Sunday, May 31, 2015

The Courage of a 9-Year-Old

Ezra Frech
As I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I came across a video that brought me to tears. 'The Inspirational Story of 9-Year-Old Ezra Frech'; and it truly was inspirational. As a junior in high school about to become a senior I am constantly daunted by the impending college applications that I am going to have to begin filling out, and the possibility of being rejected from some of those universities. To me applying to college takes a lot of courage, but after watching this video I have realized that what I think takes a lot of courage seems incredibly small to what young Ezra has to face everyday. He truly is courageous.

Ezra was born with one finger on his left hand and a full left leg that was curved. In order to fix some of this he underwent surgery when he was two and a half years old to remove his left leg and took the big toe from his left foot and put it on his left hand, so that he would have two fingers. He now wears a prothsetic on his left leg. Even with only two fingers on his left hand and a prothsetic on his left leg Ezra is a better athlete than I will ever be. He says sports help him forget about the fact the he is different and allow him to just focus on what is happening in the game; he enters game mode.

In the video we see Ezra participating in basketball, soccer, football and track. If this was any other kid one would say wow they're really athletic, but a lot of young kids play multiple sports, but for Ezra this is a tremendous accomplishment. When asked if he thinks he has to work harder than anyone else he uses this example to answer the question: "I bet kids when they take a step [think] 'oh I took a step, big deal'. But, for me when I take a step I say 'oh no big deal', but I though about every little bit." This comparison put's everything in to perspective for me. I don't even notice what is happening to my body when I walk up a set of stairs let alone one step, but for Ezra that one step takes a lot of strength.

In my opinion, the most inspiring thing that Ezra said throughout the entire video was his response to this question: "How do you stay positive?" His response was: "I have to think about what I have, instead of what I don't have." This was such a mature answer from someone who is just 9-years-old.

Please take the time to watch Ezra's video here.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Fifty Years of the Foot-Long

Subway started off in 1965 as Pete's Super Submarines in Conneticut. 17-year-old Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from a family friend Peter Buck, a doctor. DeLuca was aspiring to be a doctor hoped that this sandwich shop would help him pay for medical school. In 1974 the two of them started selling franchises under the name Subway. Subway has made it into many different types of places such as college campuses, malls military bases, a car showroom, a Goodwill store, and even a church.
Subway Foot-Long

Subway has always been one of America's top food chains having 43,945 sandwich shops in 110 countries. However, in the last year Subway sales have declined 3 percent ($400 million). So why is it that their sales are declining?

Subway used to to be known for offering the healthiest fast food at great prices. Now Subway has some competition: Chipotle Mexican Grill and Firehouse Subs. Both offer healthy build-your-own meals like Subway, but their options seem to be fresher. As a consumer I would prefer to see my deli meat freshly cut in front of me rather than peeled off wax paper. Subway still uses microwaves to heat their food, I would prefer a steamer. Subway hasn't evolved to be in line with what Americans see as healthy. In my opinion Subway needs to work harder to maintain their label as a healthy fast food. option.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Beauty Comes in All Sizes

After spending four weeks studying eating disorders and the ideal body image I took a little break studying it... except for now. I recently came across a Ted Talk by Ashley Graham where she discussed body acceptance. Ashley Graham is a body activist, lingerie designer, and model… well plus size model. As she says in her Ted Talk, Graham was signed at the age of 13 to a major modeling company.  She talks about how difficult it was for her to answer the question "What do you do for a living?", because every time she said "I'm a model" she would get a funny look and then have to qualify with "a plus size model." It's so unfortunate that someone as beautiful as Graham struggles to feel accepted in her own body because of  "the narrow mold" that society has set as the beautiful body image.
Graham's Shoot for Sports Illustrated
In my opinion Graham is quite the success seeing as she has been on the cover of five magazines and is encouraging women to love their bodies. The Dove brand has launched a campaign to create a "wider definition of beauty after [a] study proved the hypothesis that the definition of beauty had become limiting and unattainable. A quiet shocking statistic is that "only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful." Both Dove and Graham are striving to spread the word the perfection and beauty come in all different shapes and sizes, and that all should be accepted. 

