Hillary

I think most Christians hold Bill Clinton against Hillary. Within the church, Bill was the most vilified president in decades. I still remember my mother being upset when he won in 1992 and when he repeated in 1996, it was the end of the world, even though the alternative was Bob Dole. The whole Monicagate thing made it worse and Hillary is paying the price, at least in part. To be honest, her personality wouldn't endear her to Christians anyway. I remember my New York relatives being so upset when she ran for the Senate, despite the fact that she'd barely been a resident there at all. I think a lot of people have seen her whole post-First Lady career as being one long march to the presidential race and a lot of the reaction against her now is an effort to stop that march. It's not so much that she's a woman, but that she's Hilary Clinton. It speaks volumes that Christians are willing to vote for a Mormon, or even a Baptist pastor with zero chance of appealing to anyone but evangelicals, than to even entertain the idea of voting for Hilary. I'm not saying I will vote for her, but I don't know enough yet about the candidates yet to completely rule her out, myself.

Cornerstone in GR

I generally get the feeling that Cornerstone is not seen in the best light. I think a lot of people in the area remember the fact that it used to be a primarily Baptist institution and still hold it against anyone from CU. I think people in the community love to accuse Cornerstone of hypocrisy when it backs down from a stance it historically held, such as the dancing ban. They watch intently when something like the debate over the lifestyle statement becomes an issue on campus and hope the school'll have to eat its words again. Remember that whole thing about the Catholic tech worker? That went over like a lead balloon in the community, just reinforcing our image as intolerant "fundies."

I find that opinion even among our brothers and sisters in Christ down the road at Calvin. When I last went to Hekman Library, the clerk asked me, "Oh, you go to Cornerstone?" with the kind of inflection normally reserved for a question like, "Is that a swastika on your forehead?" I'm always more self-conscience when I'm wearing a CU sweatshirt around town than when I'm wearing something else.

Maybe I'm just imagining things, though.

environment/disease

Which is a bigger deal, environmental degradation or disease? I'm going to have to go with the environment, if for no other reason than that the loss of biodiversity resultant from pollution and our reckless behavior with nature could mean the loss of possible cures for the world's diseases. We already get many key medicines from plant sources and that's just the tip of the iceberg. It may sound idealistic to say we can find cures to something like AIDS by keeping rain forests intact, but it's not such a crazy idea. Given the possible medicinal value of nature, we should work to preserve as many species as possible.

Besides, what's the point of curing someone of a disease if they have nowhere to live because their home has become a desert or has become submerged? We Americans and Westerners can rest confidently in the fact that our money and mind-power will allay the bulk of the effects of environmental damage, but the rest of the world won't be so lucky. People are going to die faster for lack of food or water than because of a disease and the more we put off making changes to how we treat the environment, the more we doom them to a brief and miserable life.

cheating/plagiarism

As a grader for one of the history professors, I was sure I'd run into obvious evidence of cheating, but so far I have not. I'm not sure it would make a difference as nearly all of the tests I have graded thus far have been almost uniformly mediocre. If someone is cheating off someone else who is getting a 28% on a test, they've received their reward. That said, I'm sure cheating is pretty prevalent on campus. I guess I don't have a lot of faith in people's integrity.

As for plagiarism, I know that's a problem here. The mere fact that there is a push to use Turn It In indicates that the professors are concerned about it. As a former writing tutor, I know that many people here have trouble putting together a coherent sentence, let alone a paper, so it wouldn't surprise me if people were pulling paragraphs from un-cited sources. One professor has told me how a student copy-pasted a Wikipedia article and handed it in as their paper. As ridiculous as that sounds, it doesn't really surprise me.

As someone who has been an active member of a blogging community for over four years, I run into plagiarism occasionally, other sites pull my content and tout it as their own. More often than not, however, there is proper citation (or what the blogging community considers proper citation). So, I think there is something to be said about having an open publishing community, where observers and content owners can spot issues like that so easily. In an academic circle as small as Cornerstone, that's much harder.

The wider world has mechanisms for catching plagiarism and one that is rising in importance is the internet. It makes it possible to type a phrase, hit enter, and get a list of places that phrase is found. As more and more print content goes online, catching plagiarism from previously non-internet sources will be much easier.

Me and TV

I'm only periodically big on TV. Over the summer, for example, I got hooked on Scrubs because it was, conveniently enough, on when I got home from work. It's obviously an incredibly goofy show, but it has its serious side as well, which is one of the reasons I like it. I now own Seasons 1 and 3, but only because my fiancé gave them to me as gifts.

I used to be big into Lost but I couldn't watch every episode of Season 2 and have since fallen hopelessly behind. Maybe someday I'll catch up. I got roped into watching the last season finale and it got me interested in the show again, though I haven't yet put that interest into action.

I never watched Friends growing up, but my fiancé owns all 10 seasons and we've slowly been working our way around them. I've also had to watch Grey's Anatomy on occasion and if you've seen one episode of that, you've seen them all.

As far as currently running shows, I don't have one that I have to catch. The only "show" I watch a Detroit Red Wings game and that's really all I have time for, since it's a time commitment of up to 9 hours a week. As far as originality within a storyline goes, you can't beat a hockey game.

foreign films

I've seen a number of foreign films. Two that stand out are The Seventh Seal and Lola Rennt. I watched the first in a Doc Carroll class and enjoyed it, for the most part. Its pace was far different from what we're used to seeing in American films and it was deeper, somehow. Of course, Ingmar Bergman is known as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and directors of shoot-em-up action flicks don't generally get those kinds of titles. Swedish is such a strange language, which an entirely different cadence than I'm used to, though I kept having to remind myself it wasn't German.

Lola Rennt is an entirely different movie. Aside from the fact that it's one of my favorites, I remember watching it the first time because it was what I was doing on 9/11. Anyway, it's in German, with the English title being Run, Lola, Run and it stars Franka Potente (Marie in the Bourne series). It's got this thumping soundtrack and a unique storyline I won't spoil here. It was one of the first foreign films I ever saw and is definitely one worth watching.

Another memorable foreign film was Downfall, a German movie about the final days of Hitler. It's very well-done and pretty disturbing at the same time. It's told in part from the perspective of his personal secretary and shows Hitler in his private life, where he is shown to be a quiet, at times protective, yet still evil, man. Somehow, that was more distburbing than if he'd been portrayed as a wild-eyed demon-possessed screamer. Also, the scene where Magda Goebbels poisons her six children is one of the most horrible I've seen.

I've found foreign films to be more thoughtful and slower-paced than our American ones, which is generally a good thing. There are times, though, where you just want to see fast-paced action!

Christians in politics

My thoughts on Christians in politics have changed over the years. I used to believe that Christians should be heavily involved in high-level national politics and that if we had enough of us in high places, we could right the ship of America via legislation. I now believe that it is more important for Christians to be involved on the ground level in changing people's hearts rather than in making efforts to force people to change by law. If we did that, we wouldn't need to be so concerned with national politics. I've recently felt that Christians, if they are honest with themselves, represent a third way in America, something different from both Republicans and Democrats. There are aspects of both parties that should be repugnant to us, but all too often we align ourselves along wordly lines and that's something I'd like to see less of.

Still, I don't have much against Christian politicians, who could do great things if they stayed true to who should have their real loyalty: Christ, not the flag or Uncle Sam. I would like to see someone whose faith is truly genuine and not just a facade for the public put up in an effort to get more votes. Someone who is honest about what they can and cannot do in office, and doesn't campaign on inflammatory issues that play on people's hearts. Is there such a person? I don't know.

A life of reading

I've been wanting to write on the first prompt since the beginning of the semester.

