825), they also remember the place they came from, the place that allowed them such opportunities. They remember, and they are thankful, even nostalgic, and when they return, they return with love and a sense of pride.

“Last night, I dreamt I was chasing a pack of wolves, trying to belong.”

For UT, the Longhorn is the “totem animal”, the one with which the University and its students feel the most “similarity and unity” (X901). My personal “totem animal”, with which I feel “the psychological…kinship” (X901), is the wolf. It inspires in me both awe and fright, for it is mysterious and savage, harkening back to the old secrets of the world. I identify greatly with the wolf, for it is close with its family, yet also a loner. Its territorial habits, the way in which it cares for the members of its pack, and the haunting, forlorn sound of its howls all fascinate me. To me, wolves are mythological, magical, and beautiful creatures.

The Mustangs

Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros

(It's in Icelandic)

The Chinese character for “horse”

My mother takes the Chinese zodiac very seriously, and has enforced our family to wear a red string around our waists when the year is of our animal. Currently, my father is the unfortunate victim of such an act. Not only does such a practice bring luck, my mother claims, but it shows respect to the animal. I, like many of the class of 2012, was born in the year of the horse. The horse personality is very much associated with liberty and freedom. My mother describes them as being confident and strong, and most of all, independent. Their attitude of “DON’T FENCE ME IN” (X844) carries from the heaving muscles of their flanks to “rollers in [their] nose” (X849).

My love and adoration for horses has not quite extended to the extremes depicted in Peter Shaffer’s play Equus

When I was little, if I found someone to be rather handsome, I would describe them as ‘looking like a horse’. This was because I could not find any other way to convey the nobility of their looks, nor the strength and royal way they carried themselves. Others always balked at my remarks, but I knew that my comparison of a person to a horse was the highest form my flattery could take. These animals are majestic and mysterious, with “every high snort bugling out the pride of the free” (X877). I believe that the most attractive thing about a horse is its wild and unlimited nature. Being able to see “wild horses streaming across the prairies” (X847) or watching the wind streak through their manes really makes one feel like they are witnessing something mystical, something forgotten in this modern world.

“Only the sense of being in place gives natural horse or natural man contentment” (X851). What pleasure a horse must derive from galloping in the open fields, just as a man would receive joy at being able to do what he wishes! When we take a horse, or any other animal for that matter, away from its natural surroundings, we are doing to it what no man would want for himself. Being able to BE has now become one of my central arguments for animals, for isn’t that what any living creature wishes for? In this day and age in which we pride individuality and coexistence with other cultures, shouldn’t we extend this practice to nonhumans, who have just as much right to be here as we do?

Power, strength and freedom: three characteristics I have come to associate with the horse.

Now, reverting back to the argument for the humane treatment of animals, if we cannot extend our sympathetic imagination to understand their pain and suffering at our hands, let us instead try to acknowledge the freedom that they deserve, that we all deserve. It is something we value, especially in this country, and if we cannot appreciate the “spirit of freedom” (X842) that all animals have to climb, run, gallop, and simply to BE, then we have not understood the concept very well at all.

COETZEE 2

The epic Battle at Kruger, in which buffalos, lions, and crocodiles engage in warfare.

Through all of our discussion on animal cruelty and behavior towards them, we have not yet focused on some other large uses animals hold for us: clothing and entertainment. I will touch upon both, since my argument against their use for food has been exhausted.

This life sure looks better than the one the polar bear had before...

I have never really enjoyed going to zoos; the stench of the cages, coupled with the doe eyed look of the gorillas has always made me more depressed than when I walked in. For a gorilla kept in such a cage, “From seeing only bars, his seeing is exhausted.” (Rilke X763) Imagine being torn from your world of freedom and greenery, and all the nuances of your daily routine, only to sit in a stone cold floor, trying to ignore the people poking at the cage. Surely, this is a life that no one wants to lead.

While I agree that there are endangered animals that benefit from the ideas of zoos, I believe that it would be much better to place them in locations such as Yellowstone, or more authentic land that matches their previous domain. Zoos seem cruel to me, with the confined cages and artificial surroundings. This entertainment is trivial, and the animal is tormented for the brief entertainment it can offer humans.

Couldn't we use pleather to achieve the same look?

The notion that “As in any genuine human-to-human friendship, our relationship is predicated on mutual respect and reciprocity” (Smuts X759), does not completely hold true for all humans. While many pet owners show this sort of love and compassion for their dogs or cats, industries such as fur and leather are completely robbing the animal of its life, and for what? The fur for the coat that we don’t need? The leather for the interior of a car that we could imitate with other materials? Our standard of living has risen to the point of impossibility, and our souls are suffering for it.

I will never forget the image of the animal’s fur being torn from its body as it was still alive, fighting furiously. 

