Journalism, the Bible.

As I went to get my lunch in the employee lounge today, I walked in to find a seasoned old-timer and a fresh-start journalist discussing the meaning of true journalism.

The old-timer claimed that in this world, people just don’t care about the long-term anymore.

“People don’t care about what’s happening in China or whether Iran’s got nuclear weapons.”

He claimed that there’s a distinct difference between writing and reporting, that the true journalist predicts, and doesn’t just review.

“Journalism is like the bible,” he said. “It’s a guide to get you to think about what’s important.”

He’s wrong about one thing. There are people who care about the big picture, and there are those who have never cared and will never care. This apathy is what defines the intellectual echelons of society. The more mature and intelligent a person becomes, the more they realize that world events and governments across the seas really do affect what happens here at home. The problem is that the ratio of intellectuality is getting dangerously off balance. The advent of social media has created a kind of hive-mind for the dumb, where daily activities can consist of tweeting what you ate for breakfast, or checking up on episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Not only this, but news publications are buying into the social media phenomenon to keep readership. The problem with this is, the public is rewarded for its apathetic behavior by receiving increased amounts of celebrity news instead of updates on the earthquakes in Turkey. What’s worse is that social media is also cultivating a new generation of minds that will be immediately imbedded into the hive like something out of the Matrix.

I know the obvious opposing argument would be, ‘well look at all the good things that social media and the internet have done for the middle eastern revolutions!’  Honestly, that’s the first thing good I’ve seen come from social media, so my response is, it’s about damn time.

So now back to journalism. Publications have been burned so often in the past by making critical judgments. In an age where everything is tolerated, blatant, critical journalism is shunned, or worse, sued. And let’s face it, publications are still companies. They don’t want to publish critical material for fear of losing their readership base. The only publications that publish true journalism with any kind of prediction or subject are those that announce themselves as aligned with a certain group, such as liberalism, conservativism, libertarian, feminisim or within the LGBT community. And of course, no regular Joe Black who just wants to get some intellectualism in his Sunday read is going to go with any of these because they take their biases way too far to the point of being ridiculous to any reader who isn’t already a subscriber to these ideas.

So how do we save traditional investigative journalism? I can’t say that I have an answer for that. We either can hope that publications of integrity invest money in what may be a dying form of journalism, or we put effort into increasing the population of the higher echelon. It may be that true journalism is just a dying breed, but as reporters who value true reporting, all we can do is hope that our efforts will attract the attention of the ever-changing social mentality.

Writing Pains

I haven’t blogged in a while. Partly this is because I think I’m terrible at blogging, and partly because I’ve been rather confused abut my career choice as a community journalist. I’ve been freelancing for one paper in the Gulf coast region and working part time at a volunteer internship for a paper in Houston. Sometimes I really love my job, or, jobs I suppose.

On Christmas Eve I got a call from an older fellow who said he really enjoyed reading my article about a local diner celebrating their 40th anniversary. The fella said he’d been going to this restaurant for around 30 years, and it had been a consistent part of his life. I was happy to hear from him; getting feedback on my articles from community members makes me feel like I’ve done something that brings people joy. That’s my favorite part of the job. Unfortunately, the job itself doesn’t always bring me joy. The part of the job I hate is all the missed opportunities for interesting articles, the lifestyle assignments that drink up my car’s gas, and when an editor doesn’t give me instructions that are specific enough. It’s frustrating to me to feel like I’m doing absolutely everything alone. Now the logic response to that is, well Alex, a freelancer IS alone. Yeah sure, I get it, but when a stringer has very little idea of what their assignments actually are, or has little experience in coming up with their own pitches, it gets a little frustrating. I guess the truth is, I’m still just an adolescent when it comes to journalism. The more I learn, the more weakness I see in my own skills.

I had the opportunity to shadow a seasoned photographer a few weeks ago. The man had worked for the Houston Chronicle and had freelanced for some quite prestigious papers, like the New York Times. One of the most important things I learned from him is that in order to get really good at what you do, you have to do it all the time. It didn’t take me long to recognize that fear is what was holding me back. Fear of failure, fear of success, (I heard somewhere that fear of success was a legitimate psychological response) I’m not really sure which. Either way, if I want to be a good journalist, I should be getting out there, developing my own pitches and leads, taking poor quality video, doing man on the street interviews, etc. My conclusions were as follows: a) I need to get a flip video camera b) I am not at all excited about this prospect.

