Oil Spill Hurting NOLA's Classic Food

I received a text from my mom Friday night, "You should see it Francesca, it is as if a hurricane has hit. Except instead of everyone stocking up on batteries and nonperishable foods it is everyone stocking up on seafood before we go through a drought." The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has affected my city's prized source of food. The Gulf is a huge supplier for shrimp, crabs, oysters, swordfish, shark, red snapper, menhaden, mackerel, mullet, amberjack, tilefish and grouper. Not only for the Big Easy but for the rest of the country. The thought of going home in a week to having a shortage of my favorite crawfish etoufee, crabmeat cocktail, and shrimp Creole is a terrifying thought. New Orleans is famous for its unique and signature dishes. If we take away these foods the city will be missing a vital part of its charm.
Beyond the damage of New Orleans dinner tables, there is the serious possibility that this oil spill could hurt the fragile estuaries and wetlands that the creatures in the Gulf depend on. After Katrina the ecosystem has been suffering, and this oil spill does not help in its recovery. I wonder if the rest of the country realizes how important the Gulf is to the economy of the nation as a whole. The New York Times reported, "the Gulf of Mexico produced nearly three-fourths of the shrimp harvested in the United States in 2008, some 188.3 million pounds worth $130.6 million wholesale. Not only is Louisiana’s fishing industry a $3 billion sector of the state’s economy". It is important for us to protect these lands. Not only does the Gulf provide a wonderful spice to our foods, it also is a huge source of money for our country.

Facebook during FInals

Tonight marks 8 days until I am finished with all of my finals and papers. Everyone I have talked to is completely buried in work, spending 8 hours of their day in Fondren Library or Bridwell. I decided it was time for a nice study break, and that of course for me means facebook. I got on and saw that I have 215 friends currently online. As you can imagine, most of my friends are from SMU or colleges nearby that are also in finals. I couldn't believe that so many people were on facebook at a time like this, but then again, so was I. Facebook is the biggest distraction hands down for me. Whenever I need to do any sort of research or paper on my laptop I go directly to facebook before opening any documents or browsers. Clicking www.fa...just seems like a habit to my fingers. I don't quite understand why it is I feel so many of us are addicted to facebook. I will admit its easy to get lost in a world of accessing all 1000 of your friends pictures and comments in the click of a button, but that shouldn't be anything of dying importance.

One of my best friends even went so far as to have her roommate change her facebook password for the rest of the week so that she wouldn't have a way to get on and check. At first I laughed at her because it seemed so ridiculous that she couldn't have any self control, but I totally get it now. If I didn't have facebook for this week I would be more productive. It is really interesting how true it is the things that we have learned this semester about our brain and the internet. When I am doing anything on my computer I can't help but want to talk to my friends on facbeook as I do it. I'm not sure if I will go as far as my friend did about giving away the rights to getting on, but I hope my self control gets better as finals week continues.

SMU Reputation

Now that the year is ending and the seniors in high school are making their final decisions on what school to go to, I can't help but be really disappointed in the fact that no one from my high school is coming here next year. My high school is one of the best in New Orleans, and filled with some really smart girls. Over Mardi Gras I approached the senior who I am closest to and told her that she should spread the word that I love SMU and that people should really consider it. Her response absolutely killed me. She told me that no one is going to want to come here because SMU has the reputation of being so "snobby". I already was totally aware of this reputation because it was the only thing on my CON list when deciding between my two top schools. I am aware that there are a lot of people that go here with money, but I don't think the school deserves the stigma that is attached to it.
I personally do my best to tell everyone back home how much I love it here and the great friends I've made. But there really is only so much I can do. I am curious if anyone has any ideas for what can be done to fix this? I have been asking myself this question for awhile and can't think of a solution. I suppose that every school has its own reputation, whether its for money, drugs, party, or too up tight. I can't think of any of my best friends schools without some sort of bad reputation that comes with it. The most important thing that I have learned about how to deal with this is just be proud of where you go to school and do not let it bother you. People are always going to talk, especially if its a good school.

greeks

I have seen a really great side to sorority life now that I am involved. I know that most of the sororities on campus have the reputation of being very involved in partying. This is nothing new. In every movie sororities are portrayed as being slutty drunk girls there only to have a good time. This is not the correct portrayal. Although being social is a definite plus to the greek system there are so many other things we are involved in. Now that I am a initiated member I have quickly been thrown into all of the responsibilities that come with being a member. In order for us to participate in our fun events we must also put in work in philanthropy. Philanthropy is something that the leaders of my sorority feel very passionate about. It is not possible for us to be uninvolved members without getting punished. I wish that the school and fellow students would recognize the positives that the greek system gives to our university.