“Every living creature fights for its own, individual life” (Coetzee 99), and I believe that as creatures also fighting for our lives, we should at least try to understand the horrors of such an act. “I do think it is appropriate that those who pioneered the industrialization of animal lives and the commodification of animal flesh should be at the forefront of trying to atone for it.” (Coetzee 107) I agree with this statement: if those who wish to have such commodities claim to care for animals at all, it is partly their responsibility to find another way of attaining their goals. Those who have ripped fur off a minx, or who have torn off a cow’s skin, they are the ones who deserve the task of finding alternative methods.

The Lives of Animals

Disney movies instill in the youth a compassion for animals that can also help in compassion for other people

I imagine that many people think that someone who is intent upon the rights of animals, especially when discussing their unnecessary use in such luxuries as clothing and food, believe that he or she has “delicate sensibilities” (Coetzee, 60). People refer to these sentiments as “propaganda against cruelty to animals” (Coetzee, 61), but what harm is there in listening to ‘propaganda’ that is against the ill treatment of other beings? Why are humans so selfish and intent on trivializing the sufferings of others? Costello is criticized because “opinions on animals, animal consciousness and ethical relations with animals are jejune and sentimental” (Coetzee, 61). I say that there is nothing shameful or naïve about treating everything with respect.

The lion, seen as an extremely violent and terrifying creature, differs from us in its dependence on certain types of food.

“By treating fellow human beings, beings created in the image of God, like beasts, they had themselves become beasts” (Coetzee, 65). If we pride ourselves so much on being “human” and above all of the characteristics of the “savage” animal world, why then, do we kill other animals, just as a lion (identified as a savage animal) would kill another animal? If it is within us to be able to survive without having to go to such lengths, why don’t we? The key difference between the lion and us is that we can survive solely by eating plants. A lion does not know the difference between right and wrong, granted the right thing to do for a lion is to kill for food and survival.

Would you say that this artichoke is alive or dead?

Of course the argument is brought up that vegetarians are hypocritical because they don’t consider plants to have feelings. Isn’t it just as inhumane to kill a plant for food, as it is to kill an animal? My feelings on this subject are thus: if we are to survive, we must nourish ourselves. However, the lowest level of nourishment we can accomplish is that of eating plant life and vegetation, and it also achieves the least amount of repercussions, for plants are able to reproduce even after they have been digested, while animals are not. We must survive somehow, and this is the lowest level of survival we can manage. Of course, as always in this sort of situation, something must lose its life; that is the natural order of things. But because we label ourselves as “intelligent” and above all other kingdoms of life, isn’t it within us to use our intelligence to further the advancement of our methods of consumption? Shouldn’t we use our technology and resources to find other ways to obtain our food, ways that do not involve the killing of an innocent animal?

Who could say that they wanted to be kept in a cage for the rest of their life?

“Animals have only their silence left with which to confront us” (Coetzee, 70). Since we cannot communicate directly with animals, we do not know for certain if they know love. But we do know that they feel fear. We know that when they crouch with their limbs shaking that they feel the same kind of terror we can feel. We know that they feel the need for survival, just as we do. Why isn’t this enough? Why are we looking for excuses to minimize an animal’s credibility? Why is it that the “ones that humans have…are more valuable than any that animals have?” (Singer, 744) Instead, shouldn’t we be thinking of what is right and what is wrong? What is morally right? Just because an animal is close to the human synapse does not make it any better than an animal who is not. We are all animals. We reside in different nations, in different groups, and it is this difference that makes the Earth so wonderful and successful. It is this difference that allows us to appreciate what the world has to offer.

The diversity of our Earth is something we should be thankful for, not exploit.

At best, our relationship with the Earth is parasitic; we take and give nothing back. In a perfect world, no one would have to owe anything to anyone. But we have drawn ceaselessly from the well of nature, and it us who owes the most to those we have wronged. If it is in our capacity to feel compassion and a moral sense of right and wrong, feelings that some people claim animals do not possess, then isn’t it up to us to act on these feelings? Our sameness is not in our speech or our backgrounds, but in our will to survive. We all inhabit the Earth, and if it is in our power to differentiate between right and wrong, we should consider our actions once more.

Earthlings

I'll Believe in Anything by Wolf Parade

(lyrics here) This song is about wanting to save someone and see the world from their point of view


I grew up with Shadow, Sassy, and Chance from Homeward Bound

I have always been a dog person, a trait that extended far back into my childhood. It all started with a movie called Homeward Bound: Lost in San Francisco, a film about two dogs and a cat journeying through San Francisco to find their home again after they escaped in an airport. I obsessed over the movie for weeks afterward, dreaming of my future, ideally with six dogs in my company. I watched 101 Dalmatians every day, read The Call of the Wild fanatically, and pined for a dog of my own. My love for dogs became so strong that I eventually wished that I could become one. Naturally, I have grown out of this preoccupation, but my love for dogs has never waned.

