Dartmouth College: A History of Hazing

The prestigious Dartmouth College may seem like it would confine students to rigorous hours studying in dorms , however for more than half the students that isn't always the case. The fraternity system of Dartmouth College is a sort of legacy, starting in 1842, and as it grows so too does the status of membership. Former self proclaimed "true bro" frat boy Andrew Lohse and former coke addict, so the question is, what is the reliability of what he says? Should frats not be allowed to have houses? Is there something fundamentally wrong with the Greek system. I must inform you I do not have all the answers, maybe I don't even have a clue.
Well, here goes nothing. In terms of reliability I would believe Lohse, on some accounts, but I wouldn't doubt it if he exaggerated the brutality. As a journalist / business major he certainly would have had a class or two about communication, and marketing. In order to make his side of the story more interesting chances are that he remembered more of the bad things that happened during the hazing rather than his education at Dartmouth and the brotherhood he had. Although some frats take hazing to far, like Lohse expressed from the majority of what I have heard it isn't nearly that bad. There are no pools of feces, blood, and vomit- that is the extreme. Most fraternity rituals involve the pledges to be tied together, drink a rather large quantity (which understandably isn't ideal), or go nude around campus. Just because one fraternity gets out of hand doesn't mean the whole system is worthless, especially if people do go on and feel a sense of belonging and reliability in their fellow 'brothers".

Musing about Music- Spotify

So, lately I have been listening to a lot of music. I really like spotify, which is sort of a mix between Pandora, itunes, and the like. Artists allow spotify to have their song on the application and for each play the artists make money. This is because spotify has as ads on the side of the window and an occasional music ad every four songs or so. I've mostly been listening to indie pop/ rock/ 60's/ and 70's music.What's nice is that you can make playlists and share them with friends via twitter, facebook, or inbox. It is more organized than Pandora and I find it isn't as finicky. Here is a list of songs I have been listening to lately
Jack Johnson- In the morning
Joni Mitchell- Circle Game
The Black Keys- Howling for You
Florence + the Machine- Only if for a night

Happy listening. So, what music do you like right now? Are you sucked into Beiber's new Boyfriend or Carly Rae Jepsen's debut song? Or are you digging on oldies?

I'm here on Ditch Day and the teacher isn't

Ahh, there are only 6 of us in this entire class.  I am here now and I will be here all day- not a big deal. Ditching is lame, especially if you get called out. Take the risk or come to school

I'm Building a freakin' house

I get to go to Costa Rica for spring break, like actual Costa Rica. I have been in hoighty- toity resort style Costa Rica. I am going to be in a shantytown making the homes of two houses, sweating in the hot sun. No blogs, just lots of sunscreen and water! DFTBA

The Red Market In India

I always used to read choose your own adventure books, so here is your adventure. You are a living in a small village in India, upon being left by your spouse you have three children to feed and no steady source of income. You read a flyer on a post saying that you can earn money quickly by selling your kidney. So what do you do? If you choose to sell your kidney read A. if you choose to go about another route read B.

A. You pick up the flyer and walk directly to the location listed. Upon arrival you meet with a man in a lab coat,  who you assume the man is therefore a doctor. He looks you once over, making sure you're in good health. He says he can offer you 1,500 dollars After his observation you fill out some papers, and schedule an operation for the next week. You arrive on the big day,  are put under, and the next thing you know you wake up with a twelve inches of stitches in your abdomen and you are internally lacking a kidney. However, that 1,500 dollars is in your hands so you don't mind so much. Until the next day. The pain is agonizing, and you can't afford more than a few pain relievers. The wound is producing puss, and is slightly infected. The 1,500 dollars is gone at the end of the year, and all that remains is your family, a single kidney, and a twelve inch scar as a reminder of decision.

B. You decide to talk to your friend about work, kids and the usual but are interrupted by a man on the street. This man says he hears your complaints and is looking for workers. You say goodbye to your friend, and follow the man to his office. He shows you into a tattered building, and locks the door behind him. For the rest of your life you are his prisoner. This man runs a prostitution operation and uses you as one of his sexual slaves. You are fed a slice of bread and a single cup of dirty water each day, and this is considered compensation for your work. Never again do you see your family.

This may sound outrageous to some of us, but it is the reality in certain areas of the world. Lack of employment and increasing population in developing countries can force some people to the extremes, or make life changing decisions. 

