The Relationship between Culture and Religion and its Effects on Identity by Thao Hoang

The Relationship between Culture and Religion and its Effects on Identity

Thao Hoang

The connection of culture and religion creates conflict of identity because the world outside the church vastly changes. The clashing culture of different ideas, especially by generations, causes identity confusion within the individuals of the community. Ebaugh and Chafetz (2000) noted that “congregations that focus most strongly on recreating ethnic ambiance of the old country are most likely to alienate the youth” (p. 447). Standards and practices revered in the Vietnamese Catholic community are dismissed or become spectacles such as the various forms of Vietnamese honorifics. On a greater scale, older generations typically have more conservative views on some issues and raised their children with these views. The children then learn more about the subject through the western culture and form an opposing idea. The different ideas, from the one the individual are raised upon based on the faith and culture of their community, and the one they learned outside of it, often diverge. These differences raises question of their culture which then lead to an evaluation of how they view their identity. The different cultures of the Vietnamese Catholic community and of the American produce different ideas that conflict and create tension between the members, often by generation, as well as force the individual to examine their identity.

For immigrants of this country, maintaining their culture becomes crucial in how they view their identity. In the midst of exposure of this western society, everything changes. Unfamiliar things exist behind every corner – different language, food and utensils, dress, music. Immigrants cling to their cultural identity and seek out or form a community as a way to maintain the practices of their homeland. The Vietnamese Catholic community in Cincinnati is no different. The community operates as a church, called the Lady of Lavang, but becomes something greater than just an area for worship. It can be argued that all churches are communities in their own ways, but particularly, the Vietnamese Catholic church strives to form a little niche where the people are able to worship freely in their language. More so, in this way they are able to communicate their culture. The church preserves traditional Vietnamese culture through a variety of different methods. This causes the religious and cultural part of one’s identity to intertwine. There are both benefits and trade-offs to this relationship. A benefit is that it brings an individual closer to the community. However, there is always an obvious awareness that they no longer live in Vietnam. Although the culture of Vietnam is preserved by many means, there exists a clashing culture of the western society beyond the doors of the Lady of Lavang church. The communication of culture in religion creates an intimate discourse community that allows the members to feel closer to one another of similar background, but also then produce turmoil in how an individual view their identity and can isolate them from the Vietnamese Catholic community as well as other different communities.

Before settling in Ohio, my family has previously lived in Louisiana and California because either my mother or father had family members who had lived there and helped us transitioned into living in the new country. The move to Ohio was also motivated because of family. However, the decision to stay was greatly influenced by the Vietnamese Catholic community in the Cincinnati area (see Figure 1 and 2), because, according to Thompson and Gurney (2003), who conducted a study of various immigrant youths’ relationship with their faith, religions “provide a strong connection to one’s familial and cultural identity” (p. 84). The Lady of Lavang creates an atmosphere where individuals of a common background worship freely in their own language. Ebaugh and Chafetz (2000) note in their study of immigrant congregations that “language commonality is central to the development of such networks, to the reproduction of customs in a new and different socio-cultural milieu, and to the feelings of personal comfort” (p. 437). My interview with L.P. also acknowledges this point. She is an older woman who feels more comfortable going to the Lady of Lavang as oppose to a nearer English church. The mass services are essentially the same, only one is in Vietnamese, but that makes all the difference in her understanding and participation in the service. An example is the Our Father, recited in all Catholic masses but here in Vietnamese:

Our Father

Vietnamese are also able express the customs and traditions of Vietnam here. The Lady of Lavang forms an environment specifically for Vietnamese Catholics, and the culture of the country can be easily perceived. I observed an instance of this last weekend when the church celebrated May Crowning. During the procession, which took place in the church’s parking lot, I saw right away various forms of Vietnamese culture such as instruments (see Figure 3 and 4). These instruments can also be faintly heard in the beginning and throughout the procession outside (Note that the sounds are not as powerful as there were no nearby microphones):

Instruments Sounds During Procession

In Figure 5 and 6, a dance was performed by girls in the church’s youth group. These pictures also show the ao dai, the traditional Vietnamese dress. These dresses are usually worn during special masses, but some women, typically of older generation, wear the ao dai every Sunday. The members also meet in the basement of Church after all mass services, special occasion or not. During these times, Vietnamese food are set up and sold. There is not extra prayer service here; people just come together at the various tables to talk and enjoy a meal together. This community also celebrates non-religious holidays of Vietnam such Tet, the Vietnamese lunar new year. These communications of culture all takes place within the church property. The ao dai will never be seen at the local Target, and Tet will never be celebrated or recognized like the New Year at the beginning of January. The Vietnamese Catholic community in Cincinnati intertwines and communicates culture literacy with relation to religion. The relationship of the two is strong within the community because the church becomes the sole environment of Vietnamese culture.

The Vietnamese Catholic church provides a close-knit community but also isolates their members from other communities in this manner. The discourse community is for a very specific group of people. As a place where culture is so freely expressed, it becomes very important to its member. However, according to Ebauch and Chafetz (2000), immigrants of religious congregations often feel “too isolated in their parish” (p. 442). This is because the members spend the majority of their time away from this community. Sometimes, they need to hold meetings and plan for special services like the May Crowning. Mostly though, their life is immersed in American culture and society. Those who are part of the discourse community understand that their Vietnamese and American lives will never really mix. In an interview with T.O., he said that he keeps his activities with the Vietnamese Catholic church separated from his other communities in school and work. While he never outright said that it made him uncomfortable, it is something that he just did not and would not do. Yet religion and culture are such significant part of his and other members’ identity. To have these parts of identity so detached from the majority of their life creates conflicting feelings in how they view themselves in the world. Because the cultures never mix, they see their identity as divided. The Vietnamese Catholic community binds the member through a common background but also isolate them from other communities.