When I visited China in 2004, our taxi stopped behind a truck with a cage full of dogs on the way to slaughter. To this day, the heartbreak I felt for those animals has remained. Not many people have seen that sort of defeat in an animal: these dogs had eyes that were no longer alive. They were shivering and crawling over one another, each trying to disappear, each trying to become smaller than their handlers had already made them.

Giving up BBQ, especially when one lives in Texas, has proven very difficult

Since that incident, I have been wary of eating meat. However, the pressures of my friends and family, as well as the track coach and the irresistible Rudy’s BBQ all managed to keep me from eliminating meat altogether from my diet. 

Many weeks ago, I watched Earthlings after it was brought up in the movie discussion after the dream sequences lecture, and I was finally able to give up meat.  My friend scoffed at me and pointed out that those examples shown in the film happen only rarely. But they do happen, I responded.  Seeing men throwing chickens in chutes, hitting elephants, and deriding pigs made me livid : who are we to inflict such pain on others?  This sort of treatment, condemned when carried out on humans, is overlooked in many cases involving animals.  “It all comes down to pain and suffering…Pain and suffering are in themselves bad and should be prevented or minimized, irrespective of the race, sex, or species of the being that suffers.” (X729)  My basic belief is this: no one (animal or human) should have to suffer at the hands of another.

Many people, including myself in the past, do not like thinking about what goes into the process of getting meat on their plate. Like the film says, “Who wants to look?” (X714) To reject an understanding of how humans use animals in inhumane and cruel ways is to allow oneself to be ignorant, just as it would be inconsiderate to not want to hear about the means in which some of our clothes are made.  By not eating meat, I hope that one less baby cow is in demand to be slaughtered.  By not buying sausage at the grocery store, I hope that the inventory calls for one less package of butchered pig.  

My dog Alaska: Imagine your pet as the subject of experimentation, slaughter, or skinning.

To a human, being more powerful means being “smarter”, but the definition of mental capability is not the same for all species. We cannot possibly apply the definition of the word to animals, for it is not up to us to 

decide the “smartness” of other species, especially when we have arbitrarily molded the word to fit our culture. What we define as intelligence may be completely useless to their ways of life. Not only have they been on this Earth longer than we have, but they have learned to adapt in ways we are just now beginning to understand. If anything, their “smartness” precedes us by many hundreds of years. Just as Earthlings says, “So beneath the many differences, there is sameness. Like us, these animals embody the mystery and wonder of consciousness. Like us, they are not only in the world, they are aware of it.” (X702)

I believe that because we have the ability to use technology to aid our adaption to the changing world, we should be able to refrain from using animals for achieving our means. We can survive by eliminating meat from our diets. Clothes look just as good if manufactured with fake leather or fur. Isn’t it our duty to give up a few luxuries, to become less selfish, in order to prolong all of the precious lives on this earth? “We are all animals of this planet. We are all creatures.” (X729) We cannot think of things as lesser beings just because they are different from us, and we cannot forget that we all contribute to the systems of the Earth.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the origin of many of today’s most famous childhood stories

In many cultures, animals are often given holy value. I remember many of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, in which animals were the mentors of the humans, and lessons are taught through them. This is very similar to the representation of animals in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, for Alice encounters many animals that are more enlightened and wiser than she. The caterpillar teaches Alice to “keep [her] temper” (Alice 49), and the Cheshire Cat is erudite, giving her advice on her actions throughout the book. Such stories encourage a respect for animals that the human race has often ignored, but “It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.” (X731) They are born, just like us. They are mothers and fathers, lovers and brothers. They, like us, only wish to survive.

My Alice the Hero

Us Ones in Between by Sunset Rubdown

(Lyrics here)

Speaking up is hopefully something I will be comfortable with by the end of my college journey.

I have a very bad habit of being

 rather shy about disagreeing or even voicing my opinion in strange and unfamiliar settings; often I find myself catering more to others’ wishes than my own. It is a habit I know I must break, for losing one’s sense of self, especially at this point in one’s life, can be detrimental.

Although many superheroes and comic book characters are not realistic in their heroism, Alice’s heroism is much akin to that of the Watchmen; both are simply normal people trying to find their way in the world.

We speak often of the Alice books as a parody of college life, and I think one of the most important aspects is the “heroism” of Alice. It is true that she is not a hero in the conventional sense: she has not created a cure for a disease, saved the lives of men in battle, or written an immensely popular help book (such as our good friend Covey). Alice lacks all of the qualities of the heroes of lore, but what I find most admirable about her is that she always acts according to herself, and does not permit the opinions of others to influence her.

Seeing Alice embark upon an entire adventure whilst staying true to herself seems rather heroic to me. She sticks up for herself by telling the Hatter, “You should learn not to make personal remarks…it’s very rude,” (Carroll 70) and does not allow others to slight her, as seen by her response to the Hatter’s impoliteness: “This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off.” (Carroll 77) She is precocious, inquisitive, and unyielding, and remains all of these things throughout her adventure, never allowing others to change her.