The fact that I was not excited about choosing to do what I spent most of my college career preparing for is a little concerning. Did I choose the wrong career? Did I just waste months of my life interning at papers and communications offices only to find that I have no idea what I want to do? My mind started wandering to other choices I could have made. There were careers I thought about in the past that I know I would enjoy. Graduate degree in anthropology? No jobs there. Wildlife management? Wouldn’t make much money. Ultimately, I still have a very flexible English degree to work with. Most importantly, I love writing. When I’m not writing at my job I’m writing a novel in my free time. If someone paid me to write science fiction I would be the happiest little camper in the universe. Unfortunately, I’d have to be nearly at J.K. Rowling levels in order to be paid in advance or paid a decent amount for fiction, so quitting my day job isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

At this point, I need to stop worrying about having passion fulfillment within my career. It’s probably not going to happen, because my passions lie outside the realm of what someone can pay you for. What I do need to do is jump headfirst into whatever internships or other career opportunities I can find, whether that’s publishing, PR, or as it is currently, freelancing. I can do whatever I want and be happy as long as I can come home to my novel. After all, no one ever said you had to choose just one thing!

Is Unbiased Irresponsible?

This material was written by A. Randolph. If you use this article, please credit it to me.

In the field of journalism, one of the most important issues that a journalist must face on a day-to-day basis is impartiality. Writing with a biased slant is not only poor journalism, but also unreliable news reporting that could cost a publication its audience. In certain circumstances, remaining an unbiased reporter is easy. For example, when writing a political piece, write only the facts and now what each political party’s point of view is relating to these facts. However, when writing about something that the journalist feels concerns their readers’ safety, how is this problem best handled?

While recently at an interview for an article I was writing, my source was speaking to me about the conveniences of social media and geo-location applications, for example, the popular site Foursquare. She was excited and eager to share with college students how these new technologies “took social media to the next level.” According to her, these applications allowed users to “check-in” at local businesses like Starbucks or the gym, and allowed people to see where their friends were “checked-in” at the moment.

As she was relating all this to me, I began to feel the sinking suspicion that these kinds of geo-location technologies could produce a world of trouble. Consider the fact that social media is used by many college students and young adults, and that one of the most significant crime on college campuses is stalking. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 13 percent of female students are stalked during their years at a college or university. With both these realities accounted for, it would seem that revealing your moment-by-moment location to a large number of people who you believe are your friends is not the smartest act an individual could do.

This leaves me with a rather precarious dilemma to navigate. As a journalist, I am responsible for reporting the news, including new technologies and products that would appeal to the reader. However, what is my course of action when I believe that I am writing and potentially advertising or supporting something that I find inadvisable?

And it seems that these situations could arise quite often. For example, Crossfit is an exercise fad that is currently sweeping the nation and gaining followers with alarming intensity. The truth is, I don’t like the idea of the Crossfit work-out routines, yet, Crossfit has become so popular and significant to the fitness world that I could hardly decline if my superior asked me to write an article about it. In the case of Crossfit, it would be easier to quote a dissenting opinion while maintaining impartiality. Due to the popularity of social media applications like Foursquare, including my concerns about the safety of the program in an article might make me seem paranoid and might cost me credibility with my readers. Most social media users wouldn’t admit this is true, but the standards of self-protection online have grown extremely lax. A user of the popular internet media hub Reddit, username “pasteberlusconi01” commented about the dangers of social media use: “Rationally, we understand that people are able to access our information and potentially hurt us because of it, but emotionally, we don’t feel that this is enough of a threat to warrant such precautionary behavior.”

So where is the line drawn? In an interview with an NPR representative, Jeffrey Dvorkin, NPR ombudsman, stated that readers expect more out of journalists today. “Because journalism has been under such scrutiny by blogs and advocacy groups, journalists tend to think that the best journalists present both sides and step back,” said Dvorkin. “But in many instances, the public is saying, that’s just not enough for us.”

I believe that journalists place far too much emphasis on remaining unbiased, and not nearly enough interpreting the information that they receive. Journalists are privy to information that an ordinary citizen would not have access to. Therefore, they should be at least partially responsible for the manner in which information is relayed, and interpretation of the facts is a large part of this. Not only that, but many citizens depend on their news providers for a perspective. The sad truth is that many people will believe whatever a journalist writes, so it becomes the journalist’s duty to responsibly report and use good judgment in navigating the issues for the well being of the reader. In the NPR interview with Dvorsky, he suggests that the reader is searching for a type of authority when dealing with information. “A lot of listeners are saying, ‘You’ve given us the facts, why can’t you draw a conclusion?’” Dvorsky said.

Although the Society of Professional Journalists condemns biases, its’ stance on the decision making behind the scenes is a little less clear. In a news release on the SPJ website, three examples are given of journalists that made choices that may have crossed the line of ethics. These three cases, including a Boston Herald reporter, CNN’s chief news executive, and a local news publication editor, discuss the relationship between the safety of the readers and the credibility of the publication.

In issues like the dangers of certain social media applications, the conclusion must be drawn. Yes, people need to hear about the benefits of these services, but who else would get their attention to issue a warning if not a reputed news publication? It appears that the only ones recognizing the dangers of social media are bloggers and government sponsored websites. In an article in Chris Pirillo’s self-named blog, Pirillo writes about Brittish rap star DJ Ironik who was apparently attacked and robbed after the thieves followed his twitter feed and tracked him down.