I read all sorts of things. I read novels, historical non-fiction, blogs, the news, and magazines. I mostly read for content, though that does not apply so much to novels. When I look for a history book to read, I scan for topics that interest me, such as English history, World War II, US history, German history, or biographies of historical figures that intrigue me. When picking out a novel, I have a harder time. I'm definitely guilty of judging a book by its cover, unless it has been specifically recommended to me. While the list of history books I've read regularly expands with time, the list of novels expands much more slowly. I find myself reading the same few books, such as The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, the Harry Potter books, and a few others, over and over again. Currently, though, I am reading a book entitled Possession by A.S. Byatt, who I'd never heard of before a friend suggested it to me. I'm glad I picked it up.

As far as blogs go, I read mostly hockey blogs and participate in the running dialogue about the NHL. I'm also interested in technology and subscribe via Google Reader to a number of tech blogs. I have folder titles ranging from "christian" to "music" to "politics" to "travel." Most of those are for content rather than quality of writing, though there are a few which stand out as excellently-written. I never start or end my day without reading at least some of these.

I titled this post "A life of reading," because it describes me. Reading is my favorite activity and when I don't have time for it, I feel stressed, rushed, and out-of-sync. Here at the end of my busiest semester ever, one where I had little time to read what I wanted to read, I understand why it was so tough.

Two Elevens and No Nine

There is no specified prompt 9, so I take that to mean prompt 9 is free interpretation. My relative prompt 9:

As a rule, I don't make New Year's Resolutions. Mostly because, as every comic strip in the paper tells us, we as a society don't seem to be very good at keeping them. And I happen to be a part of society. But I do believe in the power of goals. Goals imply forward thinking, and something I like to call being "situationally active." In almost all the situations we find ourselves, improvements can be made. The realization that has been hitting home for me lately is my personal responsibility in the state of my own life. It's incredibly easy to scapegoat all of the inconveniences in our lives on outside factors, but the truth is we almost always have the ability to change our situation. I was pretty good at that a few months ago, but lately I've not taken the time to step back and review my situation. I haven't taken the time to reconnect with myself. There are a lot of things in my life that I would hesitate to call positive attributes, but when I take a close look at them, they are all direct results of my own actions or lack thereof. So my goal over the next few weeks/semester/year is to take the time to be a part of my own life instead of an innocent bystander.

What's your goal?

TRADITION! TRADITION!

Given the timing of this blog, I am going to go ahead and edit the Thanksgiving prompt to apply to Christmas. With my family, Christmas is an intimate occasion. My family is much closer now than when were we little and as a result we really appreciate when we all get to be in the same room. Generally, it's my parents, three brothers, grandpa (who sleeps on the pull-out sofa in my parents' living room), my nephew, his mom/my brother's girlfriend, Jerika - a Kuyper student from the Dominican Republic, my boyfriend, and usually a straggling roommate or two. (Maybe intimate isn't the best word, loud and crazy might be more fitting...) In other words, it's really a special occasion to have everyone we count as family to sit around the tree and listen to my dad read the Christmas story, or to all sit and watch the same movie (although one or more of my brothers will probably also be playing W.O.W.). Basically, the holidays allow for a kind of togetherness for which our many differing lives and schedules don't allow. So whether presents are opened Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, or in what order we give gifts, or what's on the table for breakfast, which all change every year to fit our ever-changing schedules, we just appreciate having all of our cars in the same driveway.

It's amazing what growing up and becoming more and more independent does. I've never loved or appreciated my family more than I do now.

Life in the Now

I think exam week may be the best time to answer this prompt, because enjoying life right now is a bit of a challenge. I know in general I have a tendency to look ahead to the future more than appreciating my current situation. It's been my mantra over the past few months to "pay attention," so now seems like a very good time to stop and appreciate the anomalies that make my life one I enjoy living. A good intro to this? One of my favorite poems:

The Orange

By Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange

The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—

They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange it made me so happy,

As ordinary things often do

Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park

This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.

I did all my jobs on my list

And enjoyed them and had some time over.

I love you. I’m glad I exist.

I am a fulltime student and work fulltime, so for me to appreciate the small things in life is crucial. Here's a list:

1. Last night my dad and I stood at his piano and sang harmony for hours. I love to sing, but never have the chance anymore. (we were both avoiding our homework). I appreciate my parents so much.
2. My boyfriend and I, like any healthy couple, have fights. But we always resolve them in love and respect for each other. I guess that's why we're still together.
3. "I Wish I Had a River I Could Skate Away On" sung by Sarah McLaughlin, originally by Joni Mitchell
4. Some of my best friends, whom I miss dearly, are coming home next week for Christmas. 5. 5. Reimbursement checks!

The difference between not cheating and academic integrity

As others have already stated, cheating is not all that prevalent at CU, a fact I take pride in as a student here. However, I would like to observe the differences between not cheating and academic integrity itself.

Academic integrity definitely includes not cheating, but it encompasses for more than just that. One of the greatest realms that I believe students everywhere neglect is the aspect of accountability. Many bring up and some even enforce (like Doc Carroll) the aspect of holding one another accountable, for instance, students chatting online or using facebook during class. If one student observes another doing such things, but does nothing, they are not exemplifying integrity. Academically, the student that notices such a thing does no wrong by ignoring it, but in terms of academic integrity, the student is failing to bring to light an instance where another student is both ignoring a specified rule by almost all professors and being utterly disrespectful to that professor and the surrounding students. Both students fall short of academic integrity, the one that was on facebook and the one that noticed. They are both accountable.

My Reflections on this Semester

I only took two classes: Expository Writing and Feature Writing. The biggest thing I learned is that I am NOT a newspaper writer. I absolutely hated my feature writing class, and usually cried all the way home after it. Haha. I was taken aback by my professor's harshness and the horrible grades he gave me. I'm sure I deserved them, though, because I had never done newspaper writing before and was especially horrible at interviewing. I really really hate talking to people I don't know, and this class required a lot of that. So I learned that I'm not a newspaper writer and that I'm a bad interviewer, but I've also learned how to handle rejection and some of the basics of newspaper writing.

In this class, I learned a few things about commas, I learned about fragmentary form, and I learned about the importance of strong verbs. I've always assumed that the best way to describe something is with adjectives, but this class really taught me that strong verbs are often more effective.

Both of my classes were very small this semester and I really enjoyed that. It's especially nice for writing classes, because I tend to be timid about reading my work in front of others. And I liked getting to know everyone so well. I'll miss you guys! :-)

I like to tell people that I had a love/hate relationship with school this semester. I loved one class and hated the other. I also have a love/hate relationship about this semester ending. It'll be nice to have a break, but I'm still not sure if I can afford to come back next semester, so I'm a little sad to be saying good-bye to school again.

Ok, another long one. So sorry! Thanks for a great semester, Professor VanDyke. :-) Have a splendid Christmas!

Pumpkin Eater

The issue of using one's own information has been on my mind a lot lately. I recently had to rewrite a 10-page paper because I didn't explicitly cite all of my sources. At first I saw this as the injustice of the universe, but as I thought further about the schpeals I've heard about cheating over the years and conversely how I can concretely practice integrity in my own life, it became important to me to rewrite the paper for my own sake. Yes, words are universal, and we all use the same words, so we can't "own" them, but the ideas the words present are valuable. I know I count my ideas valuable, more than a large number of my possessions. Readily available information on the internet and Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V make "using" other people's ideas incredibly easy. The biggest issue with the whole plagiarism bit for me is the fact that meticulous citation, in-text bibliographical is held to such a strict standard.
We are nominally a Christian university, but in my experience there is a lot more "borrowing" of information than should take place in such an institution. We live in the age of information. The majority of my thoughts, ideas, and conclusions are comprised of the host of information I have encountered during my lifetime. I use the same phrases as my friends, I share (some) ideology with my parents, I sometimes quote movies, music lyrics, and TV shows. Almost nothing in our thought processes are completely our own. I think quoting word for word is a cop-out on your own education, but I think it's impossible to be able to cite every source I've used in writing a paper, mostly because I don't know what year my grandpa in copyrighted.

