Dear (place reason for stress here),

Dear NCSU Admissions,

You should send notifications to students that have holds on their accounts, especially to freshman who have never enrolled or experienced holds on accounts. Now, even though you have received my final transcript you have not had the hold on my account and I will not be able to register because you do not have an office that is open for 24 hours, which you most definitely should because what student do you know that can afford to miss class and fit your hours. None. Also, why would you not answer the phone when I call? If you cannot have an office that is open 24 hours then you can at least have someone that can answer the phone and calm some nerves. Even when I call at normal hours you still don’t answer. I just don’t get it. People have questions and people want answers. Now.

Best regards,

Madison Broadway

Dear NCSU Scheduling,

You should be able to only see classes that fit the requirements when you are trying to make the wish list because there is no reason for the amount of back and forth from catalog to requirements that I have done. If that is too hard then you should be able to have two widows open on my pack portal so that this hindrance can be avoided. There are plenty of smart people here that we should be able to figure something to make your students happier, spend less time on the wish list, and get more sleep so we do better in the classes we are trying so hard to get into. I understand that you cannot fulfill every persons needs but these seem to be really simple changes that would make plenty of people lives easier. I love going to school here, but seriously, registering for classes is the worst thing I have ever done, ever.

Best regards,

Madison Broadway

Dear contacts,

Why do you insist on driving my eyes crazy? I loved you because it was so simple to put you in a go. I could wear my sunglasses; I could do athletic activities and see; but now. Now I can only half see because my right contact refuses to make peace with my right eye. It doesn’t matter how new or old you are, you have been such a bother for three months to that eye. So I go without you. I hope you enjoy being lonesome, never getting to see the world, just staying in your little pod, all alone.

Best regards,

Madison Broadway

Ecojustice Education

Ecojustice Education main "point is that educational effort of substance will be required to get the most out of that small set of ideas—agrarianism, the commons, no-growth economics, and the maximum wage—that hold the greatest promise for solving the world’s most vexing problems." It talks about different economic theories that could result in an economy that is better for the environment. Most of the theories are not realistic, for instance a maximum wage. Few people will vote for that, and if it ever happened, people would find ways around it. Other theories involve creating utopias. "Today, any vision of what a society might become that does not look very much like what society currently is, is quickly dubbed “utopian,” and therefore impossible to achieve." These utopian societies involved common meetings in which every person could speak and have input on what would happen in the community if they lived there. Obviously people that own more of the land, and more money, will have more say than the beggar or town drunk.

This text argues that project based learning and community based curriculum are the solution to many of the global problems. These education methods steer away from making as much money as possible and takes away putting one's self first. Instead of leaning self fulfillment by going to school making god grades and going to college to get a job making a ton of money, they learn about the fulfillment of helping others. These ways also involve immediate learning. Everyday a new skill is learned, instead of learning one chapter for a few weeks and testing and then deciding if they learned something or not. These ideas could work, however I believe it is still important to learn different basic skills in the classroom and then maybe going out and learning to apply it.

Mapping Everyday

Mapping Everyday: Gender, Blackness, and Discourse in Urban Contexts is an article by L. Hill Taylor and Robert J. Helfenbein that looks at how students in primarily black schools are educated differently that primarily white schools. It looks at the students' views of the world that white, privileged students may not see.  One of the main points made was about the different ways spaces are described. For instance, you have a woman which is the physical description. Then you have the dominant representation, which means that women are delicate, they should be polite, wear make up, fix their hair, and shave their legs. Then there is the small percent of women that do not fit that dominant representation. This is described as the thirdspace representation. If enough people start to see that the thirdspace representation as the "right" however, then that becomes the dominant representation. This theory is Edward Soja's. Anything can be taken into consideration with this theory. People, places, areas of a city, people that live in a certain area. The problem is that the thirdspace is less than likely viewed by the majority as acceptable, thus ending sex, gender, orientation, disability, and religious discrimination is a never ending task.