Game Change- The Movie

If you were alive in 2008, or know at least a little bit about American government, you will know that on November 4th, 2008 Senator Barack Obama was elected president. But what ever happened to "McCain/ Palin", after they lost the election. Well, McCain is still the senator of Arizona, and Sarah Palin delved into a plethora of things from 2008 until now.
Following McCain and her loss, Palin became an idol to some, and a mockery to most. Who can forget the SNL sketches, the slips of the tongue, and her general bewilderment in front of the camera? Nearly nobody. Which is why, when previews of the movie "Game Change" were shown on HBO I decided to watch it. The movie itself has great actors , Palin is played by Juliane Moore, Eddy Harris as McCain and Woody Harelson as Steve Schmidt (the campaign advisor to McCain). The movie is based on the book by the same name. What miffed me about the movie though was that Palin was portrayed as a risky choice, but the only way to keep the conservatives happy. The other choice was a former Democrat turned independent. What confused me the most with this movie though was the portrayal of of Palin. Although I believe former Governor Palin had her quirks, and seemed overall dumbfounded in any news I saw, she was "the it girl" of the republican party. What I remember people worrying about was if McCain was too old, and I guess Palin was the acid that was meant to titrate the base. ( little chemistry reference there for ya' folks). But in any case, Palin didn't push the campaign to a win. What went wrong? Sarah Palin "went rouge". The small town mom turned political puppet was uncomfortable in the spotlight and wasn't in cahoots with all of McCains ideas. I think they lost because Obama had a better campaign and more consise views. But what do you think? As always I love to hear other opinions.
D.F.T.B.A.

the real crews:

- Emma

Wednesday Discussions

So, since the beginning of the year, DHS has been trying to implement social topics and problems into discussions during Wednesday's homeroom. Needless to say, from what I've heard the reaction from students has been less than favorable. My homeroom teacher made it a point of telling us on the first day something along the lines of " Listen, I know you guys are seniors and don't want to do this stuff, and neither do I, so we're not going to. That said, if you want to ask me anything about college or whatever, I can answer that, but otherwise... ya know". So, that was the start and end of homeroom discussions. The common consensus among are homeroom was that homeroom is meant for napping (as seen below), texting, and discussing the rigors of college applications, AP classes, and of course senioritis. So why did the school decide to come up with Wedneday discussions?
      Contrary to what most of us students at DHS think there are social issues that happen at DHS as well as other schools in the area. Just this past Tuesday, my teacher was checking her e-mail when she stopped, sighed, and put her face in her hands. She had received an note from the administration at Lake Forest High saying that just a few weeks after a student had jumped in front of a train, another student was found deceased on the tracks. Perhaps LFHS will have a discussion about this (note: it is still not determined whether the case is suicide, or accidental death). Although some may say bullying and suicide don't exist at DHS, this is simply not true.

Affirmative Action, confirming bias?

In deciding wether or not to allow an applicant into a college there is a broad scope of aspects to review. Has the student done well in their previous course of study? What is their life experience?  Are they an asset to thier community? Do their intrests fit in with the offerings of our college? Yet , for California, perhaps the simplest thing on an application will have the most weight . The mark one checks off indicating their race. The question of affirmitive action is one I had not previously considered . Perhaps because I get to check the "white" or "caucasian" box. At the universtiy I am hoping to attend the minority representation is around a meager seven percent. (Yet this seems like more than my current school). The concept of affirmitive action in my opinion is respectable. Encouraging diversity on a college campus should be considered important in hearing different viewpoints, especially when discussing subjects about race. However, the reason these programs are getting attacked is because they are seen as providing a certian advantage to minoirites and making the ....... to be completed

Privilege by Tim Wise

In my assessment of the portion of this biography I read I would have to agree with Amazon's analysis. One of the very first stories that Wise starts out with is of him and his two friends, Bobby and Vince playing a game of monkey in the middle during recess. What Wise chooses to mention is that his two friends were black. Amidst the game when Wise is in the middle, he begins catching every pass. Bobby and Vince jokingly refer to Wise as "My nigger Tim". Although Wise might not have realized it that day, at the age of nine his friends were already sensitized to the demeaning nature of the word they called them. In the expressive setting of a school playground was the only relief from the burden of being black. For, the opposite of a privilege is a burden. In Wise's mind being white is a privilege that he will be indebted to his parents for forever. In his view the privilege of being white is priceless, because as a privilege their are certain  presumptions about one simply based on their appearance. No one will admit to such belief but it has somehow become embedded in the subconscious of Americans. Is it the perpetuation of European history, white media, etc. or is that fundamentally white people don't want to give the same privilege that is awarded to them through their skin color to someone black. For the white man, the fear of losing his advantage is enough to take pride in the color of his skin and the treatment he receives for it.

We are ALL racist.

There is no denying that no matter where one lives in this country they are not going to grow up "color blind". Between mandatory nationwide education about the civil rights movement, slavery, and the portrayl of ethnicity in the media, we are practically told to believe that there is someting different between people based on the amount of melatonin and pigmentation that occours naturally in their skin. Why? Because we are ALL racist. A while ago, I was highy concerned that for some reason I was racist, which is undoubtley true. What the Project Implict tests (on racisim, ect.) can make us learn is that we shouldn't be ashamed of being racist or prejudice. In my results I had a " moderate automatic preference for African American compared to European American".  I deduce that this means that I have been taught that prejuide or racisim is bad, therefore I can be open minded about talking and working with someone who is any gender, creed, orentation, background (ect). Because I want to become a physician's assistant, I think that being comfortable around anyone is going to be a good skill.

side note : I am slightly superstitious about names, when translating my full name it means Universal Famous Warrior Shepherd (wow). So supposedly I am supposed to be worldly (true), care about animals/ people ( also true), and care enough to fight for these issues ( also true). Take the test if you want to
at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/selectatest.html

and I leave you with this little humorus bit about race