Academic Integrity

Although I don't think cheating is extremely prevalent, I have seen instances of cheating at Cornerstone. I think professors are very strict about this policy and enforce consequences if it occurs. I think cheating occurs more in the wider community. I would hope that at Cornerstone, as Christians, cheating would not be as common because we uphold what is right and wrong, cheating obviously being wrong. I think plagiarism is more common than thought of. Many times students forget to cite their sources, maybe even unintentionally. It is so easy to quickly copy a statement, rather than to rephrase or come up with your own form. I'm sure we have all built guilty of this, again really untentionally.

Cheating......

First of all, cheating is obviously wrong. I have been at CU for a year and have not experienced cheating at all. Maybe I am oblivious to it or hopefully there just hasn't been any cheating going on around me. I had been at Grand Rapids Community College before coming to CU, and the cheating there was definitely more profound and less monitored by professors. People were pretty open about cheating, but here at CU, I have not experienced anything. Plagiarism is another issue that goes along with cheating. I believe that the majority of people who plagiarize probably do it by accident. So often we look at websites or books and read the information and form ideas in our heads. Those ideas would probably not have happened without the information from the source, therefore we should give credit where it is due. I'm sure I have been guilty of this, but I try my best to cite whenever I use a source. Having said that, there are people that plagiarize on purpose because they either don't know how to cite sources or just don't care. I feel that my previous schooling has prepared me for using correct citations. Also, the education program makes a great effort to always give credit to those who deserve it, which is a great help and reminder to do so.

Prompt 12

As faculty sponsor to Alpha Chi Honor Society, I am supposed to help raise awareness of academic integrity on campus. I am very interested, therefore, in students' attitudes towards cheating, plagiarism, and the like. How common do you think cheating/plagiarism is on Cornerstone's campus, and in the wider culture? Please don't use anyone's name in your response.

Pakistan post from a bit ago...

I was just perusing the posts and noticed this one and wanted to comment. I am completely unaware of the situation in Pakistan, but I do have something that I believe is important to say. International Affairs always seem so troubling to Christians because often times the thing that needs to be done is not the thing that best benefits the world. I think the problem is more primitive. Regardless of what level of individual or government, everything we do is to be governed by the same standard, God's standard. This means that though a certain dictator is capable of utterly annihilating the world with the press of a button, we are not to support him and aid in his rampant slaughtering of his own people. This does not mean we should declare war and immediately launch Hailey's Comet at him. It simply means not supporting him. Many have told me that when a whole nation of people rests on one's shoulders that those kinds of decisions become a lot more difficult, but the fact is, the standard does not change no matter how many people one governs. Be the example and others will follow.

TV

I watch about an hour of television per month, maybe. We do not receive channels at my house, primarily because we are too lazy to figure out how to hook up an antennae to get basic channels. Also, we have no desire to pay for cable when it is not even good for us.

The concept of television, though, will never die. That is the truth. The methods for watching will always change, but the simple fact is, television broadcasting will never leave us. Now there are features like nbc.com where the public is able to watch their favorite show for free online. This type of feature will probably become more common, taking new forms just like the iPods and such have been. Even if the old box in the corner or the billion-dollar plasma HD flatscreen both fade into dust, the concept itself will still be around. There is too much money made off of television for it to pass. Maybe they will call it webvision or podvision, but it will still stand as strong as ever.

Please do not misread my tone. I have no qualms against the single-show lovers, but if anyone simply sits in front of a television for hours every day, then they need to seriously search their heart, because I guarantee they are not fulfilling the will of God by doing so.

TV = relaxation

My schedule is so different every week that I do not have time to get addicted to a show. There are certain types of shows I like and certain shows that I pick for the week that I want to watch. On Sunday nights I plan out my week. It is at this time I find out if there is a show that I want to watch or a movie. If my schedule allows for it I write it in my day timer and if not, I either don't watch it or tape it.
This year I got cable in my room and found that I don't watch maybe for a particular program but rather just to avoid homework or spend time not thinking. Television is my time to relax and not think about school. I enjoy it but try to keep in check how much I watch so that I have productive day or week.

Television

I honestly don't really watch that much tv. Since coming to college, my tv experience has greatly diminished. Having only about three channels that come in over a fuzzy antenna makes it hard to get addicted to shows. However, up until the finale last week, I was an avid watcher of The Bachelor, mostly because a group of friends and I would get together every monday night to watch it. It was something fun to talk about and we all loved to experience the emotions of all the girls.
When I go home to my parents house, there we have cable, and I'll admit, I love to watch old sitcomes like Full House and The Cosby Show. Besides that, I am much more of a movie person or a book person. Also, with the internet becoming such an integral part of our society, many people are turning to this media to watch shows that they have missed during the week. Overall, I agree tv is cheap entertainment, but I guess it would work a little better for me if I could actually see the shows through the usual blurriness on my screen.

Le ol' Tube

Two words: The office.

One word: Internet.
(get it?)

I love The Office, it's the only show I watch regulatly since Arrested Development stopped airing. The trouble is, I work every Thursday night from 3-11. Solution? The internet. (Disclaimer: Cornerstone does not condone the opinions of the individuals on this blog.) Honestly, I don't even own a TV, but when I find a show in which I'm interested, I turn to the internet for access. For example, there is (was?) an HBO show called Flight of the Concords that I loved, but instead of watching them on the TV I don't own, I did a quick Youtube search and found all the episodes right at my fingertips. Between TiVo and DVR and whatever other gizmos are out there, it's obvious we are no longer content to have some network programmer tell us when we can watch our shows. TV does not offer any amount of control besides holding a remote that may or may not work (or like some people i know, seven remotes which all correspond to different things...). I think using the Internet to access TV shows and movies is an inevitable trend.

Overall, this is my view on the television:

TV

I have to agree with Sadie, TV is free entertainment. I can't say there are any shows that I have to see on a weekly basis. I actually don't want a lot of TV shows at the moment. A lot of my friends have weekly rituals of watching Bones, House, Heroes and The Office. I remember them saying that all their favorite shows were going to be on last night and they had to decide which ones to watch. Then they realized that they have TIVO and can record the shows that they aren't going to watch. I figure that if the shows are good enough, one of my friends will buy the season dvd and I can watch it later.
I do have some favorite TV shows but they aren't on anymore. My all time favorite is Seinfeld and I own all 9 seasons, so I can watch them whenever I want. I do end up watching House once in a while because my dad and I think that he is hilarious.
I love to watch sports as well, so whenever there are sports on, I will end up being in front of the TV watching them. My friends all live in a house and they have Direct TV, so I can go over there to watch a lot of games that aren't on regular television.
I think that TV is still the number one way to find out information, but the internet will probably take over eventually. The internet can be accessed from so many places that a lot of people find it easier to sit wherever they want and search live and updated stories that are easier and faster to access than television.
Overall, TV is definitely a part of my life. I keep in touch with a lot of world and national news through TV and I also watch some TV shows and sports as well.

Oh Boy. The TV blog. This is going to be long . . .

I am a terrible person because I watch A LOT of t.v. Growing up, we never had cable, and in the first year of my marriage we couldn't afford it, but now we have it . . .and I am hooked.

However, the shows that I'm most "hooked" on are those on regular t.v.

Sunday nights it's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (because I love the houses, the stories, and the crying that always ensues -- my crying, that is) and Desperate Housewives (shameful, I know).

Monday nights I was watching "the Bachelor." (It ended last week.) That show is all about relationships - and not only the relationships on t.v. It's a long-standing tradition that my sister and friends and I all watch the Bachelor so that we can call each other and discuss its nuances every week, then wait with bated breath for the finale - which usually results in screaming. And my sister ALWAYS cries.

Wednesday night is my busy t.v. night. I watch America's Next Top Model and Gossip Girl on the CW, and then Project Runway on Bravo. Project Runway is my favorite reality show of all time. I love Heidi Klum, and I love how the designers can make beautiful outfits out of the most ridiculous supplies. (Plants, recyclable materials, etc.) Oh, and we'll watch Lost when it starts again in February. I LOVE Lost!!!

Thursday night my husband and I watch The Office together. We have a special clap that we do during the theme song. We are dorks. That show is fun because so many people watch it that you can talk about it with anyone.

Friday night we watch Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas. Justin likes Friday Night Lights because of the sports, I love it because of the relationships and the small-town setting. And Las Vegas is kind of a guilty pleasure.

Whew! I told you . . . I'm a junkie.

I think people will always watch TV, but the ways we watch it are advancing. For instance, Grey's Anatomy - one of my all-time favorites - is on at the same time as The Office on Thursday nights, so I watch it online the next day. (Which is essentially what the Writer's Strike is all about, right?) And my sister Tivo's everything. So if I ever miss a show and don't want to watch it on my computer, I go to her house and watch it on the big screen at my convenience.

I love TV. It's free entertainment, and that's pretty much the only entertainment I can afford. :-) So I hope the writer's strike ends soon!!

Prompt 11

Since I scurry home every Tuesday night to watch House, I was wondering if anybody else has a TV show that he/she absolutely cannot miss? If so, why is it so important to you? I'm also wondering if TV is becoming a less relevant aspect of our media landscape? Has something else taken its place?

The most obvious reason why anyone would say "anyone but ______" is simply because that is the only person that they are fully conscious of, and that being said, they do not like that person. In my opinion, Clinton is probably one of the better politicians in American. In the eyes of the rest of the world, that makes her the most worthy of leadership. However, being the best politician does not imply all good things.
One of my sister's friends announced that she will be voting for Clinton purely to spite her extremely conservative friend. That kind of thing tends to be quite pervasive among uninterested college students.
I will say this. People get upset over small things all the time, and Clinton has not had the luxury of being out of the spotlight even for a moment since the scandal. Thus, every little thing gets blown out of proportion. Even so, our nation is founded on a certain principle that, if it is not upheld unconditionally by its leader, will ultimately humble our proud citizens. When I consider which candidate to support, I pray and ask God which will most honor Him and serve Him above all else. With that element, no lack of economic, political or any other knowledge will deter the leader because God grants a wisdom that surpasses any man may offer.

Cranberry Sauce?

I think two years ago was the first year that I became aware of the fact that people eat cranberry sauce for any reason on any occasion. Honestly, I have not ever consciously eaten it. My family has a very specific meal that we eat pretty much every holiday. Turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes and corn, stuffing, angel biscuits and green bean casserole is exactly what we eat. It has become a sort of Pavlovian experience that accompanies any holiday with my entire family. Every time I become aware of a family gathering, these food items are the first things that enter my mind. Whenever I discuss Thanksgiving with anyone, I can not help but think of these foods, and most of the time long for them. Never in all my life have any of them become stale or boring and I have had them on either Thanksgiving Day or Christmas day every single year. It has gotten so extreme that when I was invited to another families' meal last year, I was almost disappointed with the food, even though it was delicious, it was not the same meal.

A Prompt from the Past

I'd like to respond to Judith's prompt from forever ago.

What I'm enjoying about my life right now:

I'm enjoying working and going to school. It's nice not having to do just one or the other, but interspersing the two. I love my job. I'm a nanny to a 17 month old boy who I've watched for 14 months. He's getting to a fun age where he's starting to talk and interact with me. He loves going to the library and playing outside. And I love spending time with him. He cuddles in my lap and rests his head on my shoulder when I read to him. He's my surrogate child until I can have one of my own. :-)

I'm enjoying spending time with my husband before we start having kids. I'm enjoying sleeping in with him on Saturday mornings, taking off whenever we want to, and spending evenings lazing around together. I'm enjoying our cute little apartment and our cute little kitten. Sometimes she drives me crazy with all her jumping around and biting and scratching, but she won't be a kitten for long, and I'm loving her antics right now.

I'm enjoying my family. I have three siblings and we've all grown up enough that we finally love and appreciate each other. I'm enjoying living half a mile down the road from my sister. I'm enjoying spending Sunday afternoons after church at my parents' house, and holidays with the whole family gathered around the table, holding hands and holding back tears as my dad prays blessings over our family.

Thanks, Judith, for making me stop and take stock of my great life instead of always looking ahead to what's coming next!

Presidential Candidates

Personally, I'm really not up on the latest in politics. I recently took a quiz that was supposed to help you figure out what views and issues you subscribe to and what presidential candidate subscribes to those views as well. Hillary was at the bottom of my list in matches. However, I think people need to do their research before suggesting such strong views. At Cornerstone, we live in this bubble of mostly conservative republicans. While this may not be all bad, it becomes bad when we subscribe to these views just because our friends or family tell us to. Cornerstone, including myself, needs to be a bit more open-minded and figure out exactly what we do and do not agree with. I guess evangelical circles feel her views are too opposite of what we should stand for. Personally, I need to become more educated in politics before I would ever make such harsh accusations.

Thanksgiving

My family is pretty traditional on Thanksgiving. Every year we get together with my mom's side of the family at my grandma's house and have the "normal" thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatos, homemade bread, and the list continues. We eat, watch football, and then eat some more! Not everyone can make it on Thanksgiving due to other commitments with other family, but for the most part we have a pretty big group. Most people I know subscribe to this normal thanksgiving way. Not having turkey on thanksgiving is pretty unheard of for me. As far as cranberry sauce, I'm not the biggest fan, in fact I really don't like it. I don't think we've ever had it as part of a different meal throughout the year, I guess it's a special occasion kind of sauce!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

We are a pretty traditional family in that we have turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dinner. But in recent years, my Thanksgivings have been changed up a bit. As a kid, Thanksgiving was the only holiday we spent with my dad's side of the family. Aunt Mary always made a magnificent meal, and it was the one time a year that we saw our paternal grandparents. Then Grandma died and there was a falling out with Aunt Mary, so Thanksgiving became more of an immediate family holiday. Not too many years later, however, I got married, and my husband and I now alternate between families every other year. With my husband's side of the family, we have to meet in a church gym, because the family is too big for a house. We eat, then play game after game of cards while the kids play basketball in the gym. With my family we eat, then play game after game of cards while the kids watch football and movies. The only time I ever have turkey is on Thanksgiving, and I don't particularly like it. In fact, I always seem to be sick the day after Thanksgiving . . . although that may have more to do with our Black Friday tradition. For the past five years, my mom, two sisters and I wake up at some ungodly hour and brave the frigid November air to hit the mall!! Sadly, that is probably my favorite part of Thanksgiving. :-)

The Greatest Holiday of the Year

My family is very traditional and they do it all up in the traditional manner with cranberry sauce and everything. We even start the morning with a traditional biscuits and gravy breakfast. I don't know anyone who doesn't do a traditional meal. We also go to the same home several years in a row. Growing up it was my aunts house. Now we go to my sisters. Everything is expected to happen a certain way on Thanksgiving day. You have to watch the parade. Someone has to start a football game. The television is turned to either football or nascar after the meal as well. We only do this once a year and I don't ever eat cranberry sauce even on Thanksgiving day.
There is also at least ten people at dinner generally fifteen or more. This is a time to get together in our family and be thankful for each other. Thanksgiving is also a time when everyone gets together. Our parents are divorced but they both go to my sisters home on the same day and we get to have one time a year when we all sit down to a meal and enjoy being with everyone. Thanksgiving is unlike any other holiday or time of the year. It is my favorite because all is right on that one day.

Thanksgiving

I have to say we aren't really either. I always get together with my dad's side of the family and up until a few years ago, we always had ham as the main course. Naturally, we had some whiners, so we eventually had some turkey as well. I can't say we ever had cranberry sauce, but we definitely have stuffing every year. Basically, we just have a big feast and then we all do home. As for whether or not we eat this type of food at other times during the year: yes we do. We usually have ham 3 or 4 times a year and most everything else we have all the time too, except for stuffing, which seems to be a yearly thing.

Prompt 11

Are you a traditional turkey/stuffing/cranberry sauce type of Thanksgiving celebrator; or does your family do something different? Do you know anybody who does anything different? Do you ever eat cranberry sauce on any day other than Thanksgiving?

Presidential candidate

I think the reason that 4 out of 5 students said anyone but Hillary is because of two main reasons. First, looking at Hillary's resume, she does have an established political background. She has a lot of experience as a politician, yet many people don't like her. Her integrity is always a problem. Check out hillcap.org for some information you would never see presented on the national news. I also think that a lot of people don't want Hillary because of what went on during her husband's presidency.
Another reason that people voted against Hillary, rather than for a candidate, is that there aren't any strong Republican candidates to choose from. All the Republican candidates seem to have weak followings compared to Hillary. Those with the highest numbers seem to be the ones that are more well known, such as Guliani and Tompson.
Another reason for this vote is that there isn't that many top candidates for democratic candidates. Besides Obama, is there anyone else that is even close in the running? Also, there has been talk about Obama becoming Hillary's running mate if (when) she wins the nomination. The national news portrays that she is running away with the primary as well as the presidency, but don't be fooled, the republicans will back up their candidate(when they get one) and the race will be as close as any other race over the past 10 years.

Knowing the Candidates

Why do people dislike/disagree with Hillary? Because they base their beliefs off of what they are told and don't research for themselves the actual candidate. People at CU know only what they are told and in the post below there is a good amount of information that I believe next to no one at Cornerstone would know. Many people also in the evangelical circle also have a dislike for anything democratic. I find it interesting that they won't even learn what they stand for before they reject them. Yes, I know democratic have some ideas that are wrong to Christians but then don't we all. Before a candidate is rejected they should be researched. Some people might be surprised at what they might find out about republicans. So I won't say I am for anyone or against. I haven't done enough research to give a good answer that I would stand behind.

Indecision 2008 (a la Jon Stewart)

Public figures, who under harsh scrutinization seem to have no problem losing their dignity and privacy, often have a hard time shaking free of the baggage of their past.
Hillary Rodham Clinton took a dynamic, prominent role during the Presidency of her "busy" husband, a two-term period that ended in disaster and scandal. She played a central role in public policy, including initiating the Clinton health care plan, which never made it past Congress. To be so closely associated with a presidency filled with scandal is something that is difficult to separate from her current independent endeavors as New York Governor and Presidential candidate.
After raising more the 63 million dollars for a campaign to be the first female serving as President, many Americans are still having a hard time forgetting her insistent defense of her husband, and her claims of a "right-wing conspiracy" against him. This most likely weighs heavily on her reputation at Cornerstone, as well as the basis of her candidacy: her liberal view. According to the National Journal, on a scale of 1 to 100, 1 being the most liberal and 100 the most conservative, Clinton was rated at 30, while a study of the Cornerstone student body would undoubtedly rate much higher on the scale.

My own personal opinion: Reading about the other candidates vying for the Democratic party nomination, Mike Gravel, the 76-year-old Alaskan who fought against the Vietnam War and published part of the Pentagon Papers, for example, or David Kucinich, the vegan recipient of the Ghandi Peace Award fighting for universal not-for-profit health care, I would argue the amount of attention focused on this Lady Macbeth of modern politics is out of balance. There is a wealth of leaders who would be much more suited for the nomination than Clinton in my opinion, but the general absence of political awareness lets a pop-icon-turned-candidate step to the foreground. Granted, Clinton has been very successful in her political career and is attempting to achieve that which no woman has been able, but I believe there are better options.

Prompt 10

In the Herald today, in response to the question: Who is your favorite presidential candidate?, four out of the five respondents basically said, "Anybody but Hillary Clinton." Why do you think so many people in evangelical circles have such hatred (not just dislike or disagreement) towards Hillary?

Parlez-vous le francais?

After further consideration, it turns out I am a fan of pseudo-foreign films. I usually try to do a little research (generally a la wiki) before my blog posts so I don't make a fool of myself. (AND so I actually learn something from them - isn't that the point?) In the case of foreign films, I'm glad I did my homework. Two of my favorite movies are called Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. They both rely heavily on dialog and have little action to speak of, but they are thought-provoking, and admittedly, romantic. They are set in France and have the feeling of a foreign film. After research, I found they are American as apple pie. I do, however, have a few legit foreign films in my repertoire. The French film, The Science of Sleep, or the La Science de reves (literally, The Science of Dreams), is a surrealist film I love that is whimsical but charming. The bicycle Thief, (does the New Zeeland movie Black Sheep count? Probably not...), Amelie, and Whale Rider (Fabisch world lit anyone?) are others. As far as things so, I'm very open to expanding my movie watching to non-US blockbusters, but I think there are a good amount of movie made right here in the US that have similar qualities. Wes Anderson's movies (go see the Darjeeling Limited!) have the same tone as many French films, as well as a lot of other limited release movies. Generally, I find my personal key to rewarding movie watching is to expand myself to watch all types of movies.

Pakistan

Good prompt, Dan. The Pakistan problem is a case where the U.S. is forced to either give up on the idealism that the Iraq war is supposedly about, or put its money where its mouth is. Musharref is quite simply a military dictator who will do anything, and I mean anything, to stay in power. This is not speculation; it is simple fact (because he has already done just about everything). His regime contradicts just about every tenet of America's founding documents, and yet we do not even stop our payments to him (much less threaten him) because he is seen to provide a measure of stability in a highly unstable region. There is a direct parallel to the situation during the Cold War when the U.S. supported dictators (like Pinochet in Chile) who were killing people left and right, but who were nonetheless "anti-Communitst" and thus "on our side". The scary thing is that someone like Putin in Russia is also going down the dictator path -- and Russia is still a lot more dangerous than Pakistan.

The problem in Pakistan

What should the United States do in response to the problems in Pakistan? Should the U.S. suspend their aid to the country? Or should it get more involved?

Foreign Films

I would have to agree with the last couple of posts in that the only foreign film that I can think of is The Passion of Christ. I didn't realize the movie was going to be all subtitles until it started playing (I guess I was nieve about the background of the film). However, it only took a few minutes to get used to it and then it was just natural to read them. I didn't find them distracting, I think it added to the movie. Usually I can't stand to watch televison or movies with the subtitles on, but lately I have gotten more and more used to it and find it helpful. I can really understand what is being said and it becomes natural to not only watch the movie, but to see visually what is being said as well.

Foreign Films

I was trying to think of any foreign film that I have watched, but I couldn't think of any until Sadie posted about Passion of the Christ. I think that is the only foreign movie that I've seen. I thought it was a very powerful film because it portrayed what Christ did for us. I personally don't like to have to read subtitles because then I am focusing so much more on that, rather than watching the images that are being portrayed. I do feel like I had to pay attention a lot more because I constantly had to read the subtitles, otherwise I would be totally lost. With the Passion of the Christ, I knew the story already, and I knew what was coming. Overall, foreign films can be a good and a lot can be learned, but I like watching regular films better.

The Passion of the Christ

I think the only foreign film I've seen is "The Passion of the Christ." (Although we have a defective DVD player that messes with the sound, so we watch most movies with captions.) After the first few minutes, reading the captions became totally second nature. It was obviously an incredibly moving experience. I thought it was interesting to hear it in its original language, and relate it to the Bible. For instance, when Jesus was on the cross he said "Eloi, eloi, lama sabach tha ne." (I'm certain I slaughtered the spelling of that.) It was moving to hear the character who played Jesus say it in the original language because that was really what Jesus said! Of course, the captions did present a problem once I started bawling my eyes out. At that point, though, not many words were necessary to convey the emotion of the movie.

Foreign Films

I have seen a couple of foreign films. One was back in high school, the Passion, and a French film last semester. Each experience was a little bit different but I enjoyed each of them. The first foreign film that I watched was with out subtitles. My teacher wanted us to try and figure out what was going on and who was the killer with out any words. I guessed wrong but it was interesting trying to follow the plot. For the Passion I found the film to seem more authentic because it was in a foreign language. It made the plot and setting seem more real. The third film was really good, it was in French and I watched part of it with French subtitles and part of it with English subtitles. I was taking a French class and wanted to try and see how much I could understand.
It was a different experience than when I normally watch movies because it took effort to figure what was going on. I had to guess what was happening and sometimes I was right and sometimes I wasn't. I enjoyed the experiences but at the same time I am glad that they make movies that are a little more understandable!

Prompt 8

Have you ever seen a foreign film (with subtitles)? If so, did you like it? Why, or why not? How was it a different experience than the norm?

Politics - Of course!!!

Christians should definitely get involved in politics. They should be on city council, act as mayors, senators, congressmen, governors, presidents, lobbyists, etc… The average person should write to their representatives and encourage them as well as inform them of what they think about their decisions they have made. Above all else, Christians should be informed voters. God calls us to "Love our neighbor as ourselves." Cities, state and the national government need to have people in charge who will do this.
We don't exist in our own little bubble. There is a world that interacts and we need to put out our voice so that God's will is done. Voting is a simple task and so many people don't participate let alone make informed decisions. It does take time and research to know the ideas of people who are trying to get elected. If we don't take the time to get involved then we have no right to complain about the government and our country. It is our own fault that it is decaying.
Look at Hollywood. Christians left the world of entertainment because they thought it was of Satan. Now it is producing some pretty negative stuff. With Christians going back into Hollywood, there is some good wholesome stuff coming out. If we leave politics the same thing will happen. The one thing we have to be careful is that not all people believe in God and as a politician you can't make them. You have to live your life in a pleasing way towards God but if other people don't you can't create laws to punish them. God will take care of that, as long as each of us is living a lifestyle to is glorifying to Him.

Political Involvement

I know very little about politics, so it's hard for me to say whether or not Christians should get involved in them. It could certainly present some ethical problems, but so can any job. I think Christian politicians have to be above reproach because they're representing themselves as Christians in front of a large audience.

Mostly, though, I have to agree with Dan. The best way for Christians to get involved with politics is to vote. However, I think it's very important for Christians to cast an educated vote. Don't just check "republican ticket" because that's what your parents do, or because you think that Christians have to be republicans. Look at the issues and educate yourself about them. Vote according to the issues that are important to you . . . and ultimately to God - which may or may not involve voting for a democrat. ;-)

Christian Politics

I believe that it is very hard to be a Christian politician in todays world. Our country has strayed farther and farther from what its foundation is, which is on God. Saying this, we need Christian politicians more than ever. I think the best way is for Christians to get involved in politics is first of all to vote. Secondly, is that we need to vote our beliefs. So many people, including Christians, grumble and throw a fit at what goes on in the country, yet so many of them don't vote! Whether Democrat or Republican, I feel that Christians have an obligation to vote for someone who resembles God. Getting directly involved in politics is a whole different situation. It obviously takes someone special to make laws and battle everyday over issues that face our country day in and day out. Christian politicians are definitely needed to help keep this country structured in the way our founding fathers envisioned.

Prompt 7

What are the best ways for Christians to get involved in politics, if in fact they should get involved in politics?

Unfavorable View of Cornerstone

I'm surprised that so many people think Cornerstone is viewed well in the eyes of our area. My brother-in-law was the assistant general manager at Damons a few years ago, and always recounts his experiences with Cornerstone waitresses. He said they were the most promiscuous, the biggest partiers, and the worst employees.

And especially since Soulforce's visit, I think we are viewed less favorably. I think most people in town consider us bigots for refusing to allow them on our campus. Everyone seems to applaud Calvin for their open-mindedness in allowing them to speak in their chapel services, and frowns on Cornerstone for our legalistic, old-fashioned ways.

Positive view of Cornerstone

I think Cornerstone is viewed quite positively in the Grand Rapids area. I have heard many positive things of our programs and students who graduate from the education program are generally viewed quite highly. Our leadership is very professional and we show that we want integrity from our students, such as the way our leadership handled the recent athletic issues regarding the men's basketball team. The younger crowd can sometimes view Cornerstone as very rule-bound. I'll meet people and tell them I go to Cornerstone and they can't believe that we sign a lifestyle statement or that we have required chapels to attend. They just think it's a different kind of college experience. I guess overall, I think it is viewed positively in the community and respected by future employers.

CU viewed by GR

I believe that Cornerstone is viewed positively in Grand Rapids. The reason that I think it is viewed positively is that we are a small higher education community that works to help the community. We also have two radio stations that portray the campus to the community and the information that they pass on is generally about positive things that are happening on campus or by students/staff/faculty. Athletically, we also have the "champions of character" initiative that works with area schools. These schools get to see first hand how to implement the program by watching CU athletes. My perspective is limited. I do not interact with people very often in GR and/or ask them what they think about Cornerstone. With this in mind I have not "heard" anything specific as to the way the community views Cornerstone.

View on CU

I feel that Cornerstone is viewed quite positively by the community. Maybe it is because I listen for more feedback about CU because I go here. I still think that Calvin is considered the cream of the crop in educational purposes, however, I feel that Cornerstone is being viewed as near equal status. I think the leadership here at CU has made the public notice how much we've grown. I feel that CU is represented as Christlike in their decision making. Our education program has improved greatly as well. We have Kuyper and Grace Bible College students finish up here. I think this is a good exposure to see that these colleges can work together. Overall, the view of Cornerstone in my opinion is very positive.

Life right now...

Life right now, today, this moment, is a whirlwind. The present is always a whirlwind, just like the past is always a whirlpool and the future is always calm and simple. I am content. At this moment, some things are good, some things are bad, but who am I to say that life itself is bad? I will never say it because I will never think it.

God's blessings are heaped upon my head, and while Satan fights to turn those blessings into curses, his power is limited to how much I believe his lies. I admit that I do not always see through his lies, but even then, I know God is good, and I am in Him just as He is in me. No one can pluck me out of his hand!

Life right now is good.

Prompt 6

How do you think Cornerstone is viewed in the greater Grand Rapids area? What have you heard?

What I am enjoying...

Right now, I am enjoying my last year of college. It's easy to get stressed and worried about the future, but I am trying to focus on the here and now and enjoy this year. I love still being a college student and am living in a house with 2 great roommates. This may be the last year we are all together, so I am concentrating on making these friendships last and allowing myself some "fun" time. I also enjoy my work as a nanny and find it laid back and also good experience for my future as a teacher. I also enjoy this season. I love a perfect, fall, crisp day and am excited for this new season.

A president who looks up to you.

The single most important characteristic for any leader is servant leadership. In reality, the amount of genuine servant leaders in our world is so slim that those that are often are not even noticed. Rex Rogers exemplified a servant better than most, and will, therefore, be difficult to replace. But there are better men. There are always better men.

The greatest test of servant leadership is to invite everyone to a party. The servant leader will humbly assume the lowest spot at the table. He will offer his drink to the man who did not get one. He will offer his snack to the woman who is lacking. He will wash the feet of everyone so that they are clean. He will move about the party, confidently confronting those he meets and tenderly listening to their needs and concerns.

A servant leader does not merely see past himself, he sees everything but himself. As I said before, finding a better president than Rex Rogers will be difficult, but there are better men. There are always better men.

Disease is a fact. Curing the environment?

Disease kills so many people each year that are not counted in the figures, let alone all the people that are, that it has become, to many, apocalyptic. Aids, cancer, Malaria, and many more have been the leading causes of death worldwide for countless years.

However, as long as creation is corrupted by sin, we will never conquer disease. That is one of the curses given to Adam; disease is man's thorn and thistle, choking out the good and healthy crop. In terms of the impact held on man, disease is definitely a bigger problem than environmental degradation, but that is a selfish line of thinking.

That problem is caused by our sinful nature in Adam, and is thusly our own fault. Environmental degradation, however, is a fixable problem that we continue to cause today, not just with our sinful nature, but with our sinful actions. Since this problem is fixable, there is no reason why it should still be such a problem. If mankind knew that a wonder drug existed that could cure any ailment instantly, and that it was available to every man or woman for absolutely no cost except the small amount of effort necessary to attain it, I believe that every single human being would take the necessary action to achieve this drug.

This is the situation with environmental degradation. The cure for the environment lies in the hands of each man and woman, but nothing is done to cure it. This is what makes it such a problem. The environment is just as much a part of Creation as man and woman, and our charge to rule over it and subdue it is equal with the charge to take care of it. Our shortcomings are a result of our selfishness and unwillingness to bear the responsibility such a great task.

We have been offered an entire planet, to care for and nurture, and we have cast it aside saying we have better things to do with our time and money. Disease is not a problem; it is a fact. It will always plague our world, as long as we are fallen. But we have the ability to cure the environment, if we are willing.

Positive thoughts

Right now I am excited about learning new information that I can use in life. I am taking a couple of classes that are helping me to be a more critical thinker, with out being overwhelmed with the information being processed. This is my first semester of reading all of the required text and have found that I am able to get a better understanding of the course content by reading it (imagine that!!) Another thing that I am enjoying about life is friends. I am able to spend time developing the friendships with people that I can call anytime I need someone to talk to and they can call me. I am also getting to spend time with my family and getting to know what is going on in their lives. As fast as life is going by I am getting to enjoy life and not just wish whole years of my life away.

Blog 5??

It is easy to focus on the future and not the present. So for this blog write about what you enjoy about life right now.

El Presidente

Why do we call him a President if this sub-society in most respects fails to be democratic?

OH, maybe because Presidents these days ARE grandfathered in and overly concerned with money.

Why don't we just take Rex's son and throw him on the throne?

Okay, low blows, right?

I'd say as far as a President goes, genuine connections is the key. We need someone who isn't out of touch with the reason the institution exists: the students. Another key quality to be is open-mindedness. This school has a lot of traditions, but the key to tradition is that it is reviewed periodically to see if it makes sense with the current situation. To quote Anchorman which quoted Bob Dylan, "the times they are a-changing" and our age group is on the forefront of those changes. Perhaps someone who is a little younger would be the most suitable candidate - someone who can appreciate the world in which we were raised and see where we're coming from. Diplomacy is another key issue. The truth of the matter is, we have boards and donors and onlookers all who feel they need to be appeased. Basically, as with almost everything, balance is the key here.

A new direction

I am a senior and have little personal stake in Cornerstone's choice of a new president. However, that doesn't mean I am without an opinion. I would like to see CU head in a new direction and bring in a president that will lead them that way. I feel the school has become too focused on the business side of our education and is moving away from a strong liberal arts emphasis. As a history major, I feel like a tiny majority in a sea of business and communications majors. I even feel this somewhat as an English major.

For a less personal example: music students are relegated to a old, tiny building. Sure, a new building is promised, but not before a new track and soccer field (that's another blog entry).

Maybe it's just me, but majors such as business and communications seem to have the run of the place, getting the best opportunities and the fancy gadgets (all of us have walked past the flat-screen TVs in Bolthouse). The large numbers of business majors obviously dictate these things, but perhaps this seeming favoritism is the cause of the comparatively smaller numbers of history and English lit majors.

I would like to be able to say I earned my History-English degree from an institution that has not become a Christian version of Davenport University. A president who will put money into the English, history, music, and other such programs will save Cornerstone from the fate of becoming a business college.

CU President

I think that we should have a President who is ready to form connections with both students, faculty, and staff before implementing new and continuing programs. A person who cares not only about the title but also about forming a relationship with the campus. Dr. Rogers exemplified this by inviting students to his home for a bonfire and being able to speak freely with him. The future president also needs to look to the future and see how they can continue to improve the reputation of the university and how to continue to uphold the values and morals of the school. The background of the future president should be full of service and completion of goals that they created in the prior occupation.

CU President

I feel that Dr. Rogers did a great job being our president, but obviously he feels the need to move on. I believe that we should pursue to find a president that best resembles Christ. The new president should be Christ centered and make decisions based on the provisions from the Bible. I feel that Calvin College has strayed from their beliefs and in order for Cornerstone to stay strong, we need it to continue being strong from the top.

Diseases: an issue in the world today

Which do you think is a bigger problem in the world today: environmental degradation or rampant disease (like AIDS)? Why?

Although I feel as though both issues are very prominent in the world today, I would say rampant disease seems to be a bit larger to me. Disesases affect people personally and they deal with people on so many levels. We are fortunate to be in a society where we have health professionals and means of getting assistance, but this doesn't always prevent and cure our problems.

Prompt 4

What kind of President do you think Cornerstone should try to get?

ALSO:

this blog is called creative faction.
heh. heh.

Chicken or Egg?

There are currently 39,500,000 people in the world HIV+. (http://www.globalhealthfacts.org/index.jsp)

25 million people die each year in developing countries because of water pollution - 3/5ths of them children. (http://rehydrate.org/facts/environment_at_risk.htm)

What is more important: humans - you, me, the 3rd shift Shell station worker, the child dying of AIDS in Nairobi by no fault of his own - or the Earth that supports us? Which generation is more important? The generation of today or the generation of tomorrow forced to drink impure water
and breathe pollutants because of our selfishness? This question is what baseball enthusiasts would identify as a "pickle." But I believe there is a bigger question to consider. Why have we let it come to this? Why have our mentalities of entitlement and apathy let our world outlook fall to only include the several miles surrounding ourselves and the ones we love? Why do we wake in the morning and fall into our beds at night without once considering the greater impact our general lack of global empathy has on the world? I know, white middle-class suburban college student ranting about apathy, big surprise. But I don't think we have the right to tackle a question such as this until we have realized our own hand in the atrocities, and experience remorse and anger until we are no longer content to bear that guilt. Until we are globally aware, which is only something we can personally develop within ourselves, we are not fit to dictate which parts of God's creation are "more important."

I applaud you if you do not share my faults, but I see shortcomings in myself rather than an answer to this prompt. Score one for Team VanDyke.

Disease

Although I believe that both disease and environment factors are a problem, I feel that disease is the bigger one. I feel that we are quite fortunate in America, because we don't suffer like many other areas. I have to say that Africa and aids is the biggest problem in the world today. I'm sure there are a lot more diseases that we are unaware of. The lack of medical supplies makes these diseases that much more of a problem. Every time a disease gets new treatments, there always seems to be another disease that comes along. The more we discover with medicines, the better off everyone will be to fight these diseases.

Prompt 3

Which do you think is a bigger problem in the world today: environmental degradation or rampant disease (like AIDS)? Why?

As a writer...

As a writer I want to be able to share my thoughts and for others to be able to understand and interact with them. I would like for people to be easily engaged in what I have to say, whether they agree or not. As a writer I want my communication to be clear but at the same time expressive and not boring. I would love to write a short story, just to say I can. But more importantly I want to be able to communicate with good, clear writing.

A book to read!

I mentioned this book in a comment or two, but I think that anyone who has any amount of difficulty writing (which, in my opinion, is anyone who tries writing) should read it. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is the book. It is a book about writing and how to better oneself as a writer. It is not long and well worth the time necessary to read it!

What I enjoy reading...

What do you like to read and why? Is there a certain style of writing that you prefer, or is it all about content for you?

I love to read Christian fiction novels and mysteries. I think I enjoy the Christian fiction books so much because they relate to real-life situations. I can often put myself in the character's shoes and I really relate to it on an emotional level as well. Mysteries bring me to places that are only vivid through books. They keep me interested and the suspense makes me want to keep reading. Mostly, it is about the content in my reading. As long as I can grasp and understand the material the book seems to come alive and I really enjoy reading them.

Improvements in my writing

What do you want to be able to do as a writer?
I have always enjoyed writing, but often get stuck on getting started. As I progress in my writing skills, I hope to be able to express myself freely. So often I think I have to have the perfect introduction for my paper to have any merit that I often block out ideas that are flowing through my head. I need to learn that brainstorming and getting ideas out on paper will help my writing process and that perhaps my main thesis or introduction will come later, after I have some concrete ideas down. I think this would greatly improve my writing and ease some of the barriers I often feel when beginning to write.

What I like to read....

I am not a big reader, but I find most enjoyment reading the newspaper or magazines. I love sports, so I like to keep up with that. I have also enjoyed reading shorter stories and easy reading books. I don't like to read books that "dig too deep" so to speak. I like to read things that flow really easily and where my mind can wander and really get into the story. I also have read a few biographies and I plan on reading more of those in the future.

Writing and Me

I love writing stories. I just came across a story I wrote in first grade that was absolutely hilarious. I laughed so hard I cried. When I was in ninth grade, I wrote an entire novel. And then another in tenth grade. Of course, I look back on my "novels" with contempt, now, because they were abominably written. The two major things my stories lack are plots and figurative language. I love to write character sketches and develop my characters throughout the story, but I struggle with creating interesting, realistic, creative plots. I'm also quite lacking when it comes to figurative language. It's especially difficult for me to use any sort of figurative language that isn't already a cliche (smooth as a baby's bottom, per se). So I usually just don't use any. I describe things matter of factly, without much imagery. Ultimately, I would love to write a really good novel. Hopefully this class can help me achieve such a goal.

Storytelling

I need to become better at telling a story. As a history/English Lit major, the bulk of my formal writing has come in the form of term papers and the like, where creativity is not so important as the presentation of facts in a coldly rational and declarative manner. Rational and declarative I can do. It's story-format narrative that gives me trouble. While being able to tell an appealing story may not immediately serve my ultimate goal of being published in a dry scholarly journal, I believe overcoming my feeling of awkwardness in storytelling will make me a better writer overall.

What I want to improve on in writing....

I have to say that I would like to be able to write stories in a more effective manner. I tend to be very bland in my writing and would like to learn to explain things with more enthusiasm. I'm not very creative, so I would probably write more stories about myself with respect to life stories. I would be more likely to write an autobiography or write a book about non-fiction rather than write a story about fiction.

David and Goliath 2.0

Prompt 2.0: What do you want to be able to do as a writer?

Response: As an aspiring "writer," the term is always somewhat daunting when is comes to personally applying any kind of definition. At the core of my aspirations, however, there is an intense desire to create art. I am often asked what I intend to do with my English major. "Are you going to teach? Are you going to be a journalist?" inquiring, and oftentimes, dubious and insulting voices ask. No. I desire to create art with my words. But this is a dangerous hope. Art is oftentimes considered by mass society as superfluous. Artist are assumed to lead lives of poverty, drunkenness, and irresponsibility. To overcome this view of art that has weaseled its way into my subconscious is my Goliath. These doubts tower over me and make me tremble. Will I ever be able to make a living? Will I be accepted as a successful individual? Will it be understood that my art is the work of a creative God in me?

The process to overcome my fears and write without my self-critic whispering doubts in my ear is one I constantly struggle with. And will probably always struggle with. But to grow as a writer despite of and because of my fears would be an overwhelming victory.

Prompt 2

What do you want to be able to do as a writer?

As a writer...

I would like to be able to have a role in bringing the world's attention back to itself. In a sense, I want to strive, at any level, to reveal the inherent problem within us all. However, my intention is not to accuse or judge the world, but rather, to divert the course of a selfish universe. This is a very simple course of action. The universe is not governed by simple rules and regulations. Instead, it is governed by faith. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to do great things.
In this way, if I am fulfilling the will of God, then I am already changing the course of the universe because God's will is that this dying world and its fading people will be saved. As a writer, I want to demonstrate how this problem, the dying of the world, begins within each single person. So many people are focused on what is going wrong everywhere else, and they fail to see the wrong they themselves are committing.
My strivings are not of my own; this is Biblical. Jesus said one must remove the plank from his own eye before helping his brother with his spec. My intentions are likewise. I am not trying to help others remove their specs, that is a task for those wiser and spiritually stronger than I, rather, I am trying to help others realize they have planks.
This goal is lofty, this problem is impregnable, and this world is far from salvageable. We know that, despite all our blood, sweat, and tears, the earth we know today will pass away, but hope remains yet for its citizens. That is why I have set my sights on Everest's peak. Life is not short at all, like so many are prone to say life is eternal. Our purpose, as followers of the One True God, is to draw as many as possible into an eternity well worth living for.

Reading for Enjoyment

I enjoy reading historical/mystery/romance fiction during the school year and fiction and non-fiction during non-academic periods of my life. I enjoy fiction because it takes me to a place that I have not been before or pretend to be someone else. I love stories that create movies in my mind. I want something to entertain me while still learning historical facts, or other interesting facts.

Prompt 1

What do you like to read and why? Is there a certain style of writing that you prefer, or is it all about content for you?

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit this about myself (and to have this be your first impression of me), but I read purely for pleasure. I have no interest in reading to further my intellect, but only for fun. My favorite genre is inspirational fiction which is basically Christian romance . . .and it's all my dad's fault. Growing up, he took my siblings and me to the library every Saturday morning to give my mom a break and it was truly one of the highlights of my week. By the time I hit junior high, though, I had read every historical fiction book in the children's section, so my dad showed me to the inspirational fiction section . . . and I never left it. The first book I checked out from the adult side of the library was a story about an Amish girl by Beverly Lewis. Not only did it spark my passion for the Amish (which is another story altogether), it sparked my passion for this genre. Some of them tend to be a little cheesy, but for the most part they are well written and realistic. I love being able to read books that aren't littered with the F-word and explicit sex. I also really love this genre for having happy endings. Many of the secular novels that I've read in the past few years have had loose endings or downright sad endings. Inspirational fiction is notorious for always ending well. And I figure if I'm going to spend time reading the book, I want to leave it happy.

Prompt 1

What do you like to read and why? Is there a certain style of writing that you prefer, or is it all about content for you?

MV