chloe's blog

mblog due march 13-monument-michigan stadium

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:54:13 -0500

Kenneth Hunt says a fan is, " an enthusiastic devotee of some particular sports consumptive object. Thus, a fan is a consumer of organized sports"(http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0750130601.html). The University of Michigan stadium holds thousands of sports fans every Saturday before a home game. The michigan stadium is a monument because it honors an event;a football game. A monument is a statue or building that honors an event or a person. An article discussing the role of monuments says that, “monuments and memorials are designed and created in various ways that seek to capture a moment from the past and sustain its influence in the present and on into the future�? (http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/asianodyssey/pdf/MicMonMS.pdf).
I would never imagine myself, a girly LA chic who shops like it is her job to be into college football. When I arrived at michigan I put on my maize and blue and cheered for the University of Michigan like it was my new job. I went to all the tailgates and enjoyed this new school spirit thing that was lacking at my highschool in Los Angeles. I was frightened when I first entered the michigan stadium. The massive fans trying to squeeze themselves in, all hung over, intimidated me. For all I knew, I was just a highschool student who went to an artsy highschool where football was not allowed because it was too competitive. My group of friends did not know what was wrong with me when I was jumping up and cheering so loudly. I guess it was the amazing new hobby of sport watching and booze drinking that fascinated me. The crowd flocks in unison as we sing the fight song..."hail to the victors valiant.. hail..hail.. to Michigan....."The stadium is so powerful because almost the entire student body comes together on Saturday football games to cheer on Michigan. Michigan prides itself on its stadium and its football game. If I were to think of one thing that people love about michigan is its school spirit and its football games. Thus, this monument will always stick with me because of how much school spirit it holds and how the entire school comes together in harmony as we chant the Fight Song.
Go Blue!

march 13-environmental condition

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 20:22:23 -0500

Chloe Leavitt
Mblog due March 13th
An environmental condition: pollution

Many people do not understand how bad pollution really is. Yesterday as I was walking down State Street I noticed a man in his car throwing his coca cola out the window. Smoking is also something that heavily pollutes our world. The dictionary definition for pollution says that pollution is the discharge of harmful and hazardous environmental contaminants. Little do we know what we are exactly breathing into our lungs. Pollution can lead to many long-term deathly illnesses. Pollution can cause cancer and kill plants and animals. If everyone comes together we can reduce pollution by recycling. There are many different types of pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, light pollution, soil containment, visual pollution and many more. At my home in Los Angeles we would always recycle our recyclable goods. An article written by Seaton discusses , “[the] association between particulate air pollution and not only exacerbations of illness in people with respiratory disease but also rises in the numbers of deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory disease among older people�? (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7741860&dopt=Citation). Even today when all these known facts are out in the media people still pollute. If people would just recycle and cut down on smoking the pollution factor would be so much better. People need to come together and make a difference one step at a time.

mblog due march 13th on monuments

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:31:57 -0500

Mblog due march 13
Chloe Leavitt
Section 7
A monument: Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

In 4th grade I stepped off the plane and arrived in the holy land. I was too young to appreciate the spiritual aspect of Jerusalem. I visited all the holy monuments and the Wailing Wall was one of the monuments that has stuck with me the most. A monument is a statue or building that honors an event or a person. An article discussing the role of monuments says that, “monuments and memorials are designed and created in various ways that seek to capture a moment from the past and sustain its influence in the present and on into the future�? (http://www.clevelandart.org/educef/asianodyssey/pdf/MicMonMS.pdf). To an outsider the Wailing Wall looks like a massive wall but really it is more than a wall. The Wailing Wall is the holiest of Jewish sites in Jerusalem. The Wailing Wall is the remains of the Herodian wall that once enclosed the Second Temple. This monument will mark my trip to Israel. Everyday millions of people come to the wall in Jerusalem to pray. The Wailing Wall got its name because people come to mourn the destruction of the Temple Mount and the exile of the Jews.
I am not a religious person but when I visited the wall I was reminded of my Jewish heritage. Although I usually do not associate myself with Judaism, I found this sense of comfort when I walked up to the Wailing Wall. In some sense the wall was telling me that I belonged. Regardless, the Wailing Wall is a monument that will stick with me for a while.