In the end the issue comes down to journalists trusting the public to trust journalists. Journalists must reveal information that questions the safety of social media applications, and they must do so with personal certainty and definitiveness. They must have faith that they can express opinions about news and current events and that they won’t lose any credibility as a response.

Works Cited:

Jeffrey Dvorkin. Interview by Michelle Martin. Talk of the Nation. National Public Radio. Washington D.C. 17 April 2006. Radio.

pasteberlusconi01. “How many of you refuse to admit that social media can be dangerous?” Ask Reddit. Reddit, 7 Feb. 2011. Web. 7 Feb. 2011. <http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/fh7nn/how_many_of_you_refuse_to_admit_that_social_media/>

Pirillo, Chris. “Social Media Safety.” Chris Pirillo. Web. 6 Feb. 2011. <http://chris.pirillo.com/social-media-safety/>

“SPJ Ethics Week Generates Discussions About Journalistic Decision Making.” SPJ News. Society of Professional Journalists, 2003. Web. 7 Feb 2011. <http://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=322>

“Stalking on College Campuses- The National College Women Sexual Victimization Study.” Stalking Resource Center. The National Center for Victims of Crime, 2010. Web. 25 Jan. 2011.

Racing the Train

This material was written by A. Randolph. If you use this article, please credit it to me.

Dwight Eisenhower once said, ‘Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him,’ but it seems that even my quiet hometown of Clear Lake, Texas, the train that many have labeled ‘progress’ will soon steam roll the little bit of the past that we have left.

For many, the new year is a time for looking forward, but as for me, I know that to determine the outcome of the future, we must look back. In this case, looking back includes preventing a nearly century old villa from being sold into hands that will tear it down for commercial real estate. The house I am referring to is the J. M. West Mansion, a large, stucco and terra-cotta mansion that stands facing the bay. As cars speed by, the villa sits silent and alone behind a crumbling stone fence. The windows are caked with dust and grime, but the house maintains a stoic beauty that cannot be met by the apartment complex that creeps up behind it. Many of the locals, including myself, are in love with the place. And how can one not be? The romantic grounds makes one imagine picnics in period clothes and a record playing Debussy’s Claire de Lune. As it sits at the corner of Space Center Blvd. and Nasa Road One, many of those who live in this area pass by this house on a daily basis. I cannot say how many people I have heard admiring the house.

The Problem

According to an article on the Houston Public Radio website, the mansion and its sprawling grounds are owned by none other than the former Houston Rocket, Hakeem Olajuwon, who is now king of the court in real estate. Olajuwon intended to buy the mansion and “flip it,” but it no one wants it, says the KUHF article.

Currently, Olajuwon can’t develop or demolish the building until certain deed restrictions expire in 2012, but let’s face it; the property is at an ideal location for potential apartment complex development. Many businessmen are salivating to get their hands on the property to turn it into more cheap apartments and lake front condos. As if we haven’t already had enough with Endeavor resort condo tower, which I have lovingly deemed ‘the blight on the face of Clear Lake.’

The Alternative

Linda Sansing, Becky Caudle and Paula Swearingen are three women who created the non-profit organization, Preserved in Time in 2003 for the purpose of acquiring the West mansion and converting it into a civic center for the Clear Lake area. They want to protect and preserve the historic property by making it accessible to visitors, students, and tourists. And why not? The house has been a part of Clear Lake since the ‘20’s. Why shouldn’t it be preserved as our own little piece of history?

The Preserved in Time websites lists six phases for the mansion’s conversion: the creation of a museum within the house, guided historical tours, an educational outreach plan involving student groups, the renovation of the villa to provide for local wedding (I don’t know about you, but I’d love to be married there) and dinner receptions, an operational  tea room, and the renovations of the stables on the property for educational use.

History

According to KUHF, the Mediterranean style villa was designed by renowned architect Joseph Finger for the oil and timber tycoon, Jim West. Following a trip to Europe in 1924, West became interested in the style of the Italian renaissance, and the stately mansion follows this influence.   Construction took place in the late 1920’s and was completed just after the stock market crash in 1929. The construction took three years to complete, and consisted of six bedrooms, a grand porch, 12 bathrooms, a solarium, a mahogany paneled study, a ballroom, music room, two-story living room and a private barber’s room. In total, the estate is a whopping, 17,000 square feet, and required a quarter of a million dollars to build, said the Preserved in Time Website.

The mansion was used by the Wests until Jim West’s death in 1941, when the villa was sold. Since that time the 11 acre property has shifted hands between Humble Oil, Rice University, which loaned the property to NASA for a time, the Pappas chain, and finally coming to rest with Hakeem Olajuwon.

The Call to Arms

We must not lie down on the railroad tracks of history. We cannot allow the West Mansion to be one more beautiful historic venue that will fall into the hands of commercialism and the greedy. I ask that we contact the National Register of Historic Places and demand that the property’s historic status be extended so that it will continue to be protected. After that, we can only hope that enough money will be donated to Preserved In Time so that the West Mansion can be purchased and forever cherished by the community.