The connection of culture and religion creates conflict of identity because the world outside the church vastly changes. The clashing culture of different ideas, especially by generations, causes identity confusion within the individuals of the community. Ebaugh and Chafetz (2000) noted that “congregations that focus most strongly on recreating ethnic ambiance of the old country are most likely to alienate the youth” (p. 447). Standards and practices revered in the Vietnamese Catholic community are dismissed or become spectacles such as the various forms of Vietnamese honorifics. On a greater scale, older generations typically have more conservative views on some issues and raised their children with these views. The children then learn more about the subject through the western culture and form an opposing idea. The different ideas, from the one the individual are raised upon based on the faith and culture of their community, and the one they learned outside of it, often diverge. These differences raises question of their culture which then lead to an evaluation of how they view their identity. The different cultures of the Vietnamese Catholic community and of the American produce different ideas that conflict and create tension between the members, often by generation, as well as force the individual to examine their identity.

The Vietnamese Catholic community in Cincinnati allows member to worship freely in their language and unit members under the same ethnic background. The expressions of culture through dress, food, music, and instruments connect culture with faith. This relationship further unifies members but also paradoxically isolate them from one another as well as from other communities. It should be noted that there are varying levels of how an individual may feel this distance which depends greatly on their greater understanding of the ideas in their cultural literacy. The concepts learned from the different cultures clashed and force the individual to greater understanding of the limitation of wholly accepting all beliefs of one culture. While this discourse community provides a way to unite Vietnamese to their culture, it also creates conflict of identity because of the presences of other ideas of other cultures.

Figures

Figure 1- Church Building Figure 2- Sign on Church

Figure 3- Vietnamese Instrument 1 Figure 4- Vietnamese Instrument 2

Figure 5- Youth Group Dance 1 Figure 6- Youth Group Dance 2

References

Ebaugh, H., & Chafetz, J. (2000). Dilemmas of Language in Immigrant

Congregation: The Tie that Binds or The Tower of Babel?. Religious

Research Association, 41(4), 432-452.

Thompson, N. E., & Gurney, A. G. (2003). “He is Everything”: Religion's Role in

the Lives of Immigrant Youth. New Directions for Youth Development,

2003(100), 75-90.

Saints in the Catholic Religion. by:Stephanie Hamann

Stephanie Hamann

English Comp 289

Ethan Philbrick

May 27, 2011

Religion was a very large part of my life growing up. I attended church every Sunday and was sent to a parochial grade school. I never questioned religion when I was young. It all seemed so black and white. Of course God created the world in 7 days and of course a man named Jesus died for our sins. Every school day would begin with prayer, we prayed before lunch, and every day concluded with prayer. Sometimes, if you ended up with specific bus drivers, we would pray on the bus ride home. Most of the prayers we said were not original. They were rehearsed prayers that had been around for centuries such as the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles Creed. Although I am not a Catholic, I have been exposed to the community for a large portion of my life.

One of the main differences between Catholics and Protestants is the way each religion presents saints. The Protestants acknowledge their existence and applaud their contributions to the bible, but they save all of the praise for God and Jesus. On the other hand, the Catholics use saints more actively throughout religion and religious education. I can recall the courtyard of my grade school being packed with stone statues of the mother Mary, St. Peter, St. Francis of Assisi and many more. On occasion the teachers would bring us to this courtyard to pray to the statues. I can’t tell you how many projects I’ve done about saints. I even remember having trading cards with saints on them. When I went back to St. Columban church for research I noticed the different saint inscribed on windows and walls.

The Catholics actually receive quite a bit of criticism from other religions. This started in the 16^th century with the protestant movement. The first two of the Ten Commandments instruct us not to worship anything but God himself and not to create any false idols. Some protestant religions believe that the Catholics are violating these commandments. When confronted about this issue, the Catholics explain that “they do not pray to the saints, but with them.” This is known as the communion of saints by those in the catholic religion. The communion of saints is “the spiritual solidarity which bonds together the faithful on Earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in Heaven…”

Listen below to hear a list of some of the saints.

What is a saint? One might ask. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a saint refers to a person who has been formally canonized by the Catholic Church, and is therefore believed to be in Heaven. Second question, what does it mean to be canonized? Let me just start off by saying, if you were planning on becoming a saint as your one claim to fame, you might want to reconsider. The first step in the process is fulfilled by the bishop of the area in which the candidate died. The bishop simply has to give permission to launch an investigation. Unless waived by the pope himself, this investigation can begin no sooner than 5 years after the candidate dies. It is not uncommon for the pope to waive this waiting period. Pope John Paul II did this for Mother Teresa and Pope Benedict the XVI did the same for John Paul II when he died. This investigation includes extensive search of the candidate’s writings and sermons, and a biography is written based on this information in the mean time. Next, all of this information is presented to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. Once the proper approval has gone through, the candidate is then exhumed and examined.

Once all of the investigating has been concluded, the candidate’s information is presented to the pope. At this point the candidate begins to be referred to as “Servant of God”. The pope then determines whether or not the Servant of God expresses “heroic virtue.” This means the servant has provided a heroic display of faith and charity throughout his or her lifetime. The proclamation by the pope brings the canonization to the third step. Once again, the name is switched from Servant of God to “Venerable.” One thing you must know about the process of canonization is it requires the Venerable to perform at least two miracles after death. In order to provoke a miracle, people of faith often create prayer cards to encourage others to pray for a miracle on the behalf of the Venerable. At this point in the process, because the canonization has yet to be finalized, the venerable may not have any churches named after him or her and does not have a feast day.