Our administration clearly has a negative opinion of the greek system. This is obvious when we see how many of our fraternitys are on probation. It seems like the number of fraternitys is dwindling as the years go on.I hope that the fraternitys learn from their probation and I also hope the adminstration can start giving greek systems some credit for all of the good things it is doing. In most schools the greeks are a wonderful asset to the university and I would love to see it like that here

Dorm Life

Now that the year is starting to wrap up, and I have settled my living situation for next year, I can't help but count the hours until I am out of these dorms. I live in Mac which is all freshman and a pretty social dorm. But with that comes the community bathrooms and alot of shared space. I am totally accustomed to waking up for my 9am on fridays and finding vomit in the sinks or stalls. This is not okay. I don't understand how some people can live with no respect for the fact that this is a shared space. All of the residents in my hall have tallyed up a huge bill of damages from people coming home and ruining the walls and ceilings. Its as if it's funny for them to know that someone else is going to take care of it.

But the positive is that I am almost finished with this. I have heard that soon they are requiring that everyone live on campus two years. I am so thankful I dodged that bullet, becuase this community living has been pretty disgusting at times. I hope that in the future the dorms have a better system of making sure people aren't causing damages for everyone to see or pay for. I am sure that before they make this a new rule for two years on campus living SMU will create new dorms. I think suite style is the best way to go because you know whose responsible for the area your sharing. Some of my friends at other big universities don't have to live on campus at all. I am glad I got the chance to experience it but I would never wish to do it another year.

dad's weekend

This weekend was parents weekend for my sorority. My dad came in along with all of my friends dads. My dad mentioned to me that he thought it was really interesting the way relationships with parents and children have changed. This is a good thing though. Now we are much more open with our parents about what we do in college and we want to share that part of our lives with them. I know lately we have been reading about how our parents are so involved in our lives and constantly want to control and help us as we grow up, so this goes hand in hand with what I realized this weekend.
My dad told me that if there was a parents weekend when he was in college, he defiantly never would take his parents out to a party with him, or talk about his social lives with such openness. I feel like today parents and their kids sometimes even feel like more friends than anything. I can see a definite difference in the relationship I have with my parents and the relationship between my parents and my grandparents. My parents are very careful of what they around my grandparents. Their purpose is to please them. But I am not afraid to confront my parents on any issue.
I can see why some people would criticize these relationships because this way of relating to your parents can cause their presence in our lives to become overbearing and for them to be too involved. But personally I think that my closeness with my parents has allowed me to learn a lot from them and I am not afraid to talk to them about things that some kids would hide. I think as time goes on this new family structure will continue.

dangerous texting

Texting and driving is a topic that has been in the limelight recently. I always get really nervous when I’m in a car with my friends and they try to multitask by driving and texting at the same time. It only takes one second for your eyes to be away from the road for you to get in a terrible wreck. There are so many forms of distractions when we drive. Some women apply makeup while driving, change CDs, or get something out the backseat. It seems that all of us have a serious problem focusing on one thing. It is nothing new that multitasking comes with our generation. But texting has taken it to a new level.

I think the reason texting has is making such a fuss is because it is really hard for our generation to see that we have a text and wait to respond. We are so used to constant responses that we get antsy at the thought of waiting to answer. But because of this we are seeing a rise in the number of wrecks caused by our texting. The government is even making an effort to change this.

Obama has recently made a law that no federal workers can text while driving. It also has become illegal in several states altogether. I think that is a really good idea but I feel like this is not something easy for the police to enforce. There is no radar gun to detect cell phone use. Eventually there will be a new device that’s going to distract us; cell phones are just the most recent. I totally agree that texting needs to be managed for our safety but we are going to continue to get distracted no matter what.