I will be keeping this page updated as new information presents itself.

Here are links to photos and videos of the building.

Here is the Preserved In Time web-page.

 

 

 

This is why we’re hot.

Here’s a statement of my personal belief: Waiting for marriage is something beautiful and amazing, and I am a more attractive woman because my feminine graces are impossible to attain without commitment.

This is why I’m hot:

Firstly, it takes a lot of inner strength to have that kind of self-control. It’s also a confidence builder; it reminds you that you are worth waiting for, and you don’t have to settle for just anyone. It can help you weed out potential partners that aren’t strong enough to have some self-control, and aren’t motivated enough to see the benefits beyond the immediate. Just like an old car with mileage doesn’t compare to a new car, men don’t value women as much when they have given themselves to many different people in the past. Some may say they don’t care, but I would encourage them to look truthfully and see that it does, on however small a level, disturb them that they are not the first.

To men and women, if your partner won’t wait, suck up the pain and find someone else. Staying in the relationship won’t be worth the continual struggle you will have by having different viewpoints on such an important issue. It’s true that many people will look down on you if you are waiting, but only you can know what they are missing.

People often underestimate the psychological connection that sharing your body with someone forms. God made sex as a reflection of his love and relationship with each believer, so sex is supposed to be physical, emotional, and spiritual. When it’s not all of those things, its damaging, whether people admit this to themselves or not. Sex is meant to be shared between two people who are committed to each other, just like God commits himself to you, and without commitment, there is emotional scarring on both parties, because at that point, sex is all that you share. You haven’t given yourselves to each other in mind and spirit, only body.

In today’s instant gratification as society, many would argue that waiting is a “waste of time” or a detriment since you “may not satisfy the one you marry.” But honestly, how is devoting time and emotional energy to something more worthwhile, rather than physical pleasure, considered a waste of time? When did society decide that it’s better to please yourself physically than work hard for greater benefits later? And realistically, how would a virgin couple be dissatisfied with each other if they had never been with anyone else? That’s the beauty of it! You will appreciate your partner sexually not because they are “good in bed” but because this is something that the two of you share with only each other. Sex, when kept exclusive, forms the kind of special bond between people that is difficult to break. Studies say that 98% of virgin couples stay together for life. FOR LIFE. Isn’t that kind of devotion something worth waiting for?

Let’s admit something to ourselves here: Sex feels good. Very good. We all know that whether we have had sex before or not. And we all want it, that’s just the truth. We are designed to want it. But we must look past the immediate and see the lasting value of sex under the right circumstances. Within a union of commitment, marriage, sex is more MENTALLY satisfying than premarital sex will ever be, no matter how physically good it may feel at the moment.

So I urge everyone to take the time to think about these things and decide honestly which is more important to you, because in the end, you may be surprised at how much you are denying yourself by giving in to the moment. And for those of you who have made the decision to wait, no matter how many sneers you may get, remember that on your wedding night, it will most definitely pay off, and in the present, know that you are made more beautiful and valuable because of your choice of exclusivity. Look at the other people who’ve been used and say, “this is why I’m hot.”

Spam and Communism are Best Buddies

This material was written by A. Randolph. If you use this article, please credit it to me.

Those annoying spam messages and pop ups that you receive may be more insidious than you thought. Unusual as it seems, your computer safety might be subtly linked with communism.

It begins like this: someone somewhere out there has the time and energy on their hands to develop a search and infect tactic called “ping-ing.” The evil computer mastermind will pick an IP address, your IP address maybe, and sent out a small package of information including a command that your computer must respond to (unless you, being smart, have this tactic called to a halt with a successful firewall that blocks any unidentified incoming message). This is called a “ping.” The term may recall the images of an old time submarines using echo location (in The Hunt for Red October, the ominous bloop that searched for the enemy sub) or it may be compared to ping-pong; both comparisons bring to mind an accurate example of what “ping-ing” does. After receiving a ping, your computer responds in a manner to say, “I’m here!”

Pretty soon after that, a foreign entity can send various commands to your computer to divulge important information. With this information, a person with malicious intent can do just about anything. They can put programs on your computer that attach spam to any emails you send.  Many people don’t realize that a skilled evil computer genius can access the controls to your router, changing your settings and gaining access to your entire home network.

Many use the Earthlink firewall program or something similar that gives you immediate notifications of external contact. In fact, many of the small notifications from this program that pop up while you are on the internet, and especially those that pop up while you are not actively using the internet at all, are pings. It is important to change the settings of your firewall to automatically block unidentified programs or computers attempting to make contact with you. If you must have the pop up notifications, always hit block unless you recognize the program!

Recently my father was receiving several pings a day just around the time that he was getting home from work. He was curious about where these contact requests were coming from, so he went on to www.smartwhois.com, a site that tracks IP addresses. He discovered that all of the pings sent to him were from servers in China and Russia. This ironically, makes a great deal of sense.

