Our very own Dr. Greg Wood gave a very insightful presentation at Focus Frostburg today. Wood teaches in the History department and he specializes in industry and labor relations. His presentation was called "Senses and the City: The production of Noise in Urban Industrial America 1890-1920". The main idea of Wood's presentation is that sensory experiences shape the way that people feel in relation to the industrial era (focusing specifically on 1890-1920 Chicago, IL).
He started the presentation with an excerpt from Upton Sinclair's social criticism of industry,The Jungle. The excerpt discussed the terrible noises that were heard in a pig processing plant. "There were high squeals and low squeals, grunts, and wails of agony." said Wood as he read the excerpt. He explained that with the rise of industry in Chicago, came lots of noise. Steel mills and trains would run day and night;"Heavy Metal" Wood called it. "So it was noisy? Big surprise." said Wood. That's when he went on to talk about the impact of this noise. Many apartments and houses were in close quarters to these factories, train yards etc. So at some point the noise was too much, and the need for green spaces arose. This is one of the reasons we have suburbs. He also explained that many workers were affected mentally by the noise. "They hear it all day at work, and then go home and still hear it. Some went crazy" said Wood. Along with the factories, organic noise was a nuisance as well. For example, a rooster crowing in the morning would be most irritable. So, due to all of this during 1890-1920 the road was paved for progressive reform and suburbanization.
Dr. Wood offered a very insightful and informative presentation. At the end he answered any questions audience members had and offered his contact information for any further questions. It was a great contribution to cornucopia of events at Focus Frostburg this year.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
HOME documentary: Focus Frosburg
By Gretchen Settle
People filed in the screening room, stopping by the small table set up at the front of the room for snacks, off-brand Oreo cookies and apple juice available to anyone who would want it. The room itself was quite spacious, but there were sadly, many empty chairs for this Documentary. As the lights went down and the screen lit up, the room became a serious type of silence, and HOME began.
HOME itself is a documentary on the earth, how life came to be, and how humans, as a relatively new part of that life are now affecting the planet. The Documentary begins with beautiful scenery of the earth, focusing on a large volcano. The ashen smokey tendrils swirling from the top of the volcano juxtaposition with the rich brown of the rock and the narrators voice is introduced. Narrated by Glenn Close, her voice, mature and level mimics what many would view as mother earth’s voice. She begins by explaining how life was created 200,000 years ago and how the earth’s geology was formed to support life. “Minerals and metals are even older then the earth” the narrators explains, “they are stardust, they provide the earth’s colors,” as this is said the camera panels over an artist’s pallet of colors decorating the earth, all minerals found in nature.
Then the music begins to change as the movie begins the rise of humans. The voice of the narrator takes a more sarcastic tone. Her voice, calm and level, remains the same but the words the narrator says no longer praise the earth’s beauty, but human involvement with its destruction. The camera panning over villages turning into grey cities, the narrators begins to explain how the “genius” of human kind has begun over farming the land justified only by, “But how can you conquer the world on an empty stomach?”
The beautiful scenery of the beginning of the documentary takes a turn as well. Grey dreary cities now cover the screen. Hauntingly beautiful pictures of Los Angeles and Los Vegas pan over the screen, pretty, but now twisted compared to the scenery of nature previously shown. The narrator explains how humanity has mined the earth of everything and how the, “next 20 years there will be more extracted (minerals) than all of the earth’s history.” Cattle farms that look like, “concentration camps” zoom on screen, and the audience is shown brown and barren pens of cattle, no room to move, and no grass to eat, only grain from the farming.
The documentary ended by explaining the consequences of human nature if it continues down this path of pollution and usage of resources they don’t have. Carbon from all our mining and burning, building up in the atmosphere, enhancing global warming, melting the ice caps and not only flooding the earth and possible bringing multiple species to extinction, but also releasing pockets of gas, hidden under perma- frost.
When this happens, the documentary warned, the green house effect would strengthen, and “we’d literally be in unknown territory”. HOME ended showing what was left of the earth, and warning viewers that they only had ten years to fix this problem. Leaving the film, I felt cheated as a product of this generation, told to fix a problem I had nothing to help create. Childishly I thought to the past. If HOME is any testimony to the earth’s predicament, then even Captain Planet can’t help us now.