social phenomenon-march 8

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:20:46 -0500

The term hooking up did not evolve until the late 90s early 2000s. It evolved into a term so widely used because everything at that time involved sex, bare flesh and girls and boys. All the magazine ads went from girls baring class to girls baring chests. This was a time when all the commonly know terms on dating changed to new, more sexually advanced terms. The term “dating�? became old news while the term “hooking up�? became what all teenage girls around America spoke about. Over time, the term hooking up transformed from “meeting someone/hanging out�? to “having sexual relations�?. The influence of the media and the different magazine advertisements had a lot to do with why this term changed its meaning. The term hooking up differs for every culture, individual and generation. The idea that hooking up has evolved is shown in the article, Pluralistic Ignorance and Hooking Up written by Kevin J Apple. He shows that the term hooking up is so common when he says, “However, today on college campuses across the United States what was once viewed as problematic has now become normative, and students refer to this process as "hooking up�?( http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5001963386&er=deny). With this said, hooking up is a social phenomenon because of how recent the term is and how the term itself has changed significantly from hanging out to having sexual feelings.
Also, when discussing this topic with my parents, I noticed that hooking up has so many meanings. My parents consider it hanging out with a friend while I consider it having sexual relations. Either definition, the term itself has become a social phenomenon.

mblog on public posting-due march 8

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:01:36 -0500

As I walked around Couzens Hall in search of a public posting I noticed that a public posting bombarded almost every wall. Since there are always so many postings I usually always ignore them and walk right by them. Advertisements usually never go without notice because they are so publicly displayed. In my case, there were too many postings that I simply ignored them and walked right by. The posting I picked up is about a Charity Basketball Tournament on March 10, 2007. Almost all the posting that I saw in my dorm highlighted the point that if you show up at this event you can get a free gift. The notion of free gifts attracts people to attend the event. The public posting that I picked up is not visually appealing and is cluttered with too many words, which makes me not want to read it. Public postings can both negatively and positively work. In the case of the posting I picked up, it negatively worked due to the crowded walls and crowded text. The positive effects of public posting can be shown in reducing speeding behavior on highways. This is shown in Ron Van Houten’s article on public posting in reducing speeding behavior. He says, “During the daily posting condition a highway sign was installed which provided feedback on the percentage of drivers not speeding yesterday and the best record to date. This sign was then covered and reintroduced. Results indicated that the sign was effective in reducing speeding behavior�?(http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1308145). If Couzens Hall were to simplify the postings that went up I would be more inclined to actually read the posts.
As I try and search for a connection to my family and public postings, I ponder upon family vacations. To keep me from asking, “when will we be there�?, my mom would ask me to count all the public postings on the road. That memory will stick with me until I pass it on to my kids. Public postings mark events and places in ones life.

A souvenir-due feb 22

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:27:11 -0500

As I wandered the Exhibit Museum in search of an idea for the museum project I stumbled upon the very small gift shop. Unlike other museums, the prices were pretty reasonable. In search of something that would reflect the museum, I came upon a 25-cent pink rubber dinosaur. Although the pink dinosaur sits above my desk and really has no purpose, it stands for the museum and that I visited the museum. A souvenir is something of sentimental value. Although the dinosaur really has no sentimental value for me, it stands by itself as a representation of something I enjoyed. Is this pink dinosaur a good representation of the exhibit museum? Is it a good representation even if it does not have the name of the museum written all over it? I believe souvenirs come in all different forms and anything is a good representation of the thing it is representing if it has some connection to what the place offers. What brought me to buy the pink dinosaur is its bright pink color and the funny posture of the dinosaur. Visually the dinosaur appealed to me. The types of souvenirs people purchase reflect their personal interests and also their gender. Tina Butler says in her article, "Souvenirs are an attempt to substitute objects for culture. For the souvenir collector, no culture exists until it is represented by objects"( http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0506a-tina_butler.html). She discusses how souvenirs are mainly there to represent a culture and to be an object. Maybe my pink dinosaur is just an object that represents the pre-historic time but to me it is visually appealing and is a remembrance of my visit to the Exhibit Museum. As for now, my pink dinosaur sits above my desk waiting for the next time I will pick it up and discuss its importance in my life.

Kelly Socks collection blog

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:40:17 -0500

As a child, I was fascinated with anything that moved. When I walked into a toy store I immediately ran to the section where airplanes were spinning from the ceiling. I was not a normal girly child. I liked toy cars rather than Barbie dolls. I began collecting rascar toy cars when I was four years old. My favorite toy car was the maroon Rangeover or the BMW with the dog in the front seat. I would sit for numerous hours on the carpet in my 12’ by 12’ room lining up my cars in different arrangements. I would create different scenarios with my cars. As I grew up the cars started to bore me. For Hanukah one year my mom bought me a toy garage where my cars could race up and down the driveway. I started to enjoy my cars again after I received the car garage. I would categorize my cars by which ones I liked the most and would then ignore the ones I liked the least. I would split the cars up into threes and would then divide them into families. My collection of cars provided me with entertainment.
The cars served as my ultimate site of comfort. Whenever I didn’t want to talk to anyone I would always go sit in my room for hours talking to myself and making up stories. My toy cars served as the basis for my imagination. The idea of collecting something allows you to cherish important objects in your life. My cars made me believe that I had something important in my life. When all else failed I always had my cars as an object of comfort.