"You're nothing but a pack of cards!"

Being in college means new people and experiences, not all of which are helpful to our goals and wellbeing. In the onslaught of newness that will surround us through our college years, we must remember to stay true to ourselves and our beliefs like little Alice, and sometimes say, “Who cares for you? You’re nothing but a pack of cards,” (Carroll 124) to those who seek to tamper with our sense of self. It will not be easy, and it never was easy for Alice, but we must look to her as an example. At the end of our “curious dream” (Carroll 125), we will find ourselves stronger and able to handle the world.

Survival vs. Compassion

Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts by Wolf Parade

(lyrics here)

I believe that the argument of survival of the fittest vs. compassion does not have an absolute answer; a different response can be applied to certain conditions. For the purposes of this discussion, I will examine three examples: school, work, and the most extreme of situations. My goal in doing this is to exemplify that one cannot simply take a definite stance on one or the other; every different circumstance requires a different path of action.

Westlake High School, home of the crazed top ten percent, the (formerly) prestigious Chaparral football team, and the (also former) top physics program in the world.

Living in a state that utilizes the top ten percent rule acclimated me to the ridiculous emphasis on grades in high school. Being in the top ten percent meant automatic admission to all of Texas’ public universities, which was funny, because all of my peers in the top ten percent (myself included) wished to go anywhere but a public university in Texas. We all had our sights set on the Ivy Leagues, and Texas was at the bottom of our lists, yet still we competed and double dealt to surpass each other in rank. The slightest move from a rank of 33 to 32 was something to brag about. Help was not offered; only alluded to.

Looking back on that experience, I realize that I gained absolutely nothing, save for endless nights of studying and irrational jealousy at those who were above me in rank. Instead of learning and applying my education, my entire high school journey was a conquest of those lesser than I.  I sneered at those who received lower grades and hid my understanding from others, so that they did not seek my help.

The lack of a rigid grading system in college threw me off completely. I could not compete as aptly if I did not know what I was competing for. Several of my classes do not even give out specific grades, so the desire to become “top of the class” was undermined. I began to realize the importance of working together and helping others, for in school, as in life, we are all working towards one common goal: Success. I “threw off old husks of prejudices.” (Hardy 276) For example, my three of my French classmates and I meet every other week to study for tests, something I would never imagine doing in high school. I found that “I could accumulate ideas, and impart them to others,” (Hardy 314) and that the act of helping others understand the material actually aided me in comprehension. Just as Jude states, “If that can be done…at college gates in the most religious and educational city in the world, what shall we say as to how far we’ve got?” (Hardy 257)

Don Draper of AMC’s Mad Men, played by Jon Hamm.

The media often depicts the successful businessman as one who slighted others on his way to the top. In real life, I do not believe that one can achieve such status by simply wronging others. The men who have the adulations are those who have succeeded brilliantly, but who have also been magnanimous and receptive in their accomplishments. In the workplace, I agree with Saumya and Brian in that we must have a balance between the idea of “survival of the fittest” and compassion. Take, for example, the rare character of Don Draper from the television show Mad Men: he is an extremely prestigious ad executive who has gotten where he is not only because he is a driven and competitive individual, but because he is good with people. He can cater to what his customers and clients want, but knows when to push and persuade them.

However, in this present day, I feel we must never forget that at the end of the day, it really is every man for himself. Compassion is a trait that is admirable and hopefully within every person, but too much of it can destroy the individual’s own goals and aspirations. Likewise, too much competitiveness can decimate relationships and thus sabotage the original purpose.

Tom Hanks knew that he had to sacrifice compassion in order to survive in the movie, Castaway.

In the direst of situations, however, those that deal with life and death, I believe that compassion must be minimized. Although I am a vegetarian, consider this scene (however unrealistic it may be): If given the choice to eat an animal or starve when stranded in the wild, which would you choose? Our compassion can only go so far; survival is one of our basest instincts, and in the end, it is the deciding factor.

College Dreams

The Youth by MGMT

The obvious difference between college students and other students, besides homework load, maturity level, and age: coffee

In fifth grade, the ten mathematical problems assigned nightly for homework seemed unreasonable and tyrannical of my teacher. How was I supposed to complete this, my coloring sheets of a shark’s anatomy, AND draw a picture of Robert E. Lee for the next day? It seemed like too much. That morning, our teacher, Mrs. Knouse, scoffed at our misfortunes, claiming that she had spent entire days and nights doing homework that we could not even fathom. I was horrified; where was this awful place that bestowed upon the human more homework than the mind could imagine? She answered us with a sly grin: college.

Boy Meets World gave me unrealistic expectations about college.  I blame you, Cory!