China is a communist country, and Russia not only has a recent history of communism, but one could argue with certainty that Russia is still influenced by communist practices and leaders. The next argument is that communist countries are closely tied with socialism, and allow little opportunities for people with a greater intelligence. These intellectually frustrated technophiles often use hacking to satisfy their desires for creative and technological challenges, as well as for extra money, since many in Russia especially are without jobs. The unemployment rate as of January was a high 9.2% Because of they lack the opportunity or career to be technologically constructive, they resort to activities that are technologically destructive.

Many also believe that in China, hackers are being trained and techniques for infiltrating systems are being exercised with the permission of the Chinese government. These hackers not only spam the heck out of average internet users across the globe, but have already reportedly infiltrated the Pentagon’s systems. Why the Chinese government is amassing this weapon of mass technological breakdown, no one is quite sure. Although the government denies these claims, some of the allegedly super hackers admitted to being paid under the table.

The result? As a CNN.com article reports, “no site is safe,” and that would seem to apply to your routers, networks, and emails. So to protect your information and remember to change safety settings on your firewalls and routers, and if you get that annoying little pop-up, be sure to swallow the irritation and just block it.

www.smartwhois.com

“Russia Unemployment Rate.” Trading Economics: Global Economics Research. Web. 20 May 2010. <http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Unemployment-rate.aspx?symbol=RUB>

Vause, John. “Chinese Hackers: No Site is Safe.” CNN. cnn.com. 11Mar 2008. Web. 20 May 2010.

Fear and Rationality: How The 13th Warrior Modernizes Beowulf

This material was written by A. Randolph. If you use this article, please credit it to me.

The 13^th Warrior, a 1999 cinematic reproduction of the epic tale Beowulf, emphasizes Beowulf’s theme of the fear of the unknown by appealing to a more modern audience with the use of the character of the Persian man, Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, a man of science and art. The 13^th Warrior may even offer explanations as to what the monsters of Beowulf could have actually been like in the era of the tale. Unfortunately, The 13^th Warrior is often misunderstood and underrated as a cinematic epic of its time.

Many critics completely missed the theme of the movie claiming that the development of the plot ended at Ahmed’s departure with the Nordic warriors and then “that’s it for exposition” (Schwarzbaum). I owe this to their ignorance of the modeling of this film after Beowulf. For those who may have missed it, the theme is fear, and how the people of the past dealt with it.

Director John McTiernan sets up the theme at the beginning of the plotline by setting a scene in which the Nordic warriors explain to the main character Ahmed and his translator that they fear the dangers of mist. When Ahmed asks about the young boy’s behavior upon visiting the encampment, Herger the Joyous explains through the translator that the warriors “do not know if what they see is real… They find dangerous things- spirits- in the mist.” Because they can’t see or deal with the strange occurrence of the mist, the Nordic peoples assigned a fear to it. It is significant to the theme that both the monsters in The 13^th Warrior and Beowulf appear in the mist and usually at night, because both the settings of mist and night are times in which people’s vision and understanding of what they may see is limited. In some reviews, the reappearing mist is thought to be tacky and over done, but I would argue that these critics fail to see the value of this meteorological phenomenon as a source of fear.

The 13^th Warrior also parallels the three monsters that Beowulf must battle by having three battles in the style of the plotline of Beowulf. The monsters of The 13^th Warrior are named the Wendol, which are a race of cannibals that feed upon the citizens of a village in the north, supposedly in modern Denmark. The Wendol are no doubt a parallel to Grendel, and they fit the description in Beowulf as descendents of Cain because of their grotesque nature. “The Creator condemned him among Cain’s race…all misbegotten things, trolls and elves and the living dead.” (lines 107-112) The two monstrosities also relate in how the people of the stories react to them. The reason why the Wendol and Grendel are so frightening is that the people of both tales aren’t completely sure what they are. After the first battle with the Wendol, one of the Nordic warriors’ claims “they are demons,” and later a handicapped survivor of a Wendol attack states, “it seems they went on both [hind and forelegs], like a thing that was both man and bear.” In Beowulf, Grendel is deformed but disturbingly humanoid, and the Wendol in The 13^th Warrior use the psychology of disguise and animalistic behavior to hide the fact that they are just men. “The claws- the headdresses- bears. They think they are bears. They want us to think they are bears.” This kind of deception is extremely clever and ahead of its time; something that the warriors are unfamiliar with, and only Ahmed can discern the truth.