There is still one more step before the venerable is declared a saint. First he or she must be determined as “Blessed”. There are two criteria that constitute a venerable as “Blessed” the person is either a martyr or a confessor. A martyr is someone who died for their faith and a confessor is someone who lived a life of faith and has performed a miracle. After all of this investigation into the Blessed person’s life and compositions, and after two miracles have occurred after death, the canonization is finally complete and the person is declared a Saint.

I would have never understood all of the literacy behind canonization if I hadn’t done a bit of online research and talked to Father Larry, the priest at St. Columban. Father Larry explained all of the different steps and gave examples of miracles performed by different saints. Most of these miracles involve a person being cured of a chronic illness. He also told me that the Catholics believe that although the saints have died, they are very much alive. The Catholics believe that the saints can see and hear everything. For example if you lost something you could pray to St. Anthony to help you find it because he is the patron saint of lost items.

Before this project I didn’t know much about what a saint was and how one is canonized as a saint and I went to Catholic school for half of my life. Even when I was sitting in the church listening to Father Larry preach nothing he said was making any sense to me. I decided to interview my brother and my father to see what their conceptions of saints were. My younger brother is currently an eighth grader at St. Columban and has a religion class every day. He explained to me that every person who enters the gates of heaven in considered a saint. However, only canonized saints can have churches named after them. He told me the story of St. Lucy, the patron saint of those who are blind. St. Lucy refused to marry her betrothed husband because she wanted to save her virginity. Her husband to be became so angry at this that he sent the guard to kill her. The guards tried to burn her but she could not be harmed, so they gouged her eye out with a fork. St. Lucy grabbed up her eyes and handed them to the man she was once supposed to marry and said “now let me live to God.” My brother told me that he doesn’t believe that this story happened exactly the way it was written. He thinks that Catholics respect the saints for the message behind the story.

See top of page for picture of St. Lucy

The interview with my father went quite differently. He was raised in a very catholic family with his five sister all named Mary and his three brothers James, Paul, and Edward. Not only were all of his siblings named after the bible, but they all attended the same catholic school throughout their school years. My father hasn’t been a regular at a Catholic church in over 30 years, but he could still explain the canonization process to me perfectly. He named of multiple saints and the stories behind them. He then explained to me that he really doesn’t believe any of the specifics of religion anymore. He thinks religion is essential because it gives people a reason to be good especially for children.

This is pretty much the same boat I am in at this point. I like to consider myself a mildly religious person. But I found myself questioning Father Larry throughout the entire mass I attended for my research. I hadn’t been in that church for six years but everything was the same. We sung the same hymns, read the same books of the Bible, the soloist and the pianist were even the same. Other religions seem to be evolving as the rest of the world does but the Catholic religion remains the same and always will.

Effective Approaches in Teaching a Foreighn Language by Marizzel Garcia

I remember my first day in Italian 101 like it was yesterday. The main reason I recall this day so vividly is due to the feeling of confusion in the class. It was the first day and the professor spoke to use in pure Italian, for the first half of class. I remember looking around and wondering if I was in the right class and if this professor was aware that this was a 101 level course. As time progressed in the class I got better at the language and started to pick it up. How do professors manage for students to learn a foreign language and get rid of this sense of confusion and perplexity? There are many techniques used by professors when learning a foreign language. For this essay I will be focusing on the following techniques interaction, connecting what is learned in the classroom to student’s personal life or preferences, and humor.

Through recent research I have found that one teaching technique used by foreign language professors is interaction. I have recently observed three foreign language classes at UC. These classes consist of a Spanish 101, French 102, and Italian 103 class. Each one of these classes incorporated interaction weather it was the teacher asking the students questions, the students asking the professor questions, or the students having conversations amongst each other in the language. According to Pawel Scheffeler (2008), an English syntax professor interested in research in language accusation, interaction is important when learning a foreign language because “communicative interaction can drive language acquisition forward” (p. 291). Here we notice that interaction has been found to be linked to acquisition. Another reason why interaction is important is because “in-class interactions help the learners maintain their attention and interest” (S. Deniz, 2010, p. 1281), which is also important when learning a language.

Students also find interaction used in the classroom useful when learning a language. Olivia Anastasi, one of the students from the Italian 103 class I observed, stated that “I think interaction is vital with any language being learned. Reading and doing the exercises in the book only do so much. In order to really grasp the language you must interact with others who speak it” (O. Anastasi, personal communication, May 26, 2011). This shows that interaction is also important to not just happen amongst the instructor but also amongst the students. For this interaction to be effective a second language class “should be organized in such a way that learners are given opportunities to interact freely with the teacher and other learners (Scheffler, 2008, p. 290). This demonstrates that this interacting amongst students plays an important role in learning a language.

A second technique used by foreign language professors is connecting what is learned in classroom to students’ personal life or preferences. Professors do this by giving writing assignment to students in which the write in the language about themselves or state their opinion. Another way they do this is by asking students questions during class in which they are then forced to practice their speaking skills and have to state their opinion on a topic or their feelings. I observed some examples of this in the Italian 103 the professor asked the students in Italian what kind traveler they were when discussing traveling. Another example was in Spanish 101 the professor asked a student in Spanish, how are you when you are with your husband, or cat to get a student to use the new vocabulary learned.

Connecting what is learned in the classroom to the students individually has been found to have a positive effect on learning a foreign language. In a study done by Deniz in which students evaluate foreign language teaching, it was found that “students thought that the strategies that encouraged student to share personal experiences and thoughts and ask students to work towards the same goal were important but that their instructors didn’t use them enough in class” (2010, p. 1278). This shows that students believe that making these connections help when learning a foreign language. For the teacher to make these connections of in class learning to the students personally, it’s important that the professor has a positive relationship with the students. According to Deniz, “the teacher should be sensitive towards his/her students’ needs, develop positive relationships with them, and listen to them to show that he/she cares about them” (2010, p. 1279). When a teacher shows that they care about the students this motivates the students to learn the language. This motivation is vital to effective foreign language teaching. Deniz’s research shows “Motivation is one of the most important factors required for effective foreign language teaching” (2010, p. 1269). This motivation is important because “factors such as interest and paying attention, making an effort, willingness to spend the required time, not giving up when challenges appear, strong willpower to reach the goal, being determined, and using strategies to achieve the goal are important factors of motivation” (Deniz, 2010, p.1270).