The news that college was one of the most difficult tasks of a person’s life was startling to me. I had always imagined it as a lax and easy doorway into the adult world. “These self-contained worlds delighted those who saw in them a life of ease combined with that of the mind; in the words of Henry James it offered a ‘charmed seclusion’.” (X636) Sure, I had known that there would be homework, but certain movies on the Disney Channel, a television show titled “Boy Meets World”, and books such as the Fear Street series gave me expectations about college that included entire afternoons free, endless nights of parties, and the kind of soft “glamour” that exudes from a college student; that of a mature and independent individual. When I lived in Oxford, Mississippi, I passed by the university daily and could hear the light banter of students on their way to classes. “Surely it was the sound of bells, the voice of the city, faint and musical, calling to him, ‘We are happy here!’ (Hardy 21)

I wanted to believe in the relaxed lifestyle of a college student, but everything was beginning to change about my perception: the homework load only seemed to rise, while the fun load only fell. Of course as I grew older, my dreams of what I wanted from my college changed: I wanted exciting people, interesting conversations, and most of all, an education that was wholly mine, not to be decided by a counselor or high school curriculum.

By the time I started my senior year in high school, I was more than ready to embark upon my college experience. I, much like Jude, exclaimed, “How ugly it is here!” (Hardy 13) and began to view my high school with more and more disdain. I had grown tired of the people by whom I was surrounded, disdainful of the petulant whines of my classmates, and bored with the cement coursework of my classes. I sought a higher level of being, a more exciting way to see the world. I saw “the university as ‘the tree of knowledge’ and ‘the paradise of the learned’.” (X638) What my college dream consisted of was emerging a whole and erudite individual, with the ability to succeed in whatever field I chose for myself, while having forged relationships that would hopefully last a lifetime.

"It is a city of light," he said to himself. (Hardy 23)

UT was not my first choice, nor my second choice. In fact, it was my last choice, but I suppose that because Columbia and Berkeley rebuffed my advances, I had to settle (I use the word settle loosely, because I am now realizing that my education here is anything BUT something I had merely to “settle” for.) for Plan II, a then mysterious entity. My path is as broad as the coursework I’m exploring, and although this is not exactly for what I first planned, I now realize that it is very close to what I had dreamed of my college education would be.

---

The Youth by MGMT

This is a call to arms
to live and love and sleep
together

We could flood the streets
with love or light or heat
whatever

Lock the parents out
cut a rug
twist and shout wave your hands
make it rain the stars will rise again

The youth is starting to change,
are you starting to change?
are you
together?

In a couple of years, tides have turned from
boos to cheers and in spite of
the weather, we can learn to make it
together

The youth is starting to change,
are you starting to change?
are you
together?

Plan II be the Best

Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend

This song is a criticism of the pretentious elite

(click the triangle to play)

Ice Cream: Disgusting or Delicious?  I would have to find out.

“Would you like to try some ice cream?”

My mother’s face loomed over me, her fingers balancing a spoon that cradled what she dubbed “ice cream”. I wrinkled my nose at the stuff. It looked and sounded absolutely atrocious, and I knew nothing but misery resided in the inner depths of this apparent “food”. It was poison, I was sure.

Still, my mother’s hand came closer. The cold metal of the spoon attempted to part my lips, yet I resisted: I would not eat this toxic waste. My eyes were narrowed and my brow was corrugated in concentration and defiance, but a stern look from my mother opened my lips dejectedly.  

A sharp gasp! It was cold, bitingly so. My tongue shrank in embarrassment, and I felt my cheeks contract against the chill. There was no choice: I swallowed the first dollop. To my dismay, the thing dubbed “ice cream” was not poison. There was, in fact, a sweet flavor that lingered on my tongue. It tasted milky and delightful, and I was ready for another go.

The six year old that experienced the first tangs of ignorance and enlightenment has grown older, but those two dueling notions still exist within me. In fact, they still exist within everyone. Society attempts to fight the first power, ignorance, by imposing upon us the pressures of a higher level of education. We spend our first eighteen years striving to be a standout, striving for perfection in order to obtain a spot at the coveted university, where we can study what it is that we truly love.


Who actually daydreamed about offices as children? 

Or is it what we truly love? How many of us truly dreamed of being an accountant or a systems analyst? How many of us were pressured by our parents and others into choosing a career in law or business? And how many of us don’t really want any of those things, but instead wish to indulge in the vocation that gives us pleasure, but that others will disregard as insignificant because of a lower pay? Most importantly, what will we do if we love everything? Choose to sextuple major? The idea is laughable, especially when most universities are designed to prepare us for a career that requires a specific skill. Suddenly, a love of history no longer seems relevant when considering the path of a Wall Street tycoon.

Despite their frills, these women were most likely more worldly than many today.

