No Love for the WNBA

As I sat thinking about this topic, I wondered to myself, "Why are there no video games for the WNBA?" As I began my search I stumbled upon an article written by Tim Dahlberg in 2007 entitled "Other Voices: Women Don't Watch WNBA, Either."

The article revolves around one main observation: the target audience for the WNBA (i.e. women) don't even watch it. Dahlberg goes on to mention that is not that women lack the interest in sports, but that they just prefer to see men do it. I kept reading and dug deeper to find out that because women's sports have not been able to maximaize their many opportunites, there were talks about cutting out scholarships for college girls who wanted to play. Because although there were (still are) a few females that wanted to go on with their basketball career, there were (and still is) more women who don't want to continue. I would like to go out on a limb here and say that, for women, just because we can doesn't mean we want to. Let me explain.

The women before me have fault for my right to vote and to be treated like any red-blooded American you see walking down the street. And even with all those rights and power, I still dream about getting married, settling down and being an active house wife. I grew up with my mom in the household (she is a teacher, so when I had school vacation so did she) and I can see the benefits in my life that her constant love and attention that she provided. And then I have friends whose moms were so busy at work (using those rights women so despereately fought for) they didn't pay much attention to their child and now....well, who knows where that child is now. I think that even though women have the option, at the end of the day they just want the typical American dream.

The lack of love for the WNBA from women is a little disheartening, but it shows you what America wants. Even with other sports...when is the last time you watched a softball match? Or a female gulf tournament? Do you know what sport the Western New York Flash belong to? (It's Women's Professional Soccer by the way) How do women's professional sports play a part in your life? Are they even in your life?

~Give Me Room to Stand, And I Will Move the World~

Living Room or Chat Room??

The question if virtual communities are genuine really brought up a heated conversation between my friends and I. A female friend said it was diminishing how we communicate. We no longer can read facial expressions and sarcasm because it's hard to put your emotions on a screen...unless you take the time to write it out, but where's the fun in that? On the other hand, my male friend came from another side: video games. He mentioned the growing of a game, World of Warcraft, and in this game you create an avatar and defeat evil doers and such. But you also have to live your life; eat, sleep find a mate and get married. He informed me how people would meet in the games and their avatars would get married and some even went as far as to meet in real life, date and eventually get married. If you ask me that's a little creepy, but hey, to each his own.

I had to side with both of them. Where chat rooms can connect those of us across the water from each other, it can also connect unwanted people who may or may not live around the corner. That danger of you never can trust who that person says they are wins over for me. This leads to kids not knowing how to trust what a person says and understanding danger. So where virtual communities can be great for socializing and relaxation, I don't feel that they are benefiting our growth as human beings. If anything, I think technology is slowing down our evolution, but hey....that's a blog for another time....

~Give Me Room to Stand, And I Will Move the World~

Battle of the Sexes...But Not Really

Sports: not for everyone, but once in a while you'll find one you like then you're hooked for life. But the one thing that most people can agree on, whether they enjoy sports or not, is that women sports are just no good. And I don't know if anyone can really put a finger as to why they don't like women sports, except for that they're "just not as entertaining." I know this may sound harsh being a woman myself, but I don't even enjoy women sports, and I love everything soccer. Now, if someone gave me a free ticket to go see Atlanta Beats play, I would go and enjoy myself, but to sit down and watch USA's women team play...I think I'll pass.

I feel that the underlined connection is the "barbarianism" of it all. Romans and Greeks would put two slave men in a cage together and say, "who ever lives gets to have their freedom," and watch, just for entertainment. And at the heart of it all, we all enjoy watching two men, with nothing to lose, fight to the death. Now and days, instead of slaves we have football players and instead of a death pit we have the gridiron.

Some men have tried to make women sports entertainment more entertaining. Where do you think Lingerie football came from or even pool-full-of-mud wrestling? But there is that sexual theme that is also linked to that, making not accessible to all ages. I think the injury rate plays a factor too. For people to see a woman get hurt is sad, but for a man to get hurt it's cool, and we want to see more of it.

Let's face it, women sport will never be as great as the guys...At the end of the day, people would rather see Kobe Bryant than Lisa Leslie dunking a basketball.

~Give Me Room to Stand, And I Will Move the World~

It Takes Two...

What is college but practice for the real world? And the real world is not just answering a bunch of hypothetical questions, it's "getting your hands dirty" and solving the big problems. For me, it makes no sense to separate practice from theory; they depend on one another. Theory helps a person creatively consider all options while practice shows you a consequence, whether good or bad, once a decision is made and followed through with. And if that decision didn't work as well as once conceived, it's back to the drawing board. A good portion of the relationship between theory and practice when it comes to liberal arts courses (or any course for that matter) is the uncertainties of the job can worked out, from the personal to the practical.

A person wondering if being a newspaper journalist is the job for him, what better way to find out than to talk about what it takes to be a journalist and then going out on campus or even the community and writing a story that is an interest among the target audience. Or, for a young lady who may want to work in television, dealing with a disgruntle camera man is easier after talking about ethics and problem solving in a classroom.

Knowledge is always better retained when accompanied by engagement. From vocabulary words with a picture to a job description with shadowing. Learning all you learn in college means absolutely nothing if you don't put it to good use. Universities are better for it is they offer theory with practice in accompaniment.



~Give Me Room to Stand, And I Will Move the World~

...These Are Their Stories Dun! Dun!

In my preteen days, Law and Order SVU was just getting up and running and its "ripped from the headlines" topics would keep my eyes glue to the television from the hours of 10pm to 11pm every Tuesday night. For me, it was a first hand look on how this country's legal system work and how there was no not getting caught for the bad guys. This show gave me a sense of hope, because no matter how bad the local news would portray the police department, this show gave you an image of a strong team, working together for the greater good. The diversity of the unit plus all of their knowledge being put to the test showed me how persistence is key, and how even though you may not have gotten the right person the first time you can't give up because other people are depending on you to catch the right criminal.

As I got older, I started to see the world in a different light. I started to be a little more sympathetic toward the villains. Instead of criminals who didn't like the world and wanted revenge, I saw abused people who just wanted an outlet and went about it in the manner. Law and Order started to show criminals who grew up in a bad neighborhood, like some of the kids that went to my school, and bad guys who had very dysfunctional families, like some of the classmates I knew. This showed me that people weren't bad because the wanted to be, but sometimes that's all they know, and yes they have to be accountable for their actions, but maybe (just maybe) they are not entirely to blame. I thought to myself, "If this person just had someone safe they could talk to, it may not have gotten this far..." That may be naive thinking, but it's what drove me to see the good in everyone, even if it's not very apparent.

If Law and Order SVU has taught me anything, it's that sometimes even when you win, you lose.

~Give Me Room to Stand, And I Will Move the World~

Welch's Grape Juice

Hello All!

My name is Jem Welch and I am a fourth year student at Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU). I am changing my major from Civil Engineering Technologies to New Media Arts (which, naturally is setting me back a little bit) because I realized I can't sit in a office all day and do work...I would die! So, my hope is that branching into New Media, I will have a broader knowledge of the world and how it functions and more availability to go out into the world and "soar." I plan to be a photographer, but what my focus would be, right now, I'm not quite sure.

Just to let you know a little about me, I am the daughter of a accountant and school teacher and the youngest of three. I was born in Antigua where playing soccer and cricket is law :-). When I'm not in class, I just like to be around friends, because I know it won't be too long before one of us suggests something stupid and we all say Yea! to it. I work at Big Thinkers Science Exploration as a scientist who performs experiments for kid's birthday parties, in-class field trips or school assemblies. It's a really fun job because I get to combined two of my favorite things: interesting, need to know information and kid's eagerness to learn.

The mass media I really enjoy is photography, because as they say, "a picture's worth a thousand words." However, it's not always the picture that interest me more as the "thousand words" that are said. I love to hear the opinions of others; it's always intriguing to see the glass from different eyes, whether half full...or half empty...or to see it like me, a container that is twice as large as it needs to be.

One of the best ways to remember me is my name, Jem. My big sister, Jewel, named me from her favorite TV show back in the 80's called Jem and the Holograms. To this day, she says naming me was her greatest accomplishment...I love the theme song so much, it's my ringtone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgzZ2Ta0EpA

~Give Me Room to Stand, And I Will Move the World~