A final teaching technique that professors use is humor. Humor was used by all professors I observed except for one. To make learning a foreign language as effective as possible “a teacher must desire to make learning fun by exhibiting teaching behaviors that demonstrates that he/she is enthusiastic and eager to teach”(Deniz, 2010, p. 1278). An easy way for teacher to do this is by using humor.

Through my research I have found that the use of humor has a positive effect on students. Nick states that “using her comedic approach wakes us up and keeps us in toned with what she is saying” (personal communication, May 26, 2011) when referring to his Spanish professor. In Deniz’s research students also found it important that their teachers “create a supportive classroom climate that promotes risk-taking, bring in and encourage humor, avoid social comparison, and use short and interesting activities to start the class, to create a pleasant classroom climate” ( 2010, p. 1279). These students also stated that these principles weren’t used enough in the class. So this leads me to believe that students enjoy classes in which professor incorporate a lot of humor.

In the classes I observed each professor would use humor in subtle ways. In the Spanish 101 class the professor would tell a student “I’m sorry that’s Russian, what language are you speaking”, the class would then chuckle and the professor would then correct the student’s pronunciation. Another example was the professor would tell female students that used masculine verbs, “I’m sorry I didn’t know you were a man did you change your sex” to get her point across. Every time the professor said something comical students would laugh and it drew their attention to the lesson.

When humor isn’t used in the classroom it can also have negative effects on the classroom. Lack of humor can lead to “a classroom climate which is serious which can cause stress for students” (Deniz, 2010, p. 1280). This stress can then affect the interactions or communication of the class. The French 102 class that I observed barely used humor. Out of all three classes I observed this one also seemed the least effective. Throughout the class time students demonstrated a lack of interest. Prof of this was the fact that more than 5 students arrived late to class. Another example was some students in the class had their phones out in class and were texting. The last example was that when doing partner activities many students were lost and didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing. If this professor incorporated humor in her class as a way to draw the students’ attention maybe the students would be more receptive and attentive to the language and class.

Overall, the most effective foreign language class is a class that incorporates all of these techniques. A class that uses constant interaction connects what is learned in the classroom to student’s life, and uses humor are found to be the most successful approach in teaching a foreign language.

Interview from research.




Interview final by garciamz

Painting without Paints by Alex Hand

Alex Hand

6/1/11

Throughout the ages artists have been using paints to create master pieces. As commercial illustration developed the need to produce artwork at high speeds became a necessity. While a fine artist may take several years to complete one piece, a concept illustrator may only have a day or two to complete a finished piece. The importance of speed in the field of the illustrator is of the utmost importance. If they are not able to produce a suitable piece in a short period then they will not be able to get a commission. Digital technologies are constantly being developed to aid the illustrators in their work and artists are switching to digital mediums. Many illustrators are putting down their brushes and picking up styluses. Some artists even bypass the brush stage and head straight for the stylus and tablet. Is this really wise to abandon the old or is it more important as an illustrator to have a good knowledge of traditional mediums despite the push for digital media? The following essay examines the two fields of traditional artwork and digital work and takes a look at the opinions of a couple illustrators who work digitally.

Traditional mediums are the materials that an artist uses to create an artwork manually and not on a computer. This can include oil paints, acrylic, charcoal, and all the other materials that have been traditionally used to create artwork. Digital Imaging Software is used as the medium in which digital illustrators work. The programs most commonly associated with illustration are Photoshop, Painter, and Illustrator, each has their own strong points and some illustrators use a combination of these programs instead of just one. These programs emulate traditional media while eliminating the mess and space that traditional mediums would require. The tools within the programs are named after the traditional tools used when working in a traditional manner. Although these programs can be considered a medium themselves there are also different mediums or tools that exist within them. For instance Photoshop may be the medium through which you are creating a work but the tool you are primarily using is a paintbrush. It is because the digital programs are so versatile they are more of a workspace than a particular medium. To say that someone created an image using Photoshop would be too vague to actually give a clear understanding of the process involved in creating the image.

One reason many artists prefer to work digitally is the non-existent cleanup and easy storage of file that take up no physical space. This is a huge benefit that allows artists to create vast bodies of work without worrying about finding a place to store them within their studio. This easy archiving has its disadvantages though. As digital programs become more advanced and newer versions are released they sometimes lose compatibility with files from older versions. Similar to the transition from VHS to DVD, illustration programs move to new platforms as well. This is due to a difference in coding and often happens over the span of several versions of a programs development. The Digital Art Conservation project is a collaboration between several art institutions in Europe to help preserve pieces of digital artwork for public viewing. The work that these institutions are faced with can be described as this, “The most used formats are more robust over time. Versions of the same software may not be compatible, and therefore all or part of the code does not work as well as when the work was created. That requires additional time to reprogram or to use a software to emulate.”(Laforet). This means that the work of digital artists is fragile and that it can quickly become outdated. Though they may not be deteriorating physically these pieces are threatened by the rapid development of the programs used to create and display these works. Although this applies primarily to pieces that are meant to be displayed, it does apply to the work of illustrators and their ability to go back and use old pieces as reference.