To watch Ashley Graham's Ted Talk click here.


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

How the Media Influences What We Want to Look Like

Models and actresses have been setting the ideal body in our society since the early 1900s. According to an article on eating disorders in the newsletter CQ Researcher Charles Dana Gibson created a drawing that was in many magazines entitled "The Gibson Girl" which featured a girl whose tiny waist was not proportionate to the rest of her body creating an unrealistic ideal for women. Fast forward 40 years to a time where Marilyn Monroe and other actresses who had a fuller figure set an ideal that was more in ling with natural anatomy. Then, in the 1960s Twiggy a British model who weighed 97 pounds presented a new body image of impossible skinniness. This body type is still desired by many women and young girls today. However, this body type is only naturally possessed by 5% of American females.  
With media being so prominent in our society, what actresses and models look like will inevitably have a huge impact on whoever sees them. In a Pediatric Child Health from 2003 pediatricians Anne Morria and Debra Katzman said that “On average a child or adolescent… spends an average of 6 to 7 hours [a day] viewing the various media combined." This amount of media exposure is bound to have an impact on its viewers. The Anorexia Nervosa and associated disorders association released the statistic that "47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures." Clearly there being one body type people are striving for is not healthy. 
Media is constantly showing us what we should be striving for. For example, Victoria's Secret released a bra campaign entitled "The Perfect 'Body'" and here is what the campaign picture looks like:
Victoria's Secret Campaign


This ad makes it seem as though this body type is "perfect". Though the word "body" is specifically talking about the body of the bra having 10 extremely thin women in the background doesn't make it seem that way. After much scrutiny Victoria's Secret changed the campaign title to "A Body For Every Body" with the same picture in the back


When will women finally not feel pressure from society to be this thin?

Monday, April 27, 2015

Athletes and Eating Disorders

It's particularly ironic that athletes in certain sports are susceptible to eating disorders. Athletes have one goal in mind and they will do whatever it takes to reach that goal, even if it means developing an eating disorder. According to Walden, a treatment facility for people with eating disorders "…athletes- both men and women- may be two to three times more likely to have an eating disorder than the average person…"

Gymnast Kerri Strug Developed an Eating Disorder
It has been proven that women are more likely to develop eating disorders over men. According to the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine women in aesthetic, weight category and endurance sports are at the highest risk to develop an eating disorder. Aesthetic sports include gymnastics and dance; these female athletes are at the absolute highest risk for developing eating disorders. In the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine 42% of the athletes who participated in aesthetic sports have an eating disorder. In 1992 gymnast Kerri Strug failed to make the all-around competition in the Olympics. The 14-year-old believed that if she were lighter she would perform better. In 1996 the 4-foot-9-inch athlete weighing 78 pounds won gold at the 1996 Olympics.  

Men athletes can also develop eating disorders. Men in antigravity, weight category, and endurance sports are at the highest risk, especially athletes in weight category sports like wrestling. In the same study conducted by the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine men had significantly lower percentages for eating disorders, but the sports with the most male athletes with eating disorders was weight category with 18 percent. Athletes in weight category sports are at risk because they need to maintain a certain weight to compete against the same competition. 

To me it is very shocking athletes are at such a high risk because sports are supposed to keep you healthy. What do you think about athletes susceptibility to eating disorders?

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Connection Between Eating Disorders and Obesity

In my previous post I talked about how the ideal body image the media has instilled in our society has caused people to develop eating disorders. Continuing with the same topic of eating disorders, in this post I am going to discuss how our country's battle with obesity has driven people to eating disorders, specifically children.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about 17% of children and adolescents had an eating disorder in 2011-2012. With such a high amount of children being obese our country has put more emphasis on being healthier. In fact, First Lady Michelle Obama launched her Let's Move initiative with the intent to solve the obesity problem in this generation. Children are trying to be healthier, but some end up with the other extreme: an eating disorder.