The second monster that Beowulf must fight is Grendel’s mother. A direct parallel to this she-beast is the “mother of the Wendol,” a cannibal woman who is worshipped by the rest of the tribe. Many critics- especially the female ones- underestimate how frightening the mother is. Like Grendel’s mother, she is a vicious, somewhat masculine female, and she is made all the more horrifying by the fact that the role of motherhood has been distorted into something sinister. This is a concept that is unfamiliar in our time because of how liberated females have become. In our society, a woman can be just as evil as a man, and in some cases just as violent. In the time of the Nords, this was not the case. The 13^th Warrior suggests that perhaps this monstrous woman is perceived as monstrous simply because of the deformation of gender and motherhood roles that she represents, and that perhaps the description of Grendel’s mother in Beowulf as a “monster-woman,” “she-wolf,” and “water-witch” (lines 1259, 1506, 1518) is simply an exaggeration of the fears of masculine characteristics and violence in a woman. There is even a point in which Beowulf refers to Grendel’s mother as a “he.” (Line 1392) This shows that he either wasn’t sure of the creature’s gender due to physical form, or that he couldn’t conceive of a creature as violent as she was a woman, let alone a mother.

The monster mothers of the two tales are also, arguably, the monsters that represent the highest level of evil. In The 13^th Warrior, the Wendol mother has a level of morbid and necrophilia sexuality about her that is evident when the warriors find the large voluptuous statue of the mother surrounded by human bones, and Bulwyf finds the decapitated heads in her private chambers. This evilness might be why, as in many other epics, the heroes must venture down into the underworld to defeat them. The warriors in The 13^th Warrior travel down into the Wendol’s den in the earth to kill their mother, and just as in Beowulf, Beowulf’s modern parallel, Bulwyf must face her alone.

The third and final battle of Beowulf is with a dragon, and The 13^th Warrior has a dragon of its own. The ominous “fire-worm” is believed by the people to be a dragon that comes in the mist, destroying all in its path. When the fire-worm comes down from the mountain, the warriors realize that it was not a mythical beast, but a long line of the Wendol carrying torches. “People in the novel believe in the existence of a fire dragon. This dragon turns out, however, in accordance with Crichton’s rationalist approach, which seeks always to explain the marvelous in logical terms, not to be a dragon at all.” (Magennis) This scene of The 13^th Warrior perhaps offers an explanation for what the warriors of Beowulf could have really faced—a force of men moving as one, rather than a fire-breathing dragon, and because of this, it is significant that Ahmed, the symbol of reason in the film, is the first to discover that the fire-worm isn’t what they had thought it would be. Some viewers thought that this revelation was anti-climactic. I for one, was fascinated by the creativity of Crichton, and believe that this achieved his purpose of the ultimatum of human fear: an enemy that they didn’t see and couldn’t fight. Herger the Joyous admits that he himself would have preferred the dragon.

Another issue that is highly criticized is the extreme amount of gore included in the film. I have to admit that watching this movie first as a child was a little disturbing for me, but now that I have watched the movie again and understand its connection to Beowulf, it’s easy to see why the director chose this method. It is not as some would say “good-humoured ludicrousness [that] should pass muster with bloodthirsty schoolboys” (Newman).

Another offense to the film is that Ahmed is described as an “ineffectual lead” with “little else to do” (Newman). I would argue that only a person of little intellect could downplay it’s importance in this movie. Yes, Ahmed isn’t a brawny hero as we would expect in our modern stories, but it is his mind that is his weapon, and it proves to be quite sharp, unlike that of the critic who missed this important fact. Our society may not value intellect in action films, but we do mostly value reason about strength, when given the option, and the major difference between Beowulf and The 13^th Warrior is that the latter seeks to modernize the epic tale of Beowulf by appealing to an audience that lives in an age of reason. “A discussion of The 13th Warrior and its relationship with Beowulf…is constructive and often leads students toward a greater appreciation of medieval literature and history.” (Kelly) In this decade, people are told to question and investigate their fears, and rather than exaggerating the things we do not understand, we offer common explanations for seemingly supernatural events.

Ahmed, the main character of the film, is the key and the method to this modern interpretation. He comes from Persia, a land of knowledge and science, and it is he in the end that reveals the fears of the Nordic peoples as what they truly are. Ahmed “functions as our educated guide, and a representative in a world beyond the pale, is a key feature of Crichton’s adaptation.” (Magennis) It is Ahmed who discovers the deceptive tactics of the Wendol and helps to find where they sleep. He also helps the Nordic warriors to escape from the Wendol lair with his knowledge of current. With Ahmed’s influence, the demons become men, the beastly mother becomes an idolized cannibal, and the dragon becomes a line of men with torches, and thus the warriors no longer fear them.

In the words of Herger the Joyous, “Fear profits man nothing,” and Ahmed is the symbol of wisdom and knowledge that combats the common and irrational fears of his comrades. The 13^th Warrior shows us that Beowulf could have very easily been a true story, and that the monsters and mythical beings in the epic tale could have been, in actuality, the exaggerated terrors of the people who feared what they didn’t understand.

Sources:

“13 Warrior (1999)” 2010. The Internet Movie Database. Web. 15 Mar 2010.

The 13th Warrior. Dir. John McTiernan. 1999. Perf. Antonio Banderas. Touchstone Pictures, 2010. DVD.