Another reason many illustrators are working digitally today is their ability to work quickly and easily edit and image. With the emergence of programs like Photoshop artists are able to rework or edit an image that they are more than halfway finished creating in a very short period of time. Jonathan Kirtz a concept artist who studied under C.F.Payne and worked on concept artwork for Warhammer Online explains his experience with digital media, “Concept art requires efficiency, and traditional media is too slow. Often an artist would be required to make changes, sometimes drastic ones, halfway through a piece and digital lends itself well to that.”(Kirtz) An example of this would be, if the colors are off in an illustration all the artist has to do is slide a few meters and the hue changes. With traditional media this process could take hours of painstaking work and might even require the artist to redo their work.

A Video of me creating a digital painting in Photoshop.

An artist who was trained and worked traditionally but recently switched to working digitally, Richard Collingridge, describes a moment of frustration that caused him to make the transition. “The final straw came when working on the cover for ‘Trash’ by Andy Mulligan. I had produced a very red sky as a backdrop to the main image and it was decided that the sky needed to have blues as well as reds in it. I tried to do this using my traditional technique by selecting certain areas of the sky and changing their hue to blue. This didn’t work so I ended up having to paint the blue parts of the sky digitally.” (Collingridge). Before this point Collingridge made it clear that he did not want to work digitally and tried to strictly using traditional mediums. Although he wants to work in a traditional manner he is unable to in his line of work as an illustrator. John Kirtz also expresses a similar desire to work traditionally but feels that it is impractical when Photoshop allows him to quickly produce work within the deadline. “I actually really love the feel of brush on canvas and really miss that with my Cintiq. To help circumvent

this I try to use brushes in Photoshop sometimes that emulate the bristles of a paintbrush. “(Kirtz) The Cintiq which Kirtz described is a tablet that also acts as a computer monitor allowing the artist to draw directly onto the image instead of a pad. Although the Cintiq is a high tech piece of hardware that allows the artist to work more naturally, it still does not offer some of the subtleties of working traditionally.

Perhaps it is the nuances or subtleties of feeling a pencil or brush on a canvas that originally drew artists to their craft. That they are perhaps only working digitally for the sake of their employers and want to someday return to working primarily with traditional methods. Although Digital Media is definitely an effective means of producing amazing pieces of art in a short period of time, there is a connection between an artist and the tangible that still exists. In my interview with Jonathan Kirtz he expressed his thoughts on the abandonment of traditional mediums,” A lot of kids get into art these days and never even pick up a paintbrush. There's something really satisfying about having a real tangible, physical piece of art in your hand.”(Kirtz). He believes that everyone should have the same experience working traditionally before moving to digital. And so as artists leave there brushes behind to create their own digital masterpieces they still may feel the grasp of nostalgia calling them back to the traditional.

Artwork of Jonathan Kirtz

Works Cited

Collingridge, Richard. "From Traditional to Digital Illustration." The View from Here Literary Magazine. Web. 23 May 2011.

Laforet, Anne. "Digital Art Preservation." Digital Art International: the International Portal & Community Dedicated to Digital Art. 05 May 2011.

Journalism and/or Blogging by Nicholas White

Doing an Ethnographic Field Study of Brandon Huff -- watching and learning how the life of journalism works -- is an extremely daunting task to complete. I learned, while observing Huff, writing can be a physically relaxed job but it includes internal pressures of job security, resource acquisition and financial security. The interests in reading stories have changed from getting the full, truth to only receiving a general concept of the breaking news, thus changing the discourse.

As Brandon Huff, Managing Editor of BlockShopper LLC, currently assigned to the San Fransisco Chronical and the COnnecticut Post, said, "Journalism is a different type of writing -- to be honest. [Nowadays] it's an extremely fast pace style of writing because of the internet, with stories typically being published within the hour of first-hand report, as far as breaking news goes."

"The feature story, to me, seems like it's dying. This is because news is being produced so fast that fewer and fewer journalists are spending the time needed to produce a strong feature."

Staying Aware of your surroundings is one of the most important concepts, in my opinion. This can take many different forms: culturally, economically, politically, and so on. But one thing is certain, that news is tied into all of these current events. With this being true, journalists are one of the first to get the information, disseminating it through mass media. Some people follow news everyday on television, in magazines, newspapers or even through online resources. Some people says news is false, misleading and sometimes even comical, as Local ABC channel 9 News Shows:


"Today's journalism is more about 'getting the scoop' than getting the story correct," said Matt Pelc, managing Editor at BlockShopper LLC. "In year's past the medua would have to double and triple check sources, but now they just go with a story when it is a rumor because they may get the story right and then they can say that 'You heard it here first on CNN' or whatever the organization it is. However, 9 percent of the time when the story is inaccurate, no one will remember who first reported the inaccurate story."

Professionalism is the biggest debate between journalist and bloggers because there is a code of ethics and knowledge that one obtains with professional writing. Technicallt, the definition of "professional" is someone who can live off of thier work, which man bloggers do not do -- in my opinion. Journalists live to write and will never opinionate a story because of thier duty to keep the public quickly informed, accurately.There may be regional biases within the news stations and papers but the stories themselves are always pure information. Problems between the two media platforms are based on the mediums used to express the information, as Matt pelc commented, "...Also, there is truly a lack of journalism these days. Newspapers are dying, so they are becominf more web-based and the internet rarely has the same level of journalistic integrity that other sources have. Cable news used to have news stories, but now its just political leaders dishing out talking points untested by the host with thier same ideology or the two people from the opposite sides of the aisle yelling at each other."