In the Victorian days, women were considered truly accomplished if they were well educated in literature, mathematics, and the arts. People like Charlotte Bronte were reasonably holistic, for she was able to write elegantly, teach mathematics, paint, and play the piano. 

Nowadays, such people are rare, for as we reach adulthood, we are taught to shirk the things that do not contribute to our future careers. We forget the things we enjoyed that contribute to society in minor or unobvious ways. The definition of liberal arts includes, “…worthy of a free man; opposed to servile or mechanical…Pertaining to or suitable to persons of superior social station; ‘becoming a gentleman’.” (X318B) This is someone who is learned in all aspects, cultured, and most of all, enlightened. This is a liberal human. A free human.

“If anyone lets himself be dominated by anything, then he is a slave to it.” (X319)

I agree with Andrew in the respects that Plan II offers freedom. In high school, I loved English and was sure that it would be my career. Then in sophomore year, I was introduced to Chemistry, and ended up dedicating three years of my life to it, convinced that I would become a chemist. But I then found myself daydreaming about playing in a Symphony and traveling the world with the orchestra. In senior year, I found that I was unnaturally excited for Government everyday, and that I wanted to learn more than just a semester’s worth. By the time I finished my college applications, I, myself, did not know what I wanted to do. How could I forsake one of my passions for another? This, coupled with my never-ending passion for the art, music, theatre, and film, made me truly question some of the universities I was applying to.

To me, Plan II stands for bullion against ignorance. One of my biggest worries in choosing just one or two majors was that I would be wholly cut off from anything else I wanted to learn. What Plan II has done is to allow me to dabble in everything and to experience learning without sacrificing any of my other loves.

“We have literature and the arts so that we can gain sympathetic access to systems of belief that are not our own. Imagination had better include entering into worlds that are not your own, as well as the entertaining of beliefs that you don’t yourself hold but that it will be good for you to feel the force of.” (X325)

St. Mary's Church in Austin, TX.  Us Bumpers got to experience a typical Sunday mass...in Spanish!

I believe that this quote applies very well to the Spanish mass that we attended yesterday. I am not particularly religious; religion as a whole just makes me uncomfortable. Although I could not understand the words being spoken, nor follow with the ceremony, I sense that I experienced more by just watching and feeling, by seeing people being vulnerable and connected by their beliefs. It was a very good way to open myself to the world and be a little bit more understanding. After all, ignorance is the root of fear. Just as I finally tried the ice cream, and discovered that I loved it, I am slowly discovering the things that I previously shunned but am now becoming more informed on. My ignorance to the world around me is disappearing, thanks to the experiences with which Plan II is providing me.

The word “elitism” has been prevalent in all of the blogs above me, almost becoming synonymous with enlightenment and intelligence. I do agree that Plan II kids should not rely too heavily on that trait; we should be grateful for the reason why we believe we’re elite. However, if being “elite” means being a cultured and accepting human being, one who vies for knowledge and does not shun enlightenment, then I will be all to happy to be called “elite”. Because the word no longer means “haughty” or “pretentious” in that sense. It means the best.

---

Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend:

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I've seen those English dramas too, they're cruel
So if there's any other way to spell the word
It's fine with me, with me

Why would you speak to me that way?
Especially when I always said that I
Haven't got the words for you
All your diction dripping with disdain
Through the pain
I always tell the truth

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I climbed to Dharamsala too, I did
I met the highest Lama, his accent sounded fine
To me, to me

Check your handbook, it's no trick
Take the chapstick, put it on your lips
Crack a smile, adjust my tie
Know your boyfriend, unlike other guys

Why would you lie about how much coal you have?
Why would you lie about something dumb like that?
Why would you lie about anything at all?
First the window, then it's to the wall
Lil' Jon, he always tells the truth

Check your passport, it's no trick
Take the chapstick, put it on your lips
Crack a smile, adjust my tie
Know your butler, unlike other guys

Why would you lie about how much coal you have?
Why would you lie about something dumb like that?
Why would you lie about anything at all?
First the window, then it's through the wall
Why would you tape my conversations?
Show your paintings at the United Nations
Lil' Jon, he always tells the truth

Of Moons, Birds & Monsters

Creator by Santogold

(click the triangle to play)

In my first week of English IV in high school, we were punched thoroughly in the gut with an essay assignment. Our teacher gave us a sheet of paper describing the requirements, including a few quotes, citations, and the page length. There was a mutual groaning emanating from the class, save for me. I was nonchalant, confident, you might say. Essays had always been my forte—somehow I could manage to write a very structured and efficient three pages without really working too hard. This method usually resulted in high 90’s, which were sufficient enough for me at the time. This assignment was no different; I did not err in my ways. A few hours were spent on the paper without much thought, and I retired feeling a sort of smug satisfaction.

