Elizabeth Dean

Alas, direct democracy does not work. Our representatives are charged with looking after constituents best interests yet our california brethren do not afford their reps the opportunity. The dichotomy of wanting a world class eduction system and then amending the constitution to disallow municipalities funding said objective is exactly why the 8th largest economy will be looking upon the top 10 from the periphery.

Corollary, why did Prop 19 fail? Much needed tax revenue? Probably.

Elizabeth Dean - Technology Reflection

Walking through the city and observing the people around me, I cannot help but wonder if technology is helping the crazy people around me blend in better. Years ago if you were to walk down the street and see someone talking to themselves, you could not help but wonder if that person was a little off their rocker. Now, with the popularity of bluetooth, the first assumption is that the person is just on the phone. So good for technology helping everyone appear a little more 'normal.'

Martin Bretzin #15

What is religion? In 2006, I had no idea how to define this topic. Originally, when I thought of religious studies, my mind immediately jumped to Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. I thought religion was a term used to describe mass consensus of beliefs held by individuals of a particular organization. Today, I still don't think I understand what religion is. I've completed 4 religious studies courses at CNU, two of which were introductory to the field in general. As a result of completing these course, my understanding of religion is a centered around the idea that it is some sort of a series of personal beliefs an individual develops regarding his or her environment, social standing, interpersonal values, intrapersonal values, potential spiritual understandings/values and the interactions that occur between and within each. This is a bit of a long-winded definition and I'm still not sure it's accurate. If I remember correctly, I was taught that religion is simply a "binding." I'm unsure as to whether is is in reference to the individual and his or her thoughts and perceptions, or if it can be relevant to my own personal definition. Overall, I see little importance in properly defining religion as a construct. But, the fact that I still don't feel confident in defining it disturbs me.

Martin Bretzin #14

How does one decide what path they want to take following traditional institutional training? College is one example of such training and is meant to provide discipline, insight, and potential routes for usually career-based life choices. I came to CNU in hopes that when I am to leave, I will have an advantage in the job market over others. Since attending school, I have discovered, that I have very little confidence in knowing what I actually want to do with my life. More importantly, I have only a few guesses as what I want to start doing following college. These concerns worry me every day and become more and more important as the days go by. I fear that the impending inevitability of my age will occur sooner than I'm ready for to really get what I want out of life. Many nights I stay up late worrying that I'll wake up and I'll be 35, with no passion about my niche and a body that continues to degrade and slow down robbing me of so many joys that I remember having as a child. I realize now that I fear the process of aging, and am almost entirely dissatisfied with the current course of my life choices.

Martin Bretzin #13

The old library in the Sean Connery/Christian Slater movie we watched was pretty confusing. The library was essentially a huge labyrinth of texts handwritten by men of the Church. The symbolic use of the labyrinth showed how when looking for answers the men of the Church were required to disorient themselves. This showed that without the answers they sought, the were essentially lost. This was illustrated by the complexity of the labyrinth and its existence as a library. However, what confused me most was why the library was actually built that way. Was this a common architectural design in that era? Did it serve some other purpose, like hiding sacred documents from enemies? Or was it simply a fictional building used to demonstrate a philosophical connection between gaining knowledge and concepts of orientation?

Martin Bretzin #12

Conflicting Cosmoses:
It's always interesting to observe the interactions two very distinct cultures have with one another. In history, it's suggested that when this occurs, the probability for there to be physical violence is very high. Individuals in their societies see the World in a particular way, with particular rules that are often considered to be sacred. While most tribes probably don't have a word for, or a generalized Western concept on the term "sacred," they would probably understand it to be something like "the important things, people or places that MUST do what what they are supposed to do." With this general and somewhat vague description of global practices, understanding why the prevalence of inter tribal conflict is so high. When one sacred belief of one tribes interacts and conflicts with another tribe's sacred belief, physical violence to ensure the "proper" belief occurs, will likely be a result of the interaction.

Martin Bretzin #11

Local ecosystems perplex me when I study ancient tribes. I understand that many people used their local environments to form their habitats. I don't know whether this practice was done for its convenience, or if a special relationship truly did develop between the individuals and their environments. I look at evidence, showing that some people traveled very far distances with encumbering materials in order to build/maintain their habitats. These practices are obviously not immediately convenient and must serve some specific purpose. However, I cannot say whether this purpose was to develop stronger ties with their particular resources, or whether it was done to serve primarily some utility of the resources themselves. In order to find out more about this, my best bet is to read more about this topic, and to be perfectly honest, this topic is difficult for me to get absorbed in.