Other people read newspapers and daily columns for updates about thier surroundings in the world. I would argue that using online media and "surfing" the World Wide WEb for validity in my research because the knowledge within that tool is so extensive, I can find anything I want to by just about any writer. The World Wide WEb is connected and networked so well that it can be considered a single unconscious form of expressive information. Proper representation is needed for public legitimacy in this discourse, and therefore not all references are utilized from the web. Matt commented on journalistic resources:

"Well I think that in the past people felt more comfortable doinf research with Encyclopedias and libraries with thousands of books for reference. Today's journalists are under pressure tog et the story done quickly and for less money (making them take on many different jobs at the same time which causes them to rush through an assignment), so they simply go to the internet for research and some of its inaccurate or cannot be authenticated."

Journalists write, record, photograph, blog, tweet, and talk about current events as they happen. Using so many different platforms, it's not just the newspaper and magazines that people expect:

News is captured and created by journalists who use diagnostic rules, treatment and inference in the current event to provide a “snapshot” of that event (Lowrey and MacKay, 2006). A great deal goes into making a story happen because information must be gathered, references need to be included, and the information must be relayed to an audience. Typically the bigger the audience, the bigger the cash flow to that source. With internet resources creating a financial battle for newspapers and journalists, the majority has elected to co-opt the technique of using the internet and its resources for their line of work.

“According to this framework, occupations exist within a network of other occupations and institutions, occupations seek to encroach into the jurisdictional areas of other occupations, and these interconnections influence decisions and work processes, as occupational members try to adjust to external challenges” (Lowry and MacKay, 2006).
Incorporating technology into the mainstream media flow has already been implemented by multiple countries, which do have the capabilities to update their news: Australia, United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries have their own blogs to help relay the mass amounts of information they encounter daily:
http://www.news.com.au/blogs?useAbsoluteURL=true

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog
As my experience goes, I have learned that there is so much more behind the journalism portion of blogging than refreshing the actual blog itself. The amount of time it takes me to produce a story, I could already searched the web from many other stories that relate to the topic so I can formulate an inference on my own. Creating my own blog, I have been using mass media and online references like the Whitehouse blog (http://www.whitehouse.gov) and news reporting websites like drudgereport.com and associated press.com to obtain news. Then I write about the reoccurring themes in between the resources for situational validity. This fast paced style of news is beginning to overrun the traditional form of writing and literacy because instead of using Encyclopedia’s and Libraries, people now jump onto the World Wide Web and get their information as fast as possible. With this changing literacy, there are dynamic mediums to develop these new news pieces, which are revolutionary within the discourse itself.

Literacy in the popular culture of a group of people is very indicative of their perspectives. In learning how to blog and “attempt” to be a journalist, I have learned that this form of information gathering is very common within our culture. People know a little about a lot and this is the classic emic vs. etic approach within anthropology and analysis itself. My main point, the dynamic discourse of learning, is rapidly changing with technology to be faster paced, and the Net generation is already launching more and more information that people need to deal with.

Literacy Practices Pertaining to the Training Process in Restaurants- By Abby Weisenberger

For my ethnographic essay, I chose to study newly employed servers in the restaurant industry. The focus of this essay is the writing practices and genres used by the servers during the training process in order to become part of this discourse community. The restaurant business is a fast moving pace job that needs to have an organized group of employees in order for the restaurant to be successful and profitable. In order for this to happen, the servers need to know how to effectively communicate with fellow employees and their customers. With this said, the proper requirement’s to become a server need to be met by having an effective training process that teaches the server how to communicate and the other elements that go along with this job. In order to successfully enter into the discourse community of servers at a restaurant, one needs to be properly trained in order to obtain the correct knowledge and understanding of the job. I will look at the different literacy practices involved in the training process that allows one to enter into this discourse community. This is important to accomplish not only to keep the restaurant running smoothly, but because the various literacy practices found in the training process can be applied for any type of discourse community that requires substantial amounts of communication.

After observing, interviewing, and reading scholarly sources on this topic, I have come to the conclusion that the training process waitresses and waiters go through in order to be part of the discourse community is crucial for the restaurant to function appropriately. Within this training process lye numerous types of literacy practices that construct the overall process. Grant Cairncross states in his article that, “The importance of training has been identified as a way to achieve professionalism, improve the levels of service quality, improve consistency and maintain a set standard. Additionally, it helps to increase the experience of staff, ensure they do it the right way, guarantees standards and systems of work, attains timeliness and reliability, increases communication and stimulates staff while helping deliver the economic bottom line”. Through this statement, one can see the overall goal that the training process wants to achieve to make their restaurant and employees the best it can possibly be.

The key part of my primary research was done through observation, in which I went through the process of getting trained with a newly hired employee at O’Charley’s restaurant. Through this observation, I got to explore the different task one was asked to accomplish during the training process in order to become a member in the discourse community of other servers at the restaurant. Some of the task were to pass a written test on the menu and overall customer service, memorize the different abbreviations of the foods, learn how to communicate with the customers and fellow employees properly, and follow along another server for a few days to see how the job is done. The number one task the server has to perform is to pass the test. This is an important practice of literacy that is used in order to enter into this discourse community. Most people only think of taking a written test in school, but a large amount of jobs require a written test to be performed and passed to attain that job. The four page long test was written with multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and short essays that tested on the ingredients of the meals, proper customer service, prices of the different foods, and the various types of glassware used and when. Also, a few changes were added to the general menu for the month of May, which resulted in the servers already in the discourse community to take another test on the updated menu. This type of literacy practice allows for the server to know the material in-depth to the point that will satisfy the customer’s needs and questions. Below is a clip from my interview with a newly employed waitress briefly describing the test that she had to pass.

Menu test by weisenay Another assignment that was emphasized in the training process was the act of language use through abbreviations. When observing the process, I noticed the manager showing the server how to punch the meal title into the computer, which contained short abbreviated words or letters for the different types of meals ordered. Also, I observed a few phrases spoken between the employees that I was unsure of the meaning. Later, I asked the manager the reasoning behind abbreviating the meal titles. Basically, she said the servers are trained to learn short-handed abbreviations of the names of the meals so the cooks and everyone in the restaurant is on the same system and communication level. This allows the cooks to know the exact order by matching the abbreviations with the meal that it correlates with. By using abbreviations, it makes communication between the servers and the cooks easy with little confusion and keeps the restaurant running smoothly and the customers happy. This type of short-handed language used with the computer system by the servers is the primarily written language used between the employees within this discourse community. With out this language, communication between the employees would be immensely affected. An article about the importance of waiting staff in restaurant service gives some feedback on how vital it is to be properly trained on communicating with other employees through the known language they use. The article discusses an interview with some of a staff at a restaurant and states that, “The chefs who contributed to the interviews pointed out several problems they found with waiting staff, and they often blamed inexperience or inadequate training. They raised the issue of poor handwriting on the order that had been taken from the customer and putting this order in the wrong positions so that it was not given the appropriate attention (Pratten)". If the restaurants required abbreviations and language is not properly taught or learned by the trainer and server, communication within the discourse community can be negatively effected. A picture is attached below, which shows some of the abbreviations that are used.

While observing the overall behavior of the restaurant employees, I recognized that the spoken language is a major literacy practice within this discourse community as well. I observed a few phrases spoken between the employees that I was unsure of the meaning. An example is, “You are cut”, which simply means the server is done taking customers for their shift and has to complete “side work” before one can leave. Other types of language or restaurant lingo was briefly discussed in the training process that involved knowing the table numbers and sections, which made it easy for the server to know which tables they were taking care of. This type of language or lingo is merely within this discourse community and is something focused on in the training process as well as acquired with time and experience. If this language wasn’t prominent in this discourse community, the restaurant would be chaos and no direction or organization would be maintained to keep the customers happy.

During the training process, the server was introduced to more than one menu. In my interview with a recently hired waitress, I analyzed her responses to a few questions about the menus and saw the importance of audience. Three different menus ware used, which included a children’s menu, a general menu for ages eleven and above, and an alcoholic menu. The menus represented the audience it was geared towards by the written work on the menu and the overall portrayal. The children’s menu included cross word puzzles, pictures to color, and a short simple description of the kids meals, while the general menu included longer descriptions of the meals, with pictures of only the various foods. Similar to the general menu, the alcoholic menu included only alcoholic beverages and was given to customers of age. With this said, the different menus could represent different types of genres within the discourse community, in which the language and presentation of the menu are geared towards a certain audience. Another audience-based gesture that I observed within this discourse community was the language spoken to the customers. Previously discussed, there is a well-known language between the employees that is taught in training, but there is also a language spoken to the customers that is different. The language spoken to the customers is more formal and professional based, which involves the server speaking the full name of the meals instead of abbreviations and a requirement to make the customer feel welcomed and comfortable. This shows the different languages and communications within this discourse community depending on the audience one is speaking with. Below is a clip of the waitress describing the different menus.

Audiences by weisenay

Through my ethnographic research, I have become well aware of the different literacy practices emphasized in the training process to become a member of the discourse community of servers. If the literacy practices involved in the discourse community are properly taught and learned during the training process, the overall discourse community is able to perform with better communication through the use of various language activities. The primary literacy practices that enable one to become part of this discourse community are efficient language use to promote productive communication and passing a written test that shows knowledge of the task within the community. From the study done on this discourse community, it is clear to see one needs to be properly trained to complete and understand the correct literacy practices that are within this discourse community that make it successful.

Work Cited

Cairncross, Grant, Simon Wilde, and Lucinda Hutchinson. "Training and Service Quality—A Case Study Analysis of Regional Australian Restaurants." Tourism & Hospitality: Planning & Development 5.2 (2008): 149-163. Hospitality & Tourism Complete. EBSCO. Web. 31 May 2011.

Pratten, J. "The importance of waiting staff in restaurant service." British Food Journal 105.10/11 (2003): 826.

Medical Issues and ROTC

Air Force ROTC is one of the most respected programs in the country. ROTC allows college students to be involved in the military and still attend college. There are ROTC branches all over the country at various colleges so any student could be involved. Although this sounds like the prime idea to someone who wanted to earn money for college, there is still a rigorous checklist you must pass before you can join. Grades, class rank, and bad marks on your record could keep you from joining the military and becoming an officer. However, the biggest test you must pass is your medical exam, because a large portion of students are disqualified for medical reasons.

I have been involved in this discourse community for two years now and I have been able to see the effects a medical issue can have while you are in ROTC. In the military, you must have a clean bill of health in order to join, and even something as small as asthma can cause disqualification. Before allowing you to continue processing to join, applicants must pass a rigorous medical exam called the Department of Defense Medical Evaluation Review Board (DODMERB). An anonymous doctor will evaluate the applicant’s health in various ways. They will check the blood pressure, temperature, and possibly take urine and blood samples. They will also check the hearing of the applicant. The applicant will also be required to visit a military eye doctor. This would be mostly if you wanted to be a pilot that requires 20/20 vision, but you do not need 20/20 vision to be in the military. After this examination, they will let you know if you have passed or not in a two to three week time period. If the applicant was lucky enough to pass, they can then be on their way to joining whichever military program they choose. Medical examinations in the military have not always been this stringent. For example, in 1964 it was found that “if all the young men turning 18 in 1964 were examined, about 500,000 would be found unqualified [for military service]; [these] rejections [were expected to] rise to 600,000 or more per year for the rest of the decade.” (JAMA) These medical examinations are not without their problems too. Medical advisors can miss something, or the applicant can find out that they could possibly have something that medically disqualifies them that they had no clue they had. This is the case in my story, along with other unfortunate cadets.

These are the cadets of Detachment 665. When you are a cadet, the detachment is where all of the cadets come to attend their ROTC classes and just come to hang out. In ROTC, you are required to do several tasks along with being a student. There are several classes you must attend throughout the quarter, such as Lead Lab, which is an hour and a half of lecture. You must also attend PT each Monday and Wednesday at six thirty in the morning. Along with other events, ROTC is like having a full time job.

Here is a video that shows that ROTC way of life at UC.






This is me, Jackie Crawford, along with the rest of my flight. This was taken only a few weeks before I found out I was going to be medically disqualified. Being a scholarship cadet, I had a four year scholarship, along with a monthly stipend of $350. I earned my scholarship in high school and I passed all of the medical exams I was given (5 to be exact). I thought I would be just fine to serve in the Air Force, and I never thought that I would have to worry about this again. Well, I was wrong to assume such a thing, because unfortunately, it happened. During my sophomore year of college, I was getting constant bladder infections. I went to several doctors who told me just to take pill after pill. Finally, I met with a urologist who told me he would perform a procedure on me to help diagnose my condition. After my procedure, he told me and my family that I had something called Interstitial Cystitis, which caused me to have severe pain in my bladder and then told me this was a lifelong condition. Of course, this needed to be reported to headquarters. This condition then had me disqualified from the ROTC program, along with other factors. My scholarship was taken away and now there is a possibility that it may have to be paid back.

There are cadets who go through this more times than I first thought. There were at least two cadets who were medically disqualified during my first year, even one right before he commissioned and graduated! There was also one of my fellow classmates who just got medically disqualified as well not too long ago. Cadet Price was a sophomore like me who has been in the program for two years as well. He was a very dedicated cadet who wanted to be an officer more than anything. He went to the doctor and was told his hearing was not good enough to continue on with the program.
As you can expect, this was devastating and unexpected. I spoke with Cadet Price about his experience with the medical evaluations and ROTC:

Me: Cadet Price, how have you been coping with the idea that you can no longer be in the ROTC program?

Price: It's strange, because it's been a huge part of my life for the past year. It's also especially difficult because I already went through the drama of not knowing whether I would stay in ROTC when I was competing for an EA. Maybe dealing with the drama of wondering if I got an EA tempered me and made this medical issue easier to deal with, but I wish I had gotten disqualified before I got my EA... less stress that way.


Me: Did you undergo any medical exams before you entered the program?

Price: I've played sports all my life, so I've had a physical every year of my life, but none of them tested hearing. I've been in marching bands and drumlines for the past 10 years which I'm sure has a large part in my hearing loss, but I never knew until I got a hearing test for ROTC.


Me: Why did you need to get a medical exam now?

Price: I got my medical exam because of ROTC. I had to get my hearing retested because I was disqualified the first time, and my retest wasn't good enough to take me off of the disqualification.


Me: Do you feel it is unfair that you were forced to leave the program because of a medical issue?

Price: That's a complicated question... I really wanted to be an officer in the Air Force and I really feel that my hearing loss wouldn't have been an impedance to my job as an officer, but I realize that the economy is tough and the Air Force is already overstaffed. Why take me into the program when they can take someone else who doesn't have any medical issues? Still, It's difficult for me to understand the no-tolerance policy the Air Force seems to have regarding medical waivers. I do have hearing loss, but it's not much. So, I don't think it's fair, but I understand why it happened.

In ROTC, the literacy practices are mostly dense forms. In my experience, I have had to sign numberous forms from when I first started the program to now when I am going through the disenrollment process. The medical requirements are included in these dense forms, and it is very difficult for the average student to sort through. These dense forms are very in depth and you must read them carefully before signing anything. Also, there are many face-to-face encounters when you are going through medical issues. Price and I both met with the cadre, the officers who run the detachment, numerous times. They told us how the disenrollment would be carried out, as well as, what to expect in the end. During this process, I had to experience the change of command when our coloniel left the detachment and another came in to take his place. So I had to carry out this dienrollment with an officer I barely knew. This can be one of the criticisms of the ROTC programs communication mode. They change out personel rapidly and move around officers so much that those whom cadets had grown to know may suddenly leave. This transition made the situation more intense and scary for me. Another example of litery mode is the communication between cadets. Cadet interaction is a major part of the program and life as a cadet. It is a relatively small group of cadets, so when someone get's medical disqualified word spreads fast. During my disenrollment process, I had many of my friends ask me "what happened?" and "what are you going to do?", but in reality, they did not understand the situation because they were not going through it. Many of the cadets stood by me through this hard time, but just like leaving any other group, the communication seemed to cease as time went on. Thus, the communication modes of ROTC are generally limited to only those within the program itself; it is not surprisingly then that so many other students and individuals know little about the ROTC program and its requirements.

Unfortunately for Price and I, there is not much we can do. There are waivers that are handed out to people who apply for them, but the amount of waivers being handed out today is slim. The Air Force is trying to cut down on the amount of officers commissioning each year by becoming stricter on things such as your medical status, but is this unfair to the cadets who have worked so hard to become an officer? I believe that the Air Force is cutting short some cadets who could be great officers, whether they had a “medical condition” or not. Instead of looking at what the medical records say, they should look at the whole person and decide whether they would be better off in or out of the military. Having a serious medical issue could keep you from maintaining proper standards, but minor health issues would not keep a great cadet from becoming a great officer. These are the thoughts the medical advisors must keep in mind before deciding to change a person’s life and dreams forever.


WORKS CITED

NEELY WA. ONE THIRD OF A NATION?. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association. 1964-06-29;188:1142.

Teague N. Medical Waivers for Atopic Conditions Did Not Affect Attrition Among U.S. Military Academy Cadets. Military medicine. 2011-01-01;176:50-52.