Event 2- lecture

On Tuesday March 17, 2008, I went to a lecture in Carroll Hall about the economy and emerging economies around the world. This lecture was titled “Is it time for a new world order?” and the professor was exploring the economies of today and how that might affect our economies tomorrow. The professor proposed the idea created by a pair of economists that minor economic countries like Brazil and China were going to grow and become major influences, which would upset how business is done. They suggested that we are experiencing a hegemonic shift. Hegemony provides the necessary infrastructure for economies, absorbs shock, and stabilizes. The proposition is that the economic turmoil now is a result of a hegemonic shift and that after the transition lesser economies will gain strength to dominate. However, the professor does not feel that there is an evidence of a hegemonic shift, and it is not time for a new world order.
This is important part of university life because this is when many people begin to become aware of economics and politics. Here the professor is telling those who are listening to him that they should examine facts before they believe them. Information such as this helps to shape students view on world issues and affects how we will react to it. Also it is enlightening us on issues that will be important to us in the future. By presenting this argument, he introduced us to important concepts like hegemony. I did not know what that was before listening to this lecture.

Confederates in the Attic

Is confederates in the attic real? I did not grow up in the south so the whole idea of reenacting and celebrating a war is strange to me. Even living in the south for almost five years, I still have yet to experience that tradition. Other than the fact that the war has been over for about one hundred and fifty years, I don’t understand why someone how has been to war, been shot up, and hates war still feels that the civil war is not over. I can understand that most of the war was fought on southern soil and that makes it a bit closer to home, but Gettysburg happened in Pennsylvania and people up north don’t reenact it.
I feel like the article put a great deal of emphasis on the civil war being about slavery when it initially wasn’t. It seems odd to me that someone who knows a bit about the civil war does not mention that at all. With all the emphasis on slavery, it seemed ironic to me that in Virginia they tried to celebrate Lee’s and Jackson’s birthday with Martin Luther King’s birthday.
There is also one part that confuses me. There is a sentence when the minister is preaching and mentions that he never learned about black heroes and calls Booker T. Washington the peanut man. I don’t know if he is using that as an example for not being taught about it or not, because they are not the same people. Either way it was interesting to me to see how interested people can be with their personal past and how where they live affects that.

Observation #

Watching the interactions between the students in the union and the employees of alpine at two in the afternoon was similar to the other observations. Instead of people coming in large numbers at one time, people were coming in a few at a time but steadily over the course of the hour. Although people had books and computers out they did not seem to be doing much work. Several computers had facebook open. Many of the chairs were turned to face the television was on and playing the NCAA tournament. The union, to my surprise, was much emptier during this time of day then any of the others, yet there were more people passing through. No one was paying any attention to the Alpine employees and the general noise in the room was loud enough to drown them out. I could not hear them, and I was sitting close. The people in alpine worked diligently and since there was constantly someone to serve they did not have time to laugh or joke around. The line moved fast enough that no one left without getting food or looking agitated. Most of the people in the room were socializing with friends and were oblivious to what the alpine workers were doing or saying.

Observation 2

Mid morning, around ten o’clock a.m., is different than later at night. The union is much emptier and the people who are in it seem to be here by themselves rather than in groups. The televisions are turned on but the sound is either extremely low or muted all together. The people who are talking seem to be talking in a quieter voice. In the morning people either quietly sit or stand in line to get a bagel and coffee, whereas the people at night were slightly more energetic and rowdy. The people who work at alpine in the mornings are different from the people who work at night. They are faster and even though the line is longer than at night people seem to move through it pretty quick. From time to time, if the line is not moving fast enough a person will give an exasperated expression, sigh, and leave. This usually only happens when it gets closer to the next hour. The employees at alpine are not laughing or joking around; they are being serious and are working diligently. The biggest rush of people came in after nine fifty and cleared out soon after ten. The people sitting in the union seem to be more focused on working then at night and whatever sounds come from alpine do not seem to disturb them. The only thing that can clearly be heard over the general sound in the room is the workers repeating the phrase “can I help the next person” and even this is ignored by anyone trying to work.

Observation 1

I observed the effect of the alpine workers on the people studying in the union at nine o’clock at night. The workers were not singing or joking; they were different people than you normally see during the day. People, who I assume were friends of the workers, were standing nearby talking to the employees slowing things down slightly, but no one seemed to mind much. No one got upset about how fast or slow the employees were making food. Since the workers were not singing or being loud, everyone who wasn’t in line and waiting to get food paid no attention to the people working at alpine. The workers effect on the people was minimal, if there was any at all, especially because American Idol was playing on the television across the room. A crowd of people gathered to watch Anoop Desai sing and then quickly left. The demeanor in the room was generally pretty positive. Everyone was sitting with a friend laughing, joking, and talking. All of them with books out but not actually studying. Almost everyone had either food or a drink from alpine, and most of the drinks were coffee. The room is anything but quiet; there is a general din from the television, from many small groups of people talking, and from the noises coming from the workers making sandwiches. The workers only ask questions pertaining to making a sandwich and have nothing more to say to whomever they are serving. The people who are working on school work are not bothered by what the workers do, and they most likely cannot hear them over the overwhelming sounds of the television and people’s voices.