In those days, my eyes were not accustomed to anything remotely close to a “70” on a paper. What was this strange and exotic looking number? I examined it closely and with interest before the horror, oh the horror, set in. 70?! I was toeing the line of failing?! Obviously, the teacher was having my laugh. I thumbed through the pages and looked at her comments, and for once in my life, was faced with the harsh reality: it was not a good paper.

Looking back, this was most likely the best English class I’ve ever had. Prior to this class, we had always been taught that writing an essay is like baking a cake: five paragraphs, one introductory and concluding paragraph, three body paragraphs, with a sprinkle of quotes and above all else, a purpose. You start with a purpose, and, if executed correctly, you end with the purpose achieved.

Yet our teacher taught us that the essays we had written prior to this were all bogus. They were formulated and contrived, and they did not truly reflect anything that we believed in. They hardly expected us to think or to care. She taught us that writing an essay is like writing in search of something; an essay is like a journey, and perhaps we reach a conclusion, perhaps we don’t. But that is the purpose of an essay, to question, to doubt, and to imagine. Our essays didn’t necessarily have to reach a conclusion, but they had to show that we thought thoroughly and searched avidly. To put it simply, it was about the journey, not the destination.

I can compare this idea to many things, in particular the idea of a university. For some odd reason, we start out in life believing that our worth to the world depends wholly on the things we accomplish. We strive for years to reach the most prestigious university possible, all whilst the dreams that we h

ad as children, of being firefighters or movie stars or archeologists are told “no” by society’s (and perhaps our parents) dreams of producing doctors, lawyers, or businessmen.

I was faced with this dilemma as I started my journey at UT. I just didn’t know WHAT I wanted to do. Was I content with not knowing? … No. I am uneasy at the though. I even had a fit of madness in which I enrolled in economics, believing that business was the right path for me, before I slapped myself. There was no way I could spend the rest of my life doing business. And what’s more, I DESPISE economics. But this was the state into which I was wrought, because I believed that my future had to be cemented before I even realized what I wanted my future to be.

All I knew was that I wanted to know everything and anything possible. After all, this is most likely one of the las

t chances we have of just learning. When again will we be able to learn French, Chemistry, the state of politics in Africa, and music all in one environment? John Newman states,

“Knowledge is capable of being its own end. Such is the constitution of the human mind, that any kind of knowledge, if it be really such, is its own reward…What the worth of such an acquirement is, compared with other objects which we seek,--wealth or power or honour or the conveniences and comforts of life, I do not profess here to discuss; but I would maintain, and mean to show, that it is an object, in its own nature so really and undeniably good, as to be the compensation of a great deal of thought in the compassing, and a great deal of trouble in the attaining…” (X309)

A university is a place in which knowledge is abundant and welcome. It is a place in which the seeds of greatness are cultivated in minds, and thinking for oneself is encouraged. In a way, there exists in a university a freedom that we may seldom find elsewhere: a freedom to think and to understand. 

 It unifies us all under the banner of education, yet allows us to decide for ourselves.

“It is more correct, as well as more usual, to speak of a University as a place of education, than of instruction…” (X310)

What do these lawyers know of astronomy?  Very little.

Can we call someone truly educated if they only specialize in one subject? What are their factoids on marine biology to a group of musical theory enthusiasts? I believe that a true education means that one is learned in

 all aspects, for then not only do they KNOW, but also they UNDERSTAND. Their thoughts are unified and connected, and they can bring insights into diverse slew of things.

Newman states,
“It [education] shows him how to accommodate himself to others, how to throw himself into their state of mind, how to bring before them his own, how to influence them, how to come to an understanding with them, how to bear with them. He is at home in any society…” (X313)

Even though I still don’t know 

where I’m going, I at least know that I’m going somewhere. I know that I will have my education in one hand and my thirst for more in the other. With these resources, I am content at least to know that there is something out there for me, and that I WILL find it. Just as my essay, the destination is not important at this point, but the things I learn along the way. Whatever I end up doing, I know that I will never regret dedicating a great part of my life to it, because I won’t have, thanks to this university, and especially Plan II. I will be just as learned in other subjects, and will call myself truly educated.

(Lyrics to Creator by Santogold):

Got no need for the fancy things
All the attention that it brings
Tell me no, I say yes, I was chosen
And I will deliver the explosion

Can't say it's gonna get me far
Do no good to say what you are
I run the streets and I break up houses
River runs deep and the flame devours it

Me, I'm a Creator
Thrill is to make it up
The rules I break got me a place
Up on the radar
Me, I'm a Taker
Know what the stakes are
Can't roll it back, it's understood
Got to play our cards

Sit tight I know what you are
mad bright but you aint no star
polish up til you make it gleam
your M.O, I know what you mean
Tail ridin' and I know it's true
while they screamin' I love you
Down deep you know there aint no flow
a soul decay, was D.O.A

I know what you here for now
Words out you're an idea whore though,
now don't you crush on me
I'll see you in your pipe dreams
whether or not you know it's true
You're who they dictate to
That shit must hurt real bad
fakin' what you wish you had

Here all the folks come ask about me
Band wagon, know they used to doubt me
Blind side tend to hit real hard
you should heed the warning, get a body guard

Steady friction in this bitch
Creepin' in just like an itch
so far I got the last laugh
still the rich rise up, still I live fast
wouldn't know it face to face
Got no soul and got no taste
Moving in speed up the pace
I got it locked though, what a waste

All the talk is standard fare
Walk the walk if it gets you there
on the grind til the gig is up
Im 'a smash 'em down
put a muzzle on them like "what!"