180 Degrees South

180 Degrees South is a documentary of a man's journey to climbing Corcovado. Corcovado is a mountain in Patagonia. In the winter it is a relatively easy climb, but when the ice thaws at the top of the mountain, the rocks are very loose and it becomes unsafe. Jeff has been dreaming of the day he would climb the mountain for years and knew about the climate situation. Part of his journey there was on a boat, and when one of the masts breaks, they have to make an extended stop in Rapa Nui. He ended up arriving to Corcovado later than he wanted and could not make it all the way to the summit because it would be too dangerous. Jeff is young enough that one day he plans to return and make it all the way to the summit.

I envy his journey. I would love to think that I could drop everything and just go somewhere for 150 days. But the reality is, I can't. Or maybe I just don't think I can. I have to go to school, get a degree, get a job, stay with family, update my Facebook, go shopping, celebrate the holidays, the list goes on and on. Yvon Chouinard made the journey to Patagonia in 1968 in a van. In the documentary he says it is very easy to make our life complicated, simplifying it is the hardest thing to do. This statement is so true. I can have thousand worries at one time, but clearing my mind during yoga or meditation can be one of the hardest practices ever. After watching this I will try and think about what is really important in life and hopefully, one day, I can make a journey relative to this one. 

Happy travels,

Madison Broadway

Uniqlo Reusing

My previous posts were about how to defeat the rising cost of clothing in a sustainable way and how to help the people that actually make your clothes. Today's article is about how to help the people that have little or no clothing. Uniqulo is a company that started in Japan and is now branching out to other countries including the United States. They are also branching out by starting a new project. This company is notorious for selling extremely cheap clothing and only the newest trends. As a consequence, many people who shop at their stores find their clothing that they bought just last month outdated and 'old'. Their project encourages their consumers to bring in lightly worn clothing which they will distribute to countries in need. This company is not local with my community but I understand that there are other companies doing the same reuse project. 

Happy trending!

Madison Broadway

Indigenous Resistance

Indigenous Resistance by Michael Marker is an article about a group of native americans that were divided by the USA-Canada border. Then the white settlers tried to force them to go to their schools and forget everything about their native past. The schools in Canada were very religious and the natives were abused physically. The schools in the USA were very racist and the natives experienced psychological trauma. The natives had to learn their language and dances in secret or they would be punished. When the natives integrated to public schools in the USA the racism became so bad over fishing rights that eventually they went back to the boarding schools that their grandparents remember as the worst times of their life. It is amazing that something that was once so bad, becomes the choice because other people feel they have so much more power because of skin color. It is a good that the boarding schools are now letting the natives learn about their culture now however, because diversity is important. It would be better if the natives and white could both learn about it in a civilized manner, but no person should by traumatized by their school years. I do not really know how the Canadians go about life, but I know that forcing an entirely different religion on any person is wrong. Students should have a choice to go to a school or not that includes religion.  In this case, the natives should be taught by their elders. It is important to keep various cultures alive, if every person had the same values and beliefs, then there would be none. This article shows that an open mind is important. Some of the most amazing experiences I have had, have had nothing to do with what I believe in, but I know that it is important to have respect for anything that other people do and I cannot imagine shutting out anything without giving it a try first.

Happy embracing,
Madison Broadway

Penguin Lessons

In Butterfly Lessons a main claim that is made is that climate change does effect species in a matter of ways. Sometime genetically, other times in behavior, and the most unlucky species may become extinct.

"When an animal changes its routine by, say, laying its eggs earlier or going into hibernation later, there are a number of possible explanations. One is that the change reflects an innate flexibility; as conditions vary, the animal is able to adjust its behavior in response. Biologists call such flexibility "phenotypic plasticity," and it is key to the survival of most species. Another possibility is that the shift represents something deeper and more permanent-an actual rearrangement of the organism's genetic structure."

Butterfly Lessons discusses how species are impacted by climate change. My project is about how species, both flora and fauna, are impacted by invasive nonnative species, including humans. Humans are a main contribution the the warming of the environment; as well as, the invasive species in the Galapagos. Humans are working to eradicate the invasive species of the Galapagos; however, reversing the global warming damage will not be as easy. Some of the species in the Galapagos are facing treats from global warming, including the penguins. The Galapagos Islands have not faced many cases of extinction, but if the invasive species are not continually eradicated than their chances for survival lessen.