Sustainable Living from LV E2

Living In the sustainability housing was something I have looked forward to for many years. When I started here at Franklin Pierce, I had hoped that through the Eco-Club I would be able to start an environmentally friendly housing. As it turned out Mrs. Cutter started the program before me. When I started this semester I did not know what exactly I would have to do in order to maintain an eco friendly household. As it turns out, it is much easier than I thought. The first day as I moved in I had to choose what I need to have plugged in and what I could leave unplugged until I wanted to use it. So I figured the Fridge and my alarm clock were a must. After that, I really did not need anything plugged in 24-7 to operate as I had in the past.
Over the months I have used my Television and my BluRay player but not as much as I had in the past. It seems that I watched movies or TV simply because it was there. But once I had to get up and plug the thing in, I lost interest. As a result I have found that I have a lot of time on my hands and there is a lot one can do with all that free time.
I decided from the beginning that I would not dive into the living style to hard. I figured I would get sick and tired of going without. About half way through October I noticed that the Microwave was on and that neither I, nor Sergio ever used it. Here was an item that we never thought about yet it was costing us $0.24 a day in energy cost. Once I was aware of the fact that we had left it on for over a month and never really used it, I got upset. Not so much about wasting energy, rather that it had and probably never been thought about. Here I was trying to reduce what I used and this item was left because the clock on the screen was convenient, and that it was deeply ingrained in me to leave it there. I let product placement rule my life in the most annoying way.
So I decided that I had to look around my apartment and find anything else that might be unnecessary. First, I saw that my lights were on and I had left the blinds closed from the night before. Lights off and blinds open. Sergio removed half of the light bulbs from the hallway because why are there five light bulbs in a hallway, only 30 feet long. Are we really that scared of shadows that we need to remove any from our sight? Later that month I noticed it was really hot in our apartment and the heat was still not on, so it dawned on me. After one of us took a shower we would leave the door open and the hot air would filter into the rest of the apartment. Now instead of using the heat I simply left the door open after I showered, so that the apartment would stay warm during the day. And when I went to bed I opened the bathroom door, so the cooler air in the bathroom can pull the heat out of the apartment making its own heating/cooling system.

These are some of the things I have learned while living in the sustainability housing this semester.  Have a good day and try to remember that unplug anything you are not using.

Joseph Metzler
LV E2 Sustainability Blogger

Gender inequality is not a thing of the past

For anyone who went the viewing of, “Miss Representation,” in Pierce Hall on November 7, thank you for attending and taking advantage of the opportunity. I prefer to use the word, “opportunity,” because Franklin Pierce is the only college so far in the state of New Hampshire that has held a public viewing of the film. “Miss Representation,” a documentary that was shown during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, aims to educate its audience on the media’s representation of gender.  For those who attended, I hope you were able to take away something with you after the viewing that could influence or change the way you see gender portrayed on the big and sliver screen, as well as in your own prospective field or discipline.

Though the members of the Women in Leadership program were unable to lead a group discussion with the attendees due to time restraints, I briefly discussed the movie among a few viewers and others in the Women in Leadership program. We discussed how pleased we were that the film discussed these issues with examples from all media outlets, interviews with media industry leaders, as well as some details on how males are also victims of media misrepresentation. However, as we discussed the film’s potential for educating more people about gender issues in the media, we were reminded about one misconception that has yet to be brought into focus: the idea that gender inequality is a thing of the past.

Before enrolling in my first gender studies class, I knew that gender inequality existed, but I did not understand the magnitude of the situation. It wasn’t until I dug deeper for information that I realized how we see and even act is based upon gender roles we perceive as, “normal.” However, this, “normal,” role that we conform to is anything but that; the pressure we face from society and culture to align ourselves with these, “appropriate,” roles is the root of inequality and discrimination in our world.  Even some of the most troubling facts, such as the fact that women make up 51% of the country, but only make up 17% of Congress, are not examined critically enough to recognize there is something very odd and puzzling about what is happening around us.

So how do we fix these issues? What obligations do you have to the public and the community in terms of gender representation? The answer is simple: education. This does not mean you need to rush to sign yourself up for the next open seat in a gender studies class, but rather that you should take the initiative to investigate the issues, form your own opinions, and seek out appropriate solutions and ways to get the word out about them. From signing a petition, to updating the outdated FBI definition of rape, to staying on top of current issues in your discipline regarding gender and discussing them in class, any small individual effort can influence others in the community and society to start thinking about them as well. However, above all else, ask questions about everything and anything because that is change is initiated.

 Val Armstrong
Pierce Arrow Blogger 

“MISSRepresentation”

On Monday, the seventh of November, about a hundred people enjoyed MISSRepresentation playing on campus. The film examines the portrayal of women and girls in the media as objectified or ignored. Females are often seen as having value only if their appearance is acceptable, not their intelligence, personality, or other gift of the mind. Annoyed yet? Here are a few humorous, yet poignant, videos to check out, especially if you saw and loved the film!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF6sAAMb4s

This link will bring you to Feminist Frequency’s analysis of popular films using the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test is a test that measures the presence of women’s voices in the media. It is a simple pass/fail system with three criteria:

1) Are there two or more women who have names?

