Mutual

I went and observed Mutual at a Mormon church in Nampa. Mutual is where the kids or teenagers of the ward come together once a week and hang out. They start out with saying a few prayers in a cramped room. About that time the leaders explain the rules for the day, and what is expected of them. Then all of the kids jump up and take off running to the gym inside of the church. I noticed around this time that everyone is wearing white t-shirts. I walk to the gym to see what the big commotion is and what kind of games they will be playing. I walk in to see black lights scattered around the gym, and two volleyball nets set up. Teens are screaming and having fun and setting up there teams. I watched them for a while and wondered if I could join in because it looked so fun. But I refrained myself. About that time a girl that I knew came over and invited me to play so I joined in. I was excited to get into the group and really feel apart of it for a few minutes. I found myself diving for the ball and finding out that I was having a lot of fun. When I was pulled from the game I went back to really paying attention to what they were doing, and wondering what makes them tick.

I've noticed that Mormons have the best family structure, and I wonder why? How do they make their familes so close and tight? I also wonder why when it comes to Sunday church they split up the boys from the girls, and the singles from the married? Is this to help teen pregnancy, and possibly keeping the home wreckers from wrecking the home? I was able to talk to a few people about the Book of Mormon and I wonder about it? Did someone really find Gold Plates and write the book of Mormon? I'm really excited to be able to write this essay and to also interview people in this religion.

~Friday Night at Iowa 80~

• What surprised you about this reading?

I was actually really surprised on how detailed the author made this article. I figured that reading about a truck stop would bore me to tears, but it had such vivid descriptions and it was written in such a way that I felt as if I was there.

• What intrigued you about this reading?

The fact that I had never really took into consideration that the speed limit difference on the highway played such a significant role in the trucker community really intrigued me. I also thought that the logbooks and cheating on them were very interesting.

• What disturbed you about this reading?

I was really startled when I read about the man who had only been back home for three hours over the course of about a month! Truckers put so much time into work but yet they only get paid by the mile. That to me is pretty crazy, because without them we would have a hard time getting all the essentials across the country.

Regarding "Friday Night at Iowa 80"

What surprised you about this reading?

In reading "Friday Night at Iowa 80" I was surprised by the reaction of the truckers to the interviewer, Rick Zollo. Many of them were suspicious and were extremely hesitant to talk to him, because they were afraid he may be a "spotter." After learning this I was no longer surprised by the reaction of the truckers to Rick, but instead by the fact that they are constantly afraid of being fined for violations they are basically forced to make in some instances. With deregulation, the trucker community has been given the shaft in a number of ways, a fact which they are completely aware of.

What intrigued you about this reading?

What intrigued me most about this reading was in the description of their community as being very inclusive, and suspicious of outsiders. The truckers are constantly aware of how they have been taken advantage of by the government of the United States, and must take much of their policing and such upon themselves. At the Iowa 80 truck stop, it was pretty much left to the truckers to police, and would often report shoplifters and drug busts, because they know if they don't do anything about it, it will end up biting them. With the example of shoplifters, if they are not caught, it will in turn raise the prices for the truckers in the community.

What disturbed you about this reading?

What disturbed me most about this reading were the injustices faced by the truckers. In particular, the fact that they are forced to do their own unloading, even though legally they are not supposed to do that. But then if they do not unload they have to pay someone else under the table, out of their own pocket. With deregulation, fines from state to state are completely different. Also, they are only paid while their odometer is ticking by, which is really messed up when you consider the fact they have to spend hours unloading-a job which they do not get paid for.

Iowa 80

What surprised you about this reading?
The main thing that surprised me was how it was called a "modern trucking village" and that's just what it was. It has everything from restaurants, a shopping mall, a hair salon, a movie theater, and an exercise room. The truck stop is advertised as "the largest Amoco truck stop in the world" taking up over 50 acres. The size and amenities of it all just really surprised me; not what I was expecting.
What intrigued you about this reading?
What really intrigued me was how much effort and time goes into trucking. I had no past knowledge on this so I found it very interesting. The whole concept of the logbooks also was interesting. The truckers have to cheat on them in some way to get paid what they know they should be getting paid. And in the paper they mention how logbooks may be computerized soon. Since this was written in the 90's I'm wondering if they are computerized now.
What disturbed you about this reading?
It really disturbed me how the truckers get paid by the mile. I believe they should get paid by the hour, not only when their truck is moving. In the paper they talk about how it could take 8 hours to unload the truck, and during that time the truck isn't moving so no money being made. It seems very unfair. I also didn't like how the truckers were so wary of him and kept calling him a "spotter". I guess I'm just used to people being more open hearted and not so guarded.

Iowa 80 Truckers

What surprised you about this reading?
The first thing that surprised me or rather made me laugh was all the things that were at this trucks stop. It was almost like they had their own little town where they could go to a dinner and a movie. I also thought that all truck drivers were independent, I know they worked for company's but just firgured they set their own times. I also felt sorry for the truckers which I didn't expect to do at all. I just seen them as fat, bearded men, but they really do have a tough job. When I read the title of the article I figured it was going to be pretty boring to read, but it surprised me that I found a lot of the things interesting.
What intrigued you about this reading?
It intrigued me on how much actually goes into truck driving. I always thought that they picked up the stuff dropped it off and did it all over agian. But there's paper work, log books, and a whole bunch of rules that they have to follow. I agreed with the Dan guy when he was talking about the different speeds of the trucks. It makes sense that the two differnt speeds would cause more porblems then the same speed. I want to know if this same stuff is going on. Why are the truckers paying for their trucks to be unloaded? Why aren't the stores paying people to do this? And like Dan said if we know that America would shut down if the truckers stopped working, we are we treating them this way?
What disturbed you about this reading?
This part intrigued me and disturbed me at the same time. I didn't like the fact that some of them packed drugs around in there trucks. The part that intrigued me though was the fact that the truckers police themselves. I didn't really like the fact that they treated him badly because they thought that he was a spotter. They treated him unkind alot. It disturbed me when Dan was talking about how they only get paid when the truck is moving. They could be on duty for a long period of time and not get paid a cent. I think it should be paid by the hour, instead of the mile. They want the truckers to cheat but when they get caught they have to pay for it.

Punk Artifact-Fashion

An important artifact I found in reading about punks is their desire for do-it-yourself fashion. Pleasant discusses how he and his friends would buy ordinary clothes and transform them into statements with simple, but meaningful alterations. Much of what defines punk culture is the subversive attitude which permeates nearly all of what they do, and is made most obvious with their dress. It was important to Pleasant and his punk friends because they could outwardly show their identification with the punk community, while showing their separation from the Bible-belt town of Waco, Texas.

~Punk Artifact~

"One incredibly important factor in our development was exposure to other groups at show" (Eric Pleasant). In going to the performances they were able to see how other people, who enjoyed their type of music, interpreted certain aspects of punk differently. They picked up other clothing ideas, slang terms and were able to see different ways that people acted. After attending more and more of these performances they eventually became known as the "Waco guys". In being known by others, they began to feel more and more like a family.

Punk Artifact

I think an important artifact for this group would be their hair styles. They had to improvise and do it themselves with the supplies they had available to them. They would bleach their hair white, color it with Kool-Aid then spike it up with Knox gelatin. I thought this was very creative and unique to the punk community. In a way it defines who they are.

"Punk Artifact"

There was an article in the reading that talked about how important the records were to this group. It talked about how some of the sleeves to the records would have the lyrics to the songs. They learned the songs and tried to understand what the music was saying. Pleasant talked about how these records would also show pictures of the band, and the group found themselves wanting to wear and be like the band was. I think a good artifact for this group would be a record with a sleeve. It's important because it influenced the group in a certain way. It formed the group into who they became.

My in!

There are a number of refugee assistance programs, one of which is the English Learning Center that my friend Yordanos volunteers for. She is going to help me get in contact with the ELC, and told me they are always in need of volunteers. I am also interested in looking into Agency for New Americans and World Relief, which are similar organizations, also in need of volunteers. I have sent out a couple emails to both programs and am waiting for responses.

My In

I have been trying to get a hold of the Director of International Programs, Dr. Sabine Klahr, as well as, Dale Stevenson who was recommended to me by a group member. The International Connections has a brown bag luncheon on Wednesday February seventeenth, which I am checking to make sure it is okay for me to attend.

My In

My in is the Black Alliance at Boise State University. They meet once a week, usually on Wednesdays.

my "in" for my project

my friend Naida who is Muslim who I will be interviewing, and the Muslim group on campus which I will be observing and probably interviewing someone from the group as well.

I'm here

Team awesome signing on!

Hello

Worldly Women!!!

Hello everyone!

YAY!

Go team!

Good Afternoon Ladies!