Music Day Response

“My Wish” –Rascal Flats
“Bless the Broken Road” –Rascal Flats
“Everything is Fine”- Josh Turner
“Small Town Southern Man”- Alan Jackson
“Eye of the Tiger”- Survivor
“Boondocks”- Little Big Town
"Rise Above It”- Lock, Stock, and Barrel

These songs are important to me because each one of them reminds me of a certain event or person in my life that I feel strongly about. They bring back memories I’m fond of and help me preserve them. I enjoy listening to the radio as I drive from place to place, so I heard most of these songs on the radio.

I think the songs a person chooses can reflect their interests and personality. For example, if a person enjoys quiet, romantic music, that person is most likely quite different from someone that enjoys hard rock. My music choices reflect some of the subcultures I belong to but definitely not all of them. I enjoy a wide variety of music, but I’m not a part of each and every subculture that might be associated with a particular type of music. For instance; I might listen to an occasional rap song, but I am not a part of the “dance club” subculture that some people associate with rap.

People could learn about my basic attributes like I enjoy living in the country, or that I am religious. On the other hand, it is impossible to tell my political and social views and my deeper thoughts and ideas. My mix indicates that I love country music. Many people that listen to country music have grown up in the country or live in the country. I can better relate to people like farmers and ranchers that make their living off the land. It gives me a sense of community with them, and I want to spend time with those kinds of people.

I made some predictions right like whether or not it was a girl’s list, and I could identify some clubs or organizations they were a part of. It was hard to figure out who the person was on deeper, more internal sense. I do not think one can get a good understanding of the person just through their music selection.

Dress-Up Day Response

Deciding what to wear was not very hard for me because I really do not own a lot of clothing that makes me uncomfortable. I got the suit from Savers about a year ago and wore it with some friends as a joke, so I thought it would be fun to wear it once more. I would not wear anything feminine such as make up, jewelry, clothing, ect… I also would not be comfortable wearing clothes from Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch, ect… I was raised in the country and people poked fun at people who wore these kinds of clothes, so that’s where my dislike of these clothes came from.
I was more comfortable approaching people I knew because they would just laugh with me and accept me no matter what. It felt awkward approaching people I did not know because the clothing I was wearing was definitely out of the ordinary, and I was sure how they would react. Nevertheless, I was not too worried about what they thought.
My friends asked me why I was dressing that way. Other than that, they all treated me like nothing was different. I didn’t notice much of a difference with my professors either. I am assuming they just figured it was part of my everyday attire.
As I was walking to and from class, many people gave me funny looks as I walked by, but I got very few comments. A student did ask me if I was going to a golf tournament. One of my friends asked me if I was dressed up for some special occasion. I think most people did not care or were too shy to say anything.
Now that I have gone outside my comfort zone and wore clothing I’m not comfortable with, I feel that my view on the phrase, “clothes make the person,” has changed very little. Generally, what people are wearing is a pretty accurate reflection of their personality. Yet, as we walked around the campus that day, our choice of clothing definitely did not match our personality, but this was a rare occurrence and definitely not the norm. With this being said, I still agree with the statement “clothes make the person.”

An Anthropological Standpoint....

From an anthological viewpoint I made some interesting conclusions. It seems likes students, today, learn better in groups where the material is being presented orally rather than reading from a textbook. I also found that study habits can vary a lot from student to student. These specific study and learning habits could be a result of a changing culture. More focus is put on activities outside the classroom; also, many students feel they learn better outside the classroom. Teachers should be aware of these new trends and habits, and try to plan their lessons, accordingly. It would help the student get more out of the class and make them more prepared to enter the workforce. Students need to become more responsible when it comes to doing their reading and showing up for class. This will improve their own understanding of the material, and they will make the teacher’s job much easier. Overall, I feel this assignment was very beneficial from an ethnographic standpoint.

While going to class at UW Eau Claire I have noticed several different sculptures. The orange sculpture near the Haas Fine Arts Center caught my eye when I first walked past it. I was unable to find any information that clearly stated what it represented, but I believe that sculpture embodies many different things. I think that sculpture embodies the hopes and dreams of the person that stops to observe it. Therefore, the meaning behind the sculpture changes as the person does. I think this sculpture is on campus because it is a visual reminder that people all over the world have similar dreams and goals in life.

What's a Microfiche?

A microfiche is a 4 by 5 inch piece of photographic film that stores printed information in a size too small to be seen without the aid of a special reader. It allows one to store large amounts of material without taking up a lot of space. A microfiche could most likely be found in a library or any other institution that has to store a lot of data.

Got a Newspaper?

As I looked for a national newspaper, I realized that they were not very common on the campus. I noticed that the campus newspaper, The Spectator, was very common, but I managed to find The New York Times in the library. The article, “Before College, the Big Test: Filling Out the Financial Aid Form,” caught my eye. The article states how difficult it is to fill out the financial aid form provided by FASA. The financial aid form has roughly 100 questions that many critics think scares off people who need the aid most. When President Obama was campaigning he promised to eliminate the form; is secretary of education had this to say concerning the form: “You basically have to have a Ph.D. to figure that thing out.” Whether or not it will replaced is unclear at the moment. In the mean time, parents and students will have to keep filling out this long, and often times, ineffective form.

What's a Blugold?

At UW Eau Claire, many people have often wondered “What is a Blugold?” Not very many people know the history behind the term “Blugold.” The first debate over what a Blugold is took place on December 5th, 1945 in an article by The Spectator. In 1965 a mascot committee was created to come up with an appropriate mascot; yet nothing substantial ever came out of it. Today, there is no clear tangible picture of what a Blugold really is. Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich had this to say about what a Blugold really is: "It's a state of being rather than a thing." I believe a Blugold is the spirit of community, honor, and determination all students at UW Eau Claire possess.