New hypothesis

The student union is a popular place for students to meet and study as well as socialize. Inside of the union is an Alpine Bagel Café where many students go to grab a quick bite to eat between classes and to grab a snack before study sessions. Often I go to Alpine to get something to eat quickly. The workers are usually very efficient, and even when there is a long line, they can manage to serve the people at the end of the line in about ten minutes. When it is not overwhelmingly busy for them, the workers can be heard laughing and joking and even singing behind the counter.
Once when I went to get something to eat, the guy who was making my sandwich told me that I looked sad and needed to smile. Because I often see the people who work at Alpine laughing and joking around, even with their superiors, I am led to think that even though they are working they are determined to have a good time. I hypothesize that when it is busy they will be more serious about taking orders and making sandwiches, but when business is slower, they will goof off and joke around, while getting other necessary work done.
The reason I want to study the people who work at Alpine is because they seem to have fun in a situation that could potentially be stressful. If they are able to be relaxed in that sort of situation, then it could be beneficial. College campuses are notoriously stressful places, and if people have ways to deal with stress, it could be beneficial to the campus as a whole.

update

The microculture that I plan on studying is the choral community on campus, specifically the Carolina Choir. This group willingly takes a class four days a week, which serves as their practice time, with minimal compensation. Before they can even enroll in this class, they must audition and demonstrate adequate skills to be beneficial to the group. As a whole, Carolina Choir is more than half women. A friend of mine is a member of the Carolina Choir and devotes his time this art. Several times during the semester they perform concerts for the students and public. The fact that these people have a working knowledge for music as well as intrinsic skill interests me.

Taken from what I already know about people in Carolina choir, the multitudes of time that need to be put into this class through the practicing during class time and concerts performed in the students free time, I expect the Carolina Choir to be people who are not only skilled but also extremely dedicated. This dedication would make them more inclined to putting in extra effort in another area of study. From this, I hypothesize that Carolina Choir members are dedicated to another area of study, which they commonly discuss. Their dedication would be determined by the amount and how they talk about their other subjects.

My purpose for studying the Carolina Choir would be to determine any positive effects from their devotion to music. The way the members discuss their other subjects, compared to choir, would determine their dedication to these other subjects. If they do put in the same effort, their dedication can be beneficial to the rest of campus. Not only would the music bring culture to campus but also their work ethic can also have a positive effect on the people around them.

The microculture that I plan on studying is the choral community on campus, specifically the Carolina Choir. This group, once proving their proficiency at singing, willingly takes a class four days a week, which serves as their practice time, with minimal compensation. Before they can even enroll in this class, they must audition and demonstrate adequate skills to be beneficial to the group. As a whole, Carolina Choir is more than half women. A friend of mine is a member of the Carolina Choir and devotes his time this art. The fact that these people have a working knowledge for music as well as intrinsic skill interests me.
Taken from what I already know about people in Carolina choir, the multitudes of time that need to be put into this class through the practicing during class time and concerts performed in the students free time, I hypothesize that the people who make up the Carolina Choir are not only skilled but also extremely dedicated. While they are together, I would expect them to talk about how they should work on and improve their skill and to use jargon associated with the musical community, such as scales, notes, and musical pieces. I would also expect them to have another area of study that they are deeply devoted to studying, like music, which they would talk about with other members of the group.
My purpose for studying the Carolina Choir would be to determine any positive effects from their devotion to music. I would see if there was a link in the effort that they put into their art and their other studies by the way and how much they talk about them. If they do put in the same effort, their dedication can be beneficial to the rest of campus. Not only would the music bring culture to campus but also their work ethic can also have a positive effect on the people around them.

Observation #2 Disruption

The space I previously observed was the pit outside of the union on a Friday morning. To disrupt this I would act in a manner that would be out of character and would unnerve people. In my attempt to make people feel uncomfortable, I would walk by the tables of people I do not know and talk to them. Including more personal gestures would also be necessary while talking to these people, like putting your hand on their shoulders or other acts that are usually reserved for people who are acquainted. Along with the acts to make these people feel uncomfortable, I would also talk to them in a way that would easily annoy them. So I would strike up a conversation about completely frivolous and absurd topics, and I would say them in an overly loud voice, laughing abruptly as needed. I would do this to multiple groups to interrupt the entire space not just a small section of it.