When children try to lose weight some become too focused on it and their "every thought and behavior surrounds eating". The problem with these children is that their parents and/or physicians do not recognize that they are developing an eating disorder because they believe its a good thing the child is losing weight. In order to lose weight in a healthy way the child must exercise and eat healthy, but not eat as little as possible and over exercise. It is important, as a country, that we promote a healthy lifestyle in a healthy way.

In a study from the journal Pediatrics two case studies were presented for teenagers who were obese and through there weight loss developed an eating disorder that went undetected for a very long time by doctors. In both cases there were signs that suggested an eating disorder; however, doctors attributed these symptoms to other causes rather than an eating disorder. Doctors, as well, should be especially aware of excessive weight loss in an obese child so that the eating disorder can be detected as soon as possible.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

The Ideal Body Image

Supermodel Ideal
With Junior year comes the Junior Theme. This project can be on any topic that has some historical significance, which is why it was so difficult for me to pick a topic. After going through multiple topics I landed on eating disorders. In particular I'm studying "why eating disorders are on the rise?" According to a CQ Researcher article about eating disorders anorexia and bulimia affect nearly 10 million women and 1 million men.

One cause of eating disorders is the ideal body image that we have in our society. With models and actresses being extremely thin, girls and women are striving to be more like them; however, these are truly unrealistic and unhealthy ideals. The average supermodel is 5'10'' and weighs only 120 pounds, while the average women is 5'4'' and 169 pounds. The numbers themselves show how difficult it would be for the average women to reach these ideals. In order for the average woman to have the same body mass index (bmi)  as the average supermodel she would have to lose 69 pounds. The bmi of the supermodel is 17.2 and anything under 18.5 is underweight; so not to mention the difficulty of losing 69 pounds, but those that strive for the ideal body image are striving to be underweight. The way that women and girls are reaching these ideals is by developing eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia.  


Monday, April 6, 2015

Curing the Stigma Against Mental Illness

We recently discussed "paginas en blanco [blank pages]" of family history in my American Studies class. A common "pagina en blanco" of families was mental illness. Most of this cover-up was due to the stigma of mental illness at the time, but I'm not sure if the stigma has really gone away.
There are many forms of mental illness

Andreas Lubitz was the co-pilot of the Germanwings Flight who crashed the plane into the French Alps. It has recently become known that Lubitz was struggling with a mental illness. This revelation raises the need for a discussion about the stigma put on mental illness. Why do people with mental illness feel the need to hide it? If they confide in doctors, should the doctors sound an alarm if their patient could harm others? 

In order to fight the stigma of mental illness we need to encourage those who are suffering to open up about it. Not long ago there was a stigma against those who had cancer causing them to not tell anyone about their disease, but now public opinion has changed and everyone is more supportive towards those who have cancer. The way to suppress stigmas of mental illness is to educate the public about what the disease does to a person. In on article on Revelstoke Review a mother was quoted saying "My daughter's struggle with severe depression was more difficult for me than my husband's sudden death." The problem with our society is that when a person has a mental illness people tend to stay far away instead of comforting or being there for them. 

There is also a problem that health care providers face when it come to doctor-patient confidentiality. If they feel that someone could be a threat to others there are policies in place that inhibit them from telling anyone. It may be necessary for policy to change in order to allow doctors to identify ill parents that could be harmful to others. At the same time we have to provide a society where someone with a disability can reveal their struggle while still living a normal life. 

Monday, March 23, 2015

Fraternity Scandal Sparks Parenting Debate

At University of Oklahoma a racist chant against African-American people was being used in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. As a result two students were suspended and the SAE chapter was removed from the university. This is horrific that in a society that is supposed to have moved past racism of this nature it still exist. Something that has come to surface because of this situation is the issue of parenting. The two young men expelled were Levi Pettit and Parker Rice, but there parents reactions were completely different.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon, University of Oklahoma
In the case of Parker Rice he issued a statement to the Dallas Morning News apologizing for his behavior saying this it was "wrong and reckless". His parents, however, had nothing to say. On the other hand, in the case of Levi Pettit he has yet to release a statement, but his parents did. They said that  they know their son made a mistake and what they saw in the video was "disgusting", but they also vouched for his character saying that deep down they know his isn't a racist. Finally, they apologized on his behalf saying "we apologize to the community he has hurt".