“Beowulf.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Ed. Don LePan. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2007. 60-105

Kelly, A. Keith. “Beyond Historical Accuracy: A Postmodern View of Movies and Medievalism.” Diss. Saint Louis University, 2004. Web.

Magennis, Hugh. “Michael Crichton, Ibn Fadlan, Fantasy Cinema: Beowulf at the Movies.” Old English Newsletter, Queen’s University. Web. 15 Mar 2010.

Newman, Kim. “The 13^th Warrior.” Sight and Sound. Vol. 9, Issue 9. (1999): Web. 26 Apr 2010.

Schwarzbaum, Lisa. “Clang’s All Here.” Entertainment Weekly 501 (1999): 43. Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 27 Apr. 2010.

Bovine Growth Hormones: How the Public Drives the Stigma Into Industry

This material was written by A. Randolph. If you use this article, please credit it to me.

Bovine growth hormones have received increasingly negative attention in the eyes of the public. Although many scientists still claim the innocence of the hormone, the growth of online blogging has increased the popularly held stigma against beef treated with hormones, and the meat and dairy industry is developing a poor reputation.
The numbers of those against bovine growth hormones are growing, and both fact and opinion flood the internet. Personal websites and blogs have been encouraging the modern fad for consumers to prefer organic foods. “Organics are growing by 20% annually. It’s one of the fastest growing segments of the food industry,” (Food, Inc.) Websites like “Shirley’s Wellness Café,” complete with their yin-yang logo, rave against the evils of processed foods. Some like “Milk Sucks” even go as far as to claim that meat and dairy products shouldn’t be consumed at all. “Dairy products are a health hazard…They are contaminated with cow’s blood and pus and are frequently contaminated with pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. Dairy products are linked to allergies, constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.”

Despite the extremity of some objections, some of the claims of hormone opponents seem legitimate. One of the common concerns for the opposing party is mastitis, an infection and inflammation of the mammary glands that is often contracted by dairy cows. Many opponents of the use of hormones post pictures of sickly cows to appeal to the pathos of the populous and encourage a response of compassion among the consumer body. It is true that there are increased cases of mastitis in cows treated with hormones, but the experts argue that the rates of infection correlate with how often the cow is milked, and how sanitary the milking procedures are, not whether or not the cow is producing more milk because of hormones. Dr. Kevin Washburn, Veterinary Doctor at Texas A&M Veterinary School stated, “The bacteria get introduced either from poor milking procedures… or from the environment. So it’s poor hygiene practice by the dairy that increases the chances of mastitis, it’s not how much milk [the cows] produce.”

Opponents of the hormone sometimes suggest that the cattle are treated cruelly; “warehoused in huge sheds and treated like milk machines,” says “Milk Sucks.” Those that are more familiar with cow breeding, like Dr. Washburn, would argue that dairy cows are just that. “They’ve selected dairy cows on two or three traits, and over a hundred years, you’ve got a milk machine. They are going to produce large quantities of milk regardless. And your high producing dairy cows are prone to mastitis anyway.” Elisa Marques, now a Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science, writes that “genetic manipulation [is] one of the strategies for increase in milk protein concentration. Milk production traits…are also among the most highly important traits for dairy producers.” It would seem that the animal experts agree that dairy cows are producing heavy volumes of milk with or without growth hormones. As far as the treatment and housing of the cow, companies usually attempt to keep cows as healthy as possible, hence the use of antibiotics, so that the cow produces milk for a long duration of its lifetime.

Another aspect that is heavily under fire is the safety of hormones for human consumption. Sites like “The Cancer Prevention Coalition” claim that without a doubt, “genetically-engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in milk increases cancer risks.” They base this conjecture off of tests done on lab rats with rBGH and insulin growth factor which showed an increase in occurrence of prostate cancer after being given bovine growth hormone over a 60-90 day period. “After the rBGH milk is consumed, [insulin growth factor] is not destroyed by human digestion. Instead, IGF-1 is readily absorbed across the intestinal wall.” The truth, as Washburn says, is that not only are the hormones not absorbed by humans at all, but “most of the studies that refute [the safety of rBGH] have been done on laboratory animals… give enough of anything to a rodent in a laboratory and you can cause cancer.” Even The American Cancer Society admitted on their website that “The evidence for potential harm to humans is inconclusive…The American Cancer Society (ACS) has no formal position regarding rBGH.”