Truly Connecting:

My friend Ian and I are currently in the middle of a heated prank war.

It’s all in good fun, really. I fired the first shots by telling him to meet me at the Perry-Castaneda Library on Labor Day. Fool that he is, he did not realize that the library was closed, it being a holiday (and yet he had the sense to enjoy hours of blessed sleep). He walked through the sweltering Texas heat for thirty minutes, only to discover that it was closed. I can only imagine the despair that crossed his sweat-ridden face once his attempts to push at the door were met with resistance.

As retribution, he put an ad on Craigslist.com with MY phone number that enthused: FREE GUITARS! FREE BOOKSHELVES! FREE MATRESSES! CALL ME NOW!

Of course, minutes after this posting, my phone exploded with calls. ”These poor, deceived people,” I thought as I listened to their voicemails. Over the course of a day, I received over twenty calls and a full voicemail box, all because of this one stint on the Internet, this miniscule contact I had apparently made 

with the online world.  

I had no idea that such a trivial thing would affect so many others. Even though the Internet connects us, I never really felt that it truly connected us. How could it, when this connection was interlaced with anonymity and space? In the early 00’s, my view of the Internet was that is was rigid and cold, devoid of human emotion and compassion. The only thing I needed from it was Google.com, and in return, I received absolute knowledge.

This was all before I came upon a website called Postsecret.com. The premise, as stated on the site, is this:

“PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.”

I almost didn’t know how to handle myself in the face of such personal issues as I scrolled down the page. These secrets ranged from disturbingly dark, extremely weird, to unbelievably hilarious. And yet, in the midst of all of these, I felt that I could connect to each person who had taken the time and the courage to write a piece of their soul onto a 4x6 postcard. I wanted to reach out and touch the person just as they had touched me.  

“The death of a loved one, a severe illness, a financial setback, or extreme adversity can cause us to stand back, look at our lives, and ask ourselves some hard questions: “What’s really important? Why am I doing what I’m doing?” Covey, pg. 131

Reading these secrets made me reflect upon my own life. I began to write my own secrets down, and tore them up when I was finished. Seeing them in print, so vivid and real, now almost as things outside of my entity, I resolved to let go burden of having them. And at the end of the day, after I had mended fences and reconciled feelings, I could not believe that a mere website had made me a better person.

This is the first time I had an encounter with a website that wasn’t solely based on information. This website was based on emotion and the human condition. Now, with millions of visitors everyday, it has truly changed the way I look at the web. The fact that it is still so popular in this ever-changing world can be best explained with this quote from the article “Revenge of the Right Brain”:

“To flourish in this age, we’ll need to supplement our well-developed high tech abilities with aptitudes that are “high concept” and “high touch.” High concept involves the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative and to come up with inventions the world didn’t know it was missing. High touch involves the capacity to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning.” Revenge of the Right Brain (Course Anthology) pg. 331

Postsecret is both unique in concept and universal in content. Imagine people all over the world, separated by language barriers and distance, bonding and connecting, truly connecting with a simple image on a page. Isn’t this what the Internet is all about? Being able to empathize and understand is one of the greatest levels of humanity, and a mere website has managed to evoke the deepest and most complicated of feelings.

More and more websites like Postsecret are popping up today. Perhaps people are beginning to realize the advantages of having such easy access to others (and I do not mean advertising). I am talking about using this expansive machine to make it truly ours, to try to pour into it some of the qualities that make us human. 

In "The Machine is Us/ing Us", the creator of the video states,

"The web is no longer just linking information"

"Web 2.0 is linking people...people sharing, trading, and collaborating"

This is truly our generation. We have access to virtually the entire world, and all it takes is a leisurely stroke of the finger, or a tap of the thumb. In a day when anyone can edit (Wikipedia) or publish (Blogger) and instantly gain access to a wide range of audiences, we must be careful with how we use this newfound power.  We must take full advantage of this strange connection we can make with people over the web, and use it to better ourselves.  How we manipulate text, how we format the page, and how we choose pictures--all of these HOWS eventually coalesce into the biggest HOW of all: How we connect. The Internet was once a YOU age, and recently a ME age with the advent of YouTube. Now, as it progresses and changes, maybe it can be an US age, the true connection that we all long for.