2) Do they talk to each other?

3) Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

As the speaker notes, many popular movies fail this test—ones you may not have expected! Films that fail include:

The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, Shrek, Watchmen, Transformers, Ghostbusters, The Big Lebowski, WALL-E, Pirates of the Caribbean, Austin Powers, Men in Black, Fight Club, The Fifth Element, The Princess Bride… the list goes on.

Think about this when you see movies. Do they pass or fail? Do you feel a lack of female presence? Why do you think this is?

The second video is an ad for Bitch magazine (which sounds disparaging, but go with it; it’s actually a reclaiming of the word):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cDLdqhs_yk

This ad comments on the vapid content of your average magazine, where the most stimulating content tells women, not so discretely, that they need twenty kinds of beauty products, among other things. But one element I especially love about this ad is that it includes men—yes, men in feminism! Feminism champions equality of the sexes, for those of you who may have been unsure. The same system that makes assumptions about women and expects them to focus or behave in certain ways has a similar effect on males in our society. They are typically socialized to not show emotion, and to channel violence instead. This can handicap many men in their ability to express themselves without feeling ashamed.

An important thing to remember is that inequality of the sexes affects everyone. A good way to encourage men to join the effort for equality is to educate them about how patriarchy affects their lives negatively too.

And for those of you who missed the screening of MISSRepresentation, it’s a must see!

Happy watching,

Ray M Carmody
Women In Leadership Guest Blogger 

“Rape is Rape” campaign finds strength in numbers

After attending Take Back the Night two weeks ago, I was extremely pleased by the fact that so many students, faculty and staff decided to attend the event and take a stand against the violence against women. However, on top of this excitement, I was also felt a bit discouraged. I felt that despite the efforts of many, like those who attended that night, there are still people who refuse to recognize that women (and some men) are afraid of walking around at night. How could we ever get them to listen if they are choosing not to?

After the event, I had gone to work and decided to quickly check through my Twitter feed. As I casually scrolled through, updating myself on the events of the last few hours, one post from feministmajority.com immediately caught me by surprise.

“fempolitics: The FBI’s UCR subcommittee voted unanimously yesterday to update its 82-year-old definition of rape!”

I had first become familiar with the “Rape is Rape” campaign over this summer when I finally began to use the Twitter account I signed up for two years ago. I had just begun to follow Ms. Magazine and feministmajority.com in order to keep up with current news on gender issues and to hopefully spark some creative ideas for future blog posts. Over a two week period, both accounts were posting information about the outdated definition of rape used by the FBI in their Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and that the current definition was leaving so many cases of rape out of its report. They also provided a link to the petition that demanded that the FBI see that “Rape is Rape” and change their currently “flawed” definition.

After some quick fact-checking research, I discovered that the definition the FBI was using, which had not been updated since 1929, included only “forcible rape” of a female against her will. According to the petition (http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-fbi-rape-is-rape) this definition “excludes rapes involving forced anal sex and/or oral sex, vaginal or anal fisting, rape with an object (even if serious injuries result), rapes of men and transgender people and other injurious and degrading sexual assaults. Also, because the definition includes the word “forcibly,” police departments often interpret the rule (against UCR guidelines) as leaving out rapes of women with physical or mental disabilities and those who were unconscious or under the influence of drugs and alcohol.” In addition, estimates show that the 2007 UCR numbers on the amount of “forcible rapes” could actually be 24 times higher than 91,874 the UCR had recorded.

However, this outdated definition began to receive wide attention through the petition created and promoted by Ms. Magazine. The petition, addressed to the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, and U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, has received 134,875 so far, which is 89% of their goal of 150,000 signatures. In addition, it only took the petition eight days to go from 2,500 signatures to 100,000. With numbers like that, how is there any doubt that change is needed and should be on the way? Well, the good news is that the wheels are beginning to turn, and the change shortly around the corner.

On October 19, reports began to come out that the UCR sub-advisory committee had met in a closed-door meeting to discuss revisiting the definition of rape and had voted unanimously to propose the change to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division’s Advisory Policy Board (APB). If approved by the APB on December 6-7, the definition would change to include “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

Reading up on this news, I was ecstatic to know that this had all happened as the Women in Leadership committee and I were preparing for our night to speak out against issues such as this. It reminded me that though there is much to be said for strength in numbers, what truly matters is the individuals who are unafraid of taking a stand against what is wrong and spreading the word on the issues. From signing this petition to participating in the events and learning about these issues, the individual steps that are taken set the example for the crowd to listen, learn and follow.

I have made my own personal step by signing the petition, will you?
SIGN THE PETITION & TELL THE FBI “RAPE IS RAPE”

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-fbi-rape-is-rape

Sources:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/advisory-policy-board

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/19/update-major-victory-in-rape-is-rape-campaign/

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-fbi-rape-is-rape

Val Armstrong
Women in Leadership Intern

Bruins

So it has been a while since I last wrote but honestly, there is not much to write about. The Bruins absolutely stunk it up in the first month of the season. They went 3-7 in October. So how does that compare to last season? The Bruins went 6-2 last October. If there’s one thing that has not changed for the Bruins, it would be their powerplay. So far, Boston has had 46 powerplay opportunities and has scored on a whopping six of those. Six out of 46? Yikes! That’s only 13 percent. You would think a Stanley Cup Champions would have a better powerplay but then again we survived last season without a powerplay and that seemed to work out pretty good.

I know the season is just 11 games in but before you know it that 11 games will be 20 and that 20 will become 50 and then the season will be over before you know. I would like to see this powerplay get going before we reach that 20th game. Last season had a great ending but getting there was stressful and you would never know what team was going to show up to play. Would it be the team that would play 60 minutes, play hard and win? Or would it be the team that would play maybe 30 minutes, barely battle and then lose? It would nice to see a team this season that has a solid powerplay and a team that battles hard everyday even if they lose which obviously they will. No team is going to win all the time.

Something I need to address is Joe Corvo. I kind of hated on him in my previous posts and that was mainly because I wanted to see Kampfer get a shot but I was wrong about Corvo. I seem to be wrong a lot. But anyways, I really like what Corvo brings to the game. He really can move the puck well and I like his tendency to get shots to the net from the blueline. They may not be rocket shots but he knows when I shot on net will work by getting a rebound or a tip from someone in front. I think Kampfer is a great player but right now I am glad that Corvo is in there. The one thing that irks me about Corvo is that he seems to not want to get involved in tussles. I have faith that if something was actually going down he would get involved but he seems to back away from the little pushing and shoving around the net.

But that leads me to something else. I like the spark that I see in this team. Putting the Carolina game aside, honestly I believe that was embarrassing on so many levels. The Bruins stooped rather low, the fans made me angry by throwing stuff on the ice and the refs made some horrible games. But anyways, besides that game, the Bruins (a lot of them) are not afraid to mix them up. This season we have already seen Gregory Campbell, Zdeno Chara, Chris Kelly, Shawn Thornton and Brad Marchand. Seeing Kelly and Marchand fight shows that more than just the “fighters” on the team are willing to step up. I put fighters in quotes because Campbell is not exactly a fighter but he never backs down and always stands up for himself or his teammates. Chara’s not really a fighter either but he can beatdown anyone. One person that is missing from this list is Milan Lucic. It would be nice to see Lucic start being that tough guy again who can score goals as well.

Recently, I have been asked who my number one player on the team is and it has been hard for me to choose one but I think I have made my choice now. I would say Patrice Bergeron is my pick for the number one player on the Bruins. Too me, the number one player is the player who I would not want to see go down with an injury for a long period of time because it would greatly effect the team. Obviously Tim Thomas would be bad to lose for an extended period of time but he is the goalie so it is just understood that he is truly the number one player. But back to Bergeron. He does everything for this team. He plays on the PP, penalty kill and whatever situation you need him in. Yes, he could score more goals but the goal scorers are just the ones that are the last ones to touch the puck. A whole lot goes on (sometimes) before that happens and I feel like Bergeron makes a lot of that happen for the Bruins. You can disagree with me but Bergeron is my choice for the number one player on this Boston Bruins team as of right now.

It’s no shave November. Maybe the beards will help the Bruins win some games just like the beards helped in June. They could use some help.

Kristin Carbone
Pierce Arrow Blogger

An Eco-Friendly Halloween…from E6

We started our Halloween off with carving pumpkins. While starting the process of gutting them, we thought to ourselves what we could do to promote our sustainable lifestyle. Christa decided to carve the recycling logo onto her pumpkin, which we had displayed for all the trick or treaters on Halloween. We also cooked the pumpkin seeds we had to reduce our waste.

Christa and I were home alone for the weekend and decided to become proactive. We started feeling guilty that we weren’t doing enough. On our snow day, we planned and took action. We began writing index cards of facts and reminders to post around the apartment. These reminders are for us as well as our guests. A lot of the time we forget to unplug something or throw something away which can actually be recycled. Now, with these reminders to guide us, we feel we will be able to make a bigger difference.

We also looked up cleaning alternatives. Many products that we had under the sink are toxic. All of these products are non point sources of pollution. We have no way of telling directly where these pollutants are coming from, but they get into our water systems and can pollute rivers and streams. We wanted to cut down on our own addition to non point pollution so we purchased baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda can be used to clean and deodorize. You can use it in the kitchen to clean microwaves, refrigerators, sinks, counters, pots, pans, cutting boards, and food containers. You can add it to your laundry to help it smell cleaner and fresher. You can also use baking soda in the bathroom to remove dirt from tile, tubs, toilets, showers, sinks, floors and counters. Vinegar and lemon juice can be used to cut grease. These products can eliminate the use of bleach, Clorox wipes, Lysol,  Comet and other harsh products that are toxic to our environments AND are more expensive! A four pound box of baking soda only costs $1.99 at Market Basket and a 32 oz bottle of vinegar only cost 79 cents! We have an old bottle of Fantastik cleaner priced at $3.19, which is more expensive than baking soda and vinegar combined. The bottle also has statements on it such as, “Hazard to humans and domestic animals: Caution”. Which would you rather use to clean your household?

Rachel Moon
Pierce Arrow Blogger

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