The anti-hormone craze has even inspired letters and an official petition to the Food and Drug Administration, demanding that they repeal the guidelines allowing the use of somatotropin, one of the hormones used in beef and dairy production. In a letter to a commissioner of the FDA, citizen Charlotte Rossler demanded that the FDA “immediately remove rBGH from the market.” Rossler isn’t the only one. There have been petitions to the FDA about bovine growth hormones, and one in particular, from citizen Robert Cohen, was replied with a rather lengthy explanation of the studies that Cohen had cited, and the reasons the FDA refused to remove rBGH from the market. The ten page reply ended with, “For the reasons stated above, the FDA denies your Citizen Petition requesting withdrawal of the approval of the New Animal Drug Application providing for the marketing of Polisac by Monsanto”

Growing attention to the issue has also inspired several conspiracy theories, mainly involving claims that the FDA protects the interests of large dairy and beef companies for huge pay-offs, despite the supposed danger of the hormones. The article “Lies and Deception: How the FDA Does Not Protect Your Best Interests” claims that “hundreds of men and women who move in and out of ‘revolving doors’ as Federal regulators and directors, commissioners and scientists at the companies they are supposed to regulate…” Many believe that Monsanto, a chemical company that delves into the business of agriculture, is one of the companies responsible for these pay-offs. Monsanto received a huge amount of public contempt, even to the point of groups being created on the popular social networking site, Facebook, that declared “Monsanto is evil!” The company nearly went out of business due to this negative light, and have already began to phase out their usage of growth hormones in order to salvage respect from consumers, and their falling revenue. “Lies and Deception…” still claims that the growth hormones used by the Monsanto company are unhealthy for human consumption and that the FDA report validating their use was false, due to the fact that former Monsanto big-wigs might have been on the committee to approve the report. “The bottom line is that Monsanto approved its own report.”

Whether or not this is true, many companies are sparing themselves the difficulty and bowing to public demand for “organic” foods. According to Gary Hershberg, the CEO of Stonyfield Farms who was interviewed in “Food, Inc.”, “Coke, Pepsi, Kellogs, General Mills, all of them are running, not walking, into the organic food business.” The fast food franchise Good Times Burgers has recently announced their intention to use only organic beef. In their news release, they claimed the decision would make Good Times Burgers “an industry pioneer, as the first quick service hamburger restaurant to use branded all-natural beef, promising its consumers beef without antibiotics, growth hormone implants and animal by products in the live stock feed.” The beef they will now be using is Coleman Organic Beef, a company which promises, “NO antibiotics, NO added hormones, NO preservatives, Ever!” Coleman is also a leader of its industry as the first USDA-approved beef company to provide “natural” beef to consumers.

The recent documentary called “Food, Inc.” discusses the shift of the food industry toward organic or home-grown produce and meat, and how smaller, sustainable farming businesses are quickly becoming more appealing to consumers. Many of these businesses refuse to add growth hormones, antibiotics, or pesticides being used in the production and treatment of many larger brands. Several interviewed in the documentary claimed that consuming animals that have been naturally grown is safer than those in factory farming conditions. In many cases, experts do not agree. In refutation to many anti-hormone blogs on the internet, Dr. Stephen Barrett has posted his own analysis of the health debate on a site playfully named, “QuackWatch.com.” Dr. Barrett simplifies the matter. “Foods certified as ‘organic’ will neither be safer nor more nutritious than ‘regular’ foods. Nor is there any logical reason to conclude that they have any special disease-curing properties. They will just cost more and may lessen public confidence in the safety of ‘ordinary’ foods.” His opinion is supported by Dr. Washburn of Texas A&M. “It comes down to this. Would you rather eat an animal that has been treated with antibiotics and vaccinated properly, or would you eat an animal that has never had a vaccine or any antibiotics?”

The debate still rages about the use of growth hormones in the beef and dairy industry, and often people are rejecting the idea of growth hormones in the meat and dairy market simply due to the stigma of the issue, and often base their decisions to purchase organic foods simply on what they read off of blog and opinion based sites. Meanwhile, those involved in the industry are forced to think of new ways to promote ‘natural’ products and maintain good reputation. “I think that sometimes the beef and dairy industry gets a black eye from publicity…The concern comes from people who don’t know the science; it’s a media concern,” says Washburn. One thing is sure; the more the industry and food companies bow to the will of the public, the less the arguments of the experts will be heard.

Sources:

Baker, Dennis. Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs (FDA). Letter to Robert Cohen, concerned citizen. 20 Apr 2000. Web. 20 Mar 2010.

Barrett, Steven M.D. “ ‘Organic’ Foods: Certification Does Not Protect Customer.” Quack Watch.com, 17 Jul 2006. Web. 26 Mar 2010. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/organic.html

ColemanNatural.com. Coleman Natural, 2009. Web. 26 Mar 2010.

Echols, Marsha Ann. Food safety and the WTO: The interplay of culture, science and technology. Diss. Columbia University, 2001. Dissertations & Theses: Full Text, ProQuest. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.

Epstein, Samuel M.D. “Milk: America’s Health Problem.” Cancer Prevention Coalition, 2003. Web. 25 Mar 2010.

Epstein, S. S. Potential public health hazards of biosynthetic milk
hormones. International Journal of Health Services, 20:73-84, 1990.

Ferreira Marques, E.. Application of genomics-based tools leading to the identification of markers on bovine chromosome 14 influencing milk production and carcass quality traits. Diