Ground Zero

"They were our neighbors, our husbands, our children, our sisters, our brothers, and our wives. Our countrymen, and our friends. They were us." -Mayor Bloomberg
  

    This weekend while I was in New York, I visited Ground Zero. It's hard to describe what it was like because so many different words come to mind when I think about it; beautiful, peaceful, calm, haunting, eerie, and so many more. Something I found amazing were all the little details that were put into the memorial. To begin, the names placed around the pools are based on where the victims were on 9/11. The placement of the names also represents the relationships that they had with others who lost their lives on that day. Many of the victim's families requested that their loved one's name be put near someone specific. For example, one family requested that their son's name be placed next to his close friend that he sat next to at work. Another detail is the survivor tree. This tree was planted in the 1970s in the World Trade Center plaza and was damaged on 9/11. Despite the damage, the tree was nursed back to health and returned to the site where it stood before the attacks. It represents hope and resilience.
    In addition to the tree, hope was emphasized all around the memorial. There were constant reminders in the pamphlets and signs that implied how important it is that the American people stay united, continue to rebuild, and never lose hope. 
    While I was there, I bought a book called "September Morning" which contains poems and readings that have been recited during the 9/11 memorial ceremonies. The quote from Mayor Bloomberg on the top of the post is from this book. Each page is moving, but here is an excerpt from one of the poems that stood out to me, it is called "The Names" written by Billy Collins: 

Names etched on the head of a pin. 
One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel. 
A blue name needled into the skin. 
Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers, 
the bright-eyed daughter, the quick son. 
Alphabet of names in a green field. 
Names in the small tracks of birds. 
Names lifted from a hat
or balanced on the tip of the tongue. 
Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory. 
So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart. 


Below I have attached pictures from my visit. Please feel free to comment on Mayor Bloomberg's quote, the poem, or a picture.

Making a Difference...?

    On Saturday, my fellow classmate, Lily Schroeder, and I went downtown to serve a "thanksgiving dinner" to many homeless people and families who do not get to enjoy a thanksgiving meal on the actual day. Each year, my mom, along with Lily's mom and other members of our temple, organize this day at the Bethlehem Healing Temple on the west side of Chicago. We set up many tables with a whole bunch of decorations and serve food to around 400 people. There are always a lot of clothing items and shoes for the people to take, as well. Aside from the thanksgiving meal, once a month members from my temple make sandwiches and bring them downtown to hand out to people in need. As Mr. Bolos talked about  in his blog post, we are only helping these people a few days out of a 365 day year...so are we really making that big of a difference? In my opinion, we are making a difference, but definitely not a life changing one. Each year, we make this a special day for these people and give them a meal that they seem to really enjoy, but I realize that at the same time, what many of these people really need is an education, a job and a warm place to sleep. Giving these people food is only a band-aid, not a permanent gesture that will help support them for the rest of their lives.
   Before we started serving, a bunch of the volunteers sat in on a service that was going on in the temple. The people in the temple seemed so thankful that we had come, which really struck me. It made me think about how much I take for granted eating three good meals every day and going to a restaurant without thinking twice about it.  Each year I go downtown thinking that I'm going to make some big difference, but this year it just made me wonder what I could do that would have more of a lasting impact. The kids need good education and the adults need jobs, but what can we do to make these things happen?

An Election Without Polls

    In Mr. O'Connor's blog post, and in class, we have discussed the affect of media on the elections. The media makes every election seem like a horse race so that people continue to tune in. This way, the media companies will continue to make money and it will help their businesses. As seen in both of the poll photos in this post, the past three elections (including this year's) have been portrayed by the media to have been a neck-and-neck race. For example, in the pictures below, the difference between candidates is 1%, but that was most likely not really the case. I think it's fair to assume that the media pretty much always puts this spin on elections, and will continue to do so in the future. 
    I saw a discussion on the New York Times website that got me thinking about the question, "what would a presidential election be like if the media neither commissioned nor reported on any polls?" Maybe if this were to happen, elections would be completely different than what they are today. People would be able to make their own decisions, instead of having their ideas about what is going to happen in the race be shaped by news reporters and online poles. That said, if people already know that many times polls are just a way for media companies to make money, then why do so many still pay such close attention to them? The polls might not be the problem, it's just that many Americans have a constant need to anticipate what is going to happen, before it actually happens. What do you think elections would be like if there were no polls? 

                                                                 

2004 election poll 

2008 election poll

Big Win for Women

Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts' first female senator

    Obama won the election, but he could not have done it without help from many different groups of people, including women. As this article from Time magazine states, Obama "carried 55% of the demographic — about the same percentage he carried in 2008 — including nearly 67% of single women." Based on CNN's exit polls, 55% of women voted for Obama. Aside from helping Obama get reelected, women themselves also seemed to have won pretty big on Tuesday night. This year, congress will have the most number of women House members since 1992. The number of women U.S. senators have increased to a record number of 20, three more than last year. Heidi Heitkamp became the first woman elected  as North Dakota's U.S. senator, Deb Fischer became Nebraska's first woman senator since 1954, and Maize Hirono became Hawaii's first woman U.S. senator. Hirono is also the first Asian-American woman to become a U.S. senator. To continue, Elizabeth Warren became Massachusetts' first female senator, and Tammy Baldwin became Wisconsin's first, as well. Baldwin is also the senate's first openly gay U.S. senator. Lastly, all six women democrats that were up for reelection won their races.
    After watching the election and seeing the growing power that women have in the government, I wonder if it will speed up any changes that may happen with the role of women in everyday life. I also wonder when the time will come that it will be just as "normal" for a woman to be elected into a government position as it is for a man to be. Even with the growing presence of women in government positions, I think that our country still may have a while before we reach that point. We've made progress, but there is still a ways to go. What do you think? What does the growing presence of women in our government say about our country?

Impressive or Concerning?

   This morning I was sitting at my kitchen table when a picture in the New York Times from this article caught my eye. It is the same photo that I have put in this post, and if you look closely enough, you will see the third person from the left; a sixty pound girl named Kaytlynn Welsch. She, 12,  and her sister Heather, 10, run in some of the most grueling races in the country alongside some of America's best runners, most of which are three times the age, and size, of the sisters. While they run in some races that are meant for children, most of the time the girls are running in races meant to be a challenge...for adults. Kaytlynn and Heather recently ran in the national championship trail run in Utah and as the New York Times states, "These children sweetened the scene with a dollop of cuteness, but curious onlookers were unsure whether to be intrigued or appalled." Similarly, Claudia Spooner, a 42-year old runner who was beat by Kaytlynn in a major race in Texas, said that they were "beautiful but teeny girls." Spooner has an 8-year old son and as the New York Times states, "she would never put him in such a race. It was too hard on young bodies. It could harm their growth." The girls are pushed by their father, who seems to be very hard on the girls for such a young age and says that his daughters have "too much talent to quit."
    When I first read about these girls, I was in shock. I think that races meant for adults, should be for adults. There should be age limits on races because I think it is unnecessary and dangerous for people like the Welsch sisters to be running in them. They could just as well run in races meant for kids their age and wait until they are older to participate in the other ones. Parents need to be less harsh on their children, especially when they are at such a young age. The Welsch sisters are not even teenagers yet, so how could they possibly know that running is all they will want to do for the rest of their life? Their parents need to push them to explore other activities while they are young, instead of just pushing them to run, run, run. It is simply unhealthy for the girls to be running so often (Kaytlynn ran around 90 races in a 2 year span) and although I know little about the sport, their dad seems unqualified as a coach. What do you think about this story? Do you think, as the title of the article suggests, that the Welsch sisters are going "Too Fast, Too Soon"? Why or why not?

Cancelled at Last

    Hurricane Sandy has brought an incredible amount of devastation to the east coast, and it has also brought controversy over whether the New York Marathon should take place or not. As of November 2nd, Mayor Bloomberg (the mayor of New York) officially called off the race, which was planned to be held today, November 4th. This will mark the first year since 1970 that the race has not been held. Within these years includes 2001, when the marathon was held just two months after the attacks of 9/11. Mayor Bloomberg and Mary Wittenberg, the marathon director, were both supportive of the race taking place and as this article states, they "said the event would provide a needed morale boost, as well as an economic one." Unlike many others, Bloomberg did not believe that holding the race would pull attention away from all those suffering. That said, Bloomberg ended up changing his mind and the race has been cancelled, despite the thousands of people, including many from other countries, who have come in for the marathon. The cancellation was announced just 48 hours before the race, which left many of the 40,000 people who had already flown in quite unhappy.
    In my opinion, cancelling the race was a no-brainer, but I do think that the decision should have been made earlier. All the focus needs to be on the areas and people who are suffering from all the damage caused by the hurricane.  Holding the race would bring controversy and an unnecessary divide to New York, which at a time like this, needs to be united. Maybe a solution would be to postpone the race for a few weeks, but I am aware that doing this would be much easier said than done, considering the amount of people who flew in from all around the globe. What do you think about the race being cancelled? What benefits, if any, would there be if the race was held? Why do you think it took the mayor so long to finally cancel the marathon?