The difference between the two cases of parenting has sparked a debate between those who believe the Rice family is in the right versus those who believe the Pettit family is in the right. In my opinion the Pettit family is in the right. Having the ability to acknowledge that there son has made a mistake proves to the community that they didn't raise him to be that way. I asked my mom what her opinion was and she said that if she was in this position she would have had her son apologize and she would have apologized as well, and I agree.

Was it "Stolen From" or "Inspired By"?

Williams and Thicke in Blurred Lines music video
The long copyright battle between Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke versus the family of Marvin Gaye has come to an end with Williams and Thicke found guilty of copyright infringement. During my American Studies class we analyzed the songs by playing them one after another and I personally did not hear much that was similar. Though both songs have a similar beat and tone to them they don't sound exactly same to me.

Any type of artist will be inspired by artists before them, that comes with the territory. Another problem is that "there are only so many chords and notes" to use in music which makes it really easy for music to end up sounding the same. This makes me wonder why this particular song was brought to court when many other ones sound even more similar than these two. An example, given in a Chicago Tribune article, referenced two country songs Luke Bryan's "Drunk on You" and Parmalee's "Close Your Eyes". After listening to these two songs one after another I thought I was listening to the same exact song. So, if these songs sound identical then why aren't they heading to court for a lawsuit?

One of Williams' worries is that this ruling will cause the creativity of other artists to be hindered because they are scared of violating a copyright. "Everything that's around you in a room was inspired by something or someone. If you kill that, there's no creativity." I agree with Williams that a ruling like this will scare off artists in the future. What do you think? Is Williams right about the effects of the ruling?

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Volunteering: Abroad

Many people have different opinions on high school students volunteering. One opinion is that "service will teach children to look beyond themselves" and learn about the role they play in the community and country. On the other hand some believe that high schoolers volunteer because the want to build their college résumé. Many argue wether it matters why one is volunteering; it just matters that they are volunteering. I have done various types of volunteer work. From traveling to abroad to staying in my community, I have felt the joys of volunteering. Yes it does help my college résumé, but that doesn't mean anything to me. I want to volunteer because I enjoy it so much.

In this post I am going to focus on volunteering abroad because I have such a close connection to it.
Over the past two summers I have gone on volunteer trips to Costa Rica and Ecuador. I believe that this was so beneficial because it gave me a chance to see how the rest of the world lives. From going on this trips I have realized how fortunate I am to live in America in such great conditions. On these trips I didn't just spend my time thinking about the differences between home and where I was. I spent my time playing with children in daycares. I spent my time making the daycares cleaner and happier than they were before. Going on these trips has been a life changing experience for me.

Opposers to volunteering abroad believe that it is a way for students to use money they have to make their résumé stand out from others. Barmak Nassirian is the associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and he said "We're not idiots. We know the price of an air-conditioned hotel and a plane. It's an act of affluent tourism masquerading as community service." I think he is looking at this type of volunteering from to narrow a lens. By using the word "affluent" he is making it seem as though we are spending our money to go to the nicest area of these countries and eat gourmet meals and we throw a little community service in there to make us seem like we aren't being selfish tourists. He isn't giving us enough credit. We work hard during the day and we don't stay in the nicest part of town. I don't think it is right for someone to discredit the work that another person does. This is still a legitimate way of volunteering. Mark Segal is the director of Westcoast Connection, which has similar programs to one I went on, and he said by volunteering abroad "you're opening the doors for relationships and learning in a way that's very different than being a traveler." When volunteering abroad we aren't just on vacation, we are trying to make a difference.

Here are some personal experiences from my summers abroad that prove these are not superficial trips. To the left is a picture from my first summer in Costa Rica. The first two weeks I spent there I cleaned and painted the daycare. The third week is when the children came back from winter break and I finally got to play with them. They were the sweetest kids I had ever met. I made a very strong connection with the little girl in the picture, Daniella. Even though there was a language barrier I was able to communicate with her enough to play games with her. To the right is a picture of a little boy I met in Ecuador, Benjamin. My favorite part of the two weeks I spent in volunteering at his daycare is when as soon as we walked in he would run up to me with his hands out just like that asking me to pick him up. These two children made me feel like I made an impact on them, which made the whole experience even more fulfilling.


Thursday, February 19, 2015

Road Rage on the Rise

While on the highway, taking her daughter home from a driving lesson, a man pull up "aggressively" behind Tammy Meyers and tried to pass her. Her daughter reached over to the steering wheel and honked the horn. Then, Meyers sped up and drove away. Once she returned home she had her daughter go inside and tell her brother (Tammy's son) to come outside. Her son Brandon was armed and they set out to find the man from the highway. With no luck, they returned home to find the man at there house. He was also armed and fatally shot Tammy. Police are still trying to find the suspect. In the picture below family and friends gathered to mourn Meyer.
Vigil For Tammy Meyer

This is the most recent road rage incident, but road rage is on the rise and becoming more deadly. After this recent incident the Washington Post compiled some data together for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to prove how large of a problem this is becoming. This graph to the left shows the increase in deadly road rage accidents starting in 2004. In 2013 the number of deaths was nearly 250, which is a scary number in itself, but it doesn't take in to account those road rage accidents that didn't end up in death, but may have caused serious injury. This graph also doesn't take in to account those road rage incidents that people take a step too far and track each other down to kill at home, like Tammy Meyer.


Another study showed that road rage is most common in people ages 18-39. I find this interesting because I believe this is the most hectic time of peoples' lives. At 18 you are starting your life as an adult; maybe going to college. As you get older you will graduate from college and try to find a job in your field of work. Then maybe you want to get married and have kids. All of these milestones in life can add stress to people. So, it could be possible that a reason people are acting this way is because they are stressed and the last thing they want is to be cut off by someone on the highway. In no way am I justifying this sort of action, but I can see why this age range may be more enraged on the road. 

What do you think? Do you see a correlation between age and road rage? 

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Making Girls Proud To Be Who They Are

The #LikeAGirl commercial from the Superbowl has gotten mixed reactions, but for me it had the most impact. The commercial made girls feel like it was okay to do things like a girl. As a young girl I always heard boys tell other boys "You throw like a girl" or "You run like a girl". The implication was that they were throwing poorly or running badly. In this commercial it showed young girls being asked to run, throw, and fight like a girl and the results were incredible. They threw like they were the star pitcher on a softball team. They sprinted like they were in the Olympics.

The effect of this commercial spread all of twitter with the trending #LikeAGirl. One of my favorite tweets was this one:
The caption "I serve my country #likeagirl" proves that women can be proud of who they are. The hashtag is there to show young women that they can do anything they want to and do it just as well as a boy. 

However, some people didn't have the same reaction I did. Meninists started using the #LikeABoy in response saying that equality matters. The difference is that no one has ever used "like a boy" as an insult, but "like a girl" is used very often as an insult. This commercial wasn't made to bring down the self esteem of boys and I think these meninists need to understand that. It is also a proven fact that women aren't on the same playing field as men; not just in things like throwing or running, but in the workforce. In 2013, among full-time, year-round workers, women were paid 78 percent of what men were paid. Hopefully this commercial won't just change what is happening among young girls and boys but what happens among adults. 

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Re-RIGHTING History

Friendship Nine sentenced to 30 days in jail for sit-in
John Alexander Gaines, Thomas Walter Gaither, Clarence H. Graham, Willie Thomas Massey, Willie Edward McCleod, Robert L. McCullough, James Frank Wells, David Williamson Jr. and Mack C. Workman were sentenced to 30 days in jail for an anti-segregation protest in Rock Hill, South Carolina on Jan. 31, 1961. These men from Friendship College were give a choice by the judge $100 or 30 days in jail. They chose 30 days of doing hard labor. 

54 years later...

The men now in completely different form: walking with canes, using wheelchairs, or with less hair. Unfortunately, Mr. McCullough passed away in 2006 and Mr. Gaither had to send his son in his place. However, one thing remained the same: the lawyer. Ernest A. Finney Jr. represented the men 54 years ago and he returned back to Rock Hill for the trial. 

Kimberyly P. Johnson, author of the book "No Fear for Freedom" a children's book about the sit-in, approached the local prosecutor Kevin Brackett about vacating the charges. So, Mr. Brackett, during the trial spoke on behalf of the justice system and apologized for what the Friendship Nine went through. The judge John C. Hayes III told the men that they should never have been charged in the first place. It's amazing that these two white government men were able to admit the faults of the white men in the past. In fact, the judge 54 years ago was judge Hayes' uncle. 

 "We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history" said judge John C. Hayes III.  

I think it's very interesting that it took the country 54 years to right the wrongs of the past. It shows that the country is making progress, but it still took so long to do so. Will the justice system right any other wrongs of the past?

Link to the video from the trial is here.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

The College Athlete Standards

I was having a conversation with someone who is a soccer player and who plans on playing in college, and she was giving me examples of schools that she was looking at and how they could get a scholarship to these schools with a lower ACT or SAT score than the "average person" (a.k.a a non-athlete). Now that I have started the ACT process and realize how much work you have to put in to it I have come to the conclusion that his system is unfair. Even if I put in more time and effort in to studying than an athlete they may have a chance to get into a college that I wouldn't be able to just because they can kick a ball or shoot a basket. I am not trying to say that being an athlete or playing a sport in college is bad, I just believe that if they earned a spot into the school like the majority of students at that school it would be more fair.

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution(AJC) is a major daily newspaper out of Atlanta, Georgia, and they compared SAT scores of college football and men's basketball players to their classmates, in 2008, and here are the results:" Football and men’s basketball players on the nation’s big-time college teams averaged hundreds of points lower on their SATs than their classmates".
The University of Florida

The University of Georgia
The AJC found that the biggest gap between SAT scores was at the University of Florida where players scored 346 points lower than the average student. I also found it very interesting that some schools with the highest admission standers had the biggest difference in SAT scores. Schools also use a special admissions process to admit athletes if they do not meet the normal requirements to get in to the school. Nancy McDuff, the University of Georgia's associate vice president for admission and enrollment management said “If the university says they’d help us meet team needs, that’s as important as finding an oboist for the orchestra.” However, the AJC found that at the University of Georgia 73.5 percent of athletes were admitted through special admission compared to the 6.6 percent of the student body who were admitted through special admission. This really shows what colleges will go through to have a stronger team even though these players may not be qualified regarding school standards. 
I am not the only one who believe this is unfair. Former Princeton University President William Bowen said "There are grounds for concern. Places at a lot of these schools are precious things. To have them allocated this way raises troubling questions about fairness, about taking advantage of educational opportunity.”

So do you agree with Mr.Bowen and I or do you think that the way this system admits athletes is fair? 

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

#BeAwesomeToSomebody

Mark Bustos
This is Mark Bustos, a 30 year-old hairstylist at Three Squares Studio in New York City. He has a list of celebrity clients, but every Sunday he does something to give back. He goes to places like Union Square, the Lower East Side, and Midtown to give haircuts to homeless men and woman. “Whether I’m giving one at work or on the street, I think we can all relate to the haircut and how it makes us feel,” Mr. Bustos said.  His idea is to give back to the community because everyone deserves a good haircut. He posts before and after shots of his clients with the hashtag "BeAwesomeToSomebody" and he believes anyone can do something awesome like this. The idea came to him when he went to the Philippines in 2012. After seeing all the impoverished children there he decided to open up a barber shop. After returning home to New York he decided to go out on the streets and give haircuts.

David Terry
This is David Terry, a 50 year old homeless man who is H.I.V. positive. He often feels depressed because he feels like he's "on a treadmill going 80 miles per hour with the brakes on". One Sunday he received a haircut from Bustos. After seeing himself in the mirror he said “Yeah, baby, I’ve still got it, I’m the king of the world.” An Executive from Coalition for the Homeless believes that a haircut means more to homeless person than just a couple of inches trimmed off. It can help remind them of who they used to be and can often make them want to be that person again. Bustos once had a man say  “Do you know anyone who is hiring. I’m ready to go get a job.” after getting a haircut. 

 It's amazing what getting a haircut can do to a person and it's amazing what one person, like Mr. Bustos, can do for someone. So, thank you Mr. Bustos for inspiring people to do more and give back. 

Sunday, January 11, 2015

The 'Authority Minority'

As I sat in my American Studies class listening to my teacher's presentation on how television shows cast minorities to make the show more diverse he brought up the concept of an 'Authority Minority' and I immediately started thinking about all the shows I watch and wether or not they have that 'Authority Minority' figure. The 'Authority Minority' is always the best dressed man or woman and reigns in the main character because they are often not following the rules or they are getting ahead of themselves. Having a minority in head position makes them seem more important, but in reality they get very little screen time. One show came to mind: Castle.
Roy Montgomery
Castle is a network TV crime drama series on ABC. The main character, Richard Castle, is an author who shadows a New York City detective, Kate Beckett.

In the first three seasons the captain of the twelfth precinct is Roy Montgomery who happens to be an African-American man. Captain Montgomery is Kate Beckett's boss, like the 'Authority Minority' is supposed to do. As you can see in the picture of Captain Montgomery he is standing in a very closed off position with his his arms crossed. This position indicates that he is very strict. During his final season he had an interaction with Detective Kate Beckett that shows how he would reign in his detectives.
Captain Roy Montgomery: The hell am I gonna do with you?  
Kate Beckett: You're gonna let me work this case.  
We can see how Montgomery is exasberated with Kate and tries to bring her down a couple of notches as he sees that this case is too personal for her. At the end of this season Captain Montgomery passes away he is then replaced by Captain Victoria Gates.

Victoria Gates
Captain Victoria Gates is a female character who is very serious and also happens to be African-American. She, even more than Captain Montgomery, reigns in her detectives. It seems as though the TV series was doing the "token trade", after getting rid of one minority character they will be replaced by another. Captain Gates tries to keep Castle in check the most. She is constantly reminding him that he is only there for research for his books, he is not a police officer or detective. As she is seen in the picture she is very stern and is wearing a suit. By pointing her finger the way she is it shows how she is reigning in her detectives. I find it very interesting that they replaced Captain Montgomery with a female african-american. He could have easily been replaced by Kate Beckett, she is more then qualified. It seems as though they were trying to fill some sort of quota for minorities on the show.

Have you seen this happen in any other shows? Do you think that the producers made this trade on purpose?

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Remembering A Man That Changed Everything

On Sunday January 5th my brother and my dad were talking about a sports reporter named Staurt Scott who had just passed away. After watching a video about Scott's life and career tears came to my eye and I suddenly wanted to know more about this fascinating man. 

Scott was a graduate from the University of North Carolina and worked many places before joining ESPN. Al Jaffe, ESPN's vice president for talent, like Stuart because he thought he would appeal to a younger audience. He brought something more hip to broadcast that no one had ever done before. He was famous for his catchphrase "Boo-Yah" which at the time signified future rather than the present. Even after getting diagnosed with cancer in 2007 he continued to be his upbeat self because he didn't want this to change the way he lived his life entirely. 

He's remembered by his coworkers as a competitor, friend, celebrity, african-american, worker, poet, father, charmer, warrior, and champion. He connected to the other African-Amrericans in the NBA and NFL by his style and demeanor which was something that the network hadn't realized was possible until he got there. He was a father to two girls who meant the world to him. In July, Stuart received the Jimmy V award and uttered these words during his speech:
Stuart Scott Accepting Jimmy V Award


He was a champion.

Watch Staurts ESPYS Jimmy V Speech here