People filed in the screening room, stopping by the small table set up at the front of the room for snacks, off-brand Oreo cookies and apple juice available to anyone who would want it. The room itself was quite spacious, but there were sadly, many empty chairs for this Documentary. As the lights went down and the screen lit up, the room became a serious type of silence, and HOME began.
HOME itself is a documentary on the earth, how life came to be, and how humans, as a relatively new part of that life are now affecting the planet. The Documentary begins with beautiful scenery of the earth, focusing on a large volcano. The ashen smokey tendrils swirling from the top of the volcano juxtaposition with the rich brown of the rock and the narrators voice is introduced. Narrated by Glenn Close, her voice, mature and level mimics what many would view as mother earth’s voice. She begins by explaining how life was created 200,000 years ago and how the earth’s geology was formed to support life. “Minerals and metals are even older then the earth” the narrators explains, “they are stardust, they provide the earth’s colors,” as this is said the camera panels over an artist’s pallet of colors decorating the earth, all minerals found in nature.
Then the music begins to change as the movie begins the rise of humans. The voice of the narrator takes a more sarcastic tone. Her voice, calm and level, remains the same but the words the narrator says no longer praise the earth’s beauty, but human involvement with its destruction. The camera panning over villages turning into grey cities, the narrators begins to explain how the “genius” of human kind has begun over farming the land justified only by, “But how can you conquer the world on an empty stomach?”
The beautiful scenery of the beginning of the documentary takes a turn as well. Grey dreary cities now cover the screen. Hauntingly beautiful pictures of Los Angeles and Los Vegas pan over the screen, pretty, but now twisted compared to the scenery of nature previously shown. The narrator explains how humanity has mined the earth of everything and how the, “next 20 years there will be more extracted (minerals) than all of the earth’s history.” Cattle farms that look like, “concentration camps” zoom on screen, and the audience is shown brown and barren pens of cattle, no room to move, and no grass to eat, only grain from the farming.
The documentary ended by explaining the consequences of human nature if it continues down this path of pollution and usage of resources they don’t have. Carbon from all our mining and burning, building up in the atmosphere, enhancing global warming, melting the ice caps and not only flooding the earth and possible bringing multiple species to extinction, but also releasing pockets of gas, hidden under perma- frost.
When this happens, the documentary warned, the green house effect would strengthen, and “we’d literally be in unknown territory”. HOME ended showing what was left of the earth, and warning viewers that they only had ten years to fix this problem. Leaving the film, I felt cheated as a product of this generation, told to fix a problem I had nothing to help create. Childishly I thought to the past. If HOME is any testimony to the earth’s predicament, then even Captain Planet can’t help us now.
Steward of the Earth
I think we can all agree that taking care of our earth is something that we all have a responsibility to do as people who live here. But have you ever thought that there was some type of spiritual responsibility to take care of the earth? Well, if you want to get an opinon, ask Junior Sandra Marsh. Sandra is a art major here at Frostburg State, and despite being what she described as "very nervous", gave a very interesting presentation on how it is our duty to take care of this creation.
But suprisingly enough, this presentation was not just given from the Christian perspective. Views from all different faith-based, as well as non-fath based perspectives were presented. This is what really made her presentation go. The fact that this was just not for those who believed in God, but for everyone, made this special. And it goes to prove the point that no matter who we are, or where we come from, we all have a duty to be "green People" in order to make sure our earth is well taken care of and protected.
But suprisingly enough, this presentation was not just given from the Christian perspective. Views from all different faith-based, as well as non-fath based perspectives were presented. This is what really made her presentation go. The fact that this was just not for those who believed in God, but for everyone, made this special. And it goes to prove the point that no matter who we are, or where we come from, we all have a duty to be "green People" in order to make sure our earth is well taken care of and protected.
Relay for life! By: Jordan Baxter
Relay for life! Students, teachers, and others walk the track to support the fight against cancer. It's an over night fundraiser to raise money for research and programs of the American Cancer Society. The weather was slightly cloudy, chilly, and a little breezy on April 15th at the track by the FSU baseball field. All greek life came out to help support the cause and to help raise money. Kids were running around the track playing and having a good time. What made it twice as good was that there were people offering free sandwiches to anyone running around the track! Even a pick up soccer tournament was being held in the middle of the track. (Pick up meaning anybody can play.) The smell of BBQ filled the air accompanied by a great selection of music to keep the entertainment alive. I sat down and had an interview with FSU’s very own Kelly Lake who was on team Delta Delta. Kelly told me that there are about 30 people on team DD, which was about the same number for the rest of the teams. Even though team DD only plans on staying until ten P.M. they still had a great range of activities planned for relay. One of these plans included a ho-la-hoop competition, which was only 50 cents to enter! The kids laughed and danced around with their ho-la-hoops in hopes of being the winner of the competition. I asked Kelly, what is your job tonight for relay; and she replied, “ I was doing the ho-la-hoop competition, all money goes to relay for life to show our support.” I also asked Kelly what her favorite part of relay was. “I like how it brings the whole school together it makes us all closer."
Kids were lining up left and right to get to Ms. Jerica Bennett’s kissing booth which was right on the track! One question that came to mind was what made you choose the kissing booth? “Well I didn’t (Bennett says), originally it was my friend but he was not making any money so we switched and now are actually starting to see some cash!” Jerica was on team Frost which had about 30 team members. She was also at relay to help support her aunt, who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. To learn more about relay for life you can visit the webpage.
“Water Water Everywhere" By: Jordan Baxter
I attended Dr. Philip Allen’s (FSU Dept. of Geography) presentation on the importance of water and how we might run dry soon if we don’t change our ways. Dr. Allen was humorous and his presentation was very interesting as well! It was very educational, for example he explained the, “misuse of our planet’s natural resources is the biggest threat to our life style.” He also stated that this could effect our children, our grandchildren, and our grandchildren’s children. We must change the way that we use our world.
Why is water important? There are many reasons. Dr. Allen stated, “over 75% of earth surface is water. Water shapes the earth." Water is a crucial element of our food and materials here on planet earth. Yet, the problem with water is only one percent is available to human consumption. Water can be in a liquid, solid, or gaseous state. Water, in its gaseous state is considered a greenhouse gas and is very important to our atmosphere. Oceans contain about 97% of the water on the earth.
I think that the most interesting and humorous portion of the presentation was Dr. Allen’s game show, Who wants a drink? Dr. Allen picked a random volunteer from the audience. The contestant is then handed a glass of dirty, brown, awful looking water. The boy looks down at the glass in shock and asks Dr. Allen, “Is this water?” He replied that it was water indeed. Dr. Allen went on to jokingly say, if you drink this water you can win many of prizes, however I must warn you of the side effects. “If you drink this water you will probably sh*t yourself profusely.” The audience then erupted with laughter. After this he proceeded to explain how young people in Afghanistan had to drink water like this everyday. They know that it will do harm to there body but they have no choice. Dr. Allen said that it would be a long shot if they made it past 20 years of life. Watching Dr. Philip Allen’s presentation really made me appreciate how much water we have in the U.S. and how clean it is. I thank him for that.
Death: Black or Green?
By: Hawa Sadat
Human instinct for survival can sometimes cause us to feel uncomfortable or overlook thinking about our down death. Dr. Jennifer Flin of Frostburg State University takes a braver step in convincing an audience of students and interested adults otherwise. Flin tries to portray to the audience a viewpoint that holds death in a green light rather than a black one; Here, the end of life can bring forth the beginning to many new ones.
Dr. Flin's presentation was held in room 224 Lane University Center. In this big glass room students gather daily for lunch or dinner, thus, many students who were already there for lunch at 3pm stayed for the presentation as well. A majority of the room was filled with interested students, students with assignments pertaining to the presentation, and students who had arrived for extra credit. Flinn began her presentation, "Forever Green: Sustainable Burials" with reasons against why modern burials are expensive, a waste, and can harm the environment, "We cut millions and millions of trees for caskets that will be seen for just a couple of hours and then buried in the ground. So essentially, we are using resources just to put them in a hole." Flinn also pointed out how steel and embalming fluid are used in gracious amounts for caskets and end up staying beneath the earth which is harmful to the environment. Dr. Flinn also expressed concern for those who consider cremation, "Cremation is also an option but it uses a lot of fossil fuels and can even release mercury which is very hazardous".
To create more incentive, Dr. Flinn expresses the many benefits of natural burial. According to Flinn natural funerals with natural grave markers and even biodegradable caskets are range around $200 to $2,000 and are much less expensive than common funerals which can cost from $6,000 to $20,000. Additionally, Flinn informed the audience how a natural buried individual can take many forms that assist the environment, examples were a tree and a coral reef. Videos were shown on families who had chosen the coral reef method and were very pleased with the ecological benefits it gave the environment.
In a personal interview with Dr. Flinn, I asked what kind of method of burial she would personally prefer, "I really like the idea of an artificial reef because I like the idea of contributing to something that will be productive. I imagine my family going on scuba diving trips. Although, I'm not 100% sure just yet.
Human instinct for survival can sometimes cause us to feel uncomfortable or overlook thinking about our down death. Dr. Jennifer Flin of Frostburg State University takes a braver step in convincing an audience of students and interested adults otherwise. Flin tries to portray to the audience a viewpoint that holds death in a green light rather than a black one; Here, the end of life can bring forth the beginning to many new ones.
Dr. Flin's presentation was held in room 224 Lane University Center. In this big glass room students gather daily for lunch or dinner, thus, many students who were already there for lunch at 3pm stayed for the presentation as well. A majority of the room was filled with interested students, students with assignments pertaining to the presentation, and students who had arrived for extra credit. Flinn began her presentation, "Forever Green: Sustainable Burials" with reasons against why modern burials are expensive, a waste, and can harm the environment, "We cut millions and millions of trees for caskets that will be seen for just a couple of hours and then buried in the ground. So essentially, we are using resources just to put them in a hole." Flinn also pointed out how steel and embalming fluid are used in gracious amounts for caskets and end up staying beneath the earth which is harmful to the environment. Dr. Flinn also expressed concern for those who consider cremation, "Cremation is also an option but it uses a lot of fossil fuels and can even release mercury which is very hazardous".
To create more incentive, Dr. Flinn expresses the many benefits of natural burial. According to Flinn natural funerals with natural grave markers and even biodegradable caskets are range around $200 to $2,000 and are much less expensive than common funerals which can cost from $6,000 to $20,000. Additionally, Flinn informed the audience how a natural buried individual can take many forms that assist the environment, examples were a tree and a coral reef. Videos were shown on families who had chosen the coral reef method and were very pleased with the ecological benefits it gave the environment.
In a personal interview with Dr. Flinn, I asked what kind of method of burial she would personally prefer, "I really like the idea of an artificial reef because I like the idea of contributing to something that will be productive. I imagine my family going on scuba diving trips. Although, I'm not 100% sure just yet.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
By: Ashley Burdin
Frostburg State University holds an event on campus entitled “Focus Frostburg.” This event focuses on sustainability and the environment. There are numerous presenters and presentations that go on throughout the day. This year one of the presentations was a documentary film entitled “Home”, which was created by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. This presentation was sponsored by the Sierra Club and LGLG.
Before the presentation began students were chatty and sociable; however, once the presentation started all the students quickly became quiet. “Home” focuses on the beginning of the earth, how the earth was created, and what humans have done to the earth. This documentary is another version of how the world is created. This version does not include any god-like figure, nor does it involve a big bang. It involved the scientific reasoning’s behind how the earth is created. The movie argues that “minerals are the oldest part of the earth because minerals contain stardust, from when the earth was formed.” “Home” also says that the earth started out as a place filled with fire and volcanoes. Over a series of changes in the atmosphere, water came and down poured on the entire world. This created the rivers and water ways we have today. “Home” is a great movie for people who want to learn more about the environment which they live in today.
“Home” also examines what we as a species have done to the environment. The documentary argues that the earth is four billion years old and the human race is only 200 thousand years old. However, the documentary does say that when it comes to the beginning of life, “life is a mystery.” In those 200 thousand years, only the last 100 years has done extreme damage to our home. “In the last 60 years the population has almost doubled.” This is putting a strain on our environment. Our environment cannot maintain the resources we need to survive at the rate we are developing. This also brought up the issue of oil. “In L.A. the amount of cars nearly matches the amount of inhabitants.” The documentary argues that “the end of cheap oil is inevitable, but we refuse to believe it.” One of the main points the movie made was, “we are destroying a circle of life that was given to us.”
There are many other issues discussed in the documentary. The documentary has vivid, beautiful pictures which are stunning. The viewer cannot help but watch the screen. No matter who watches it, they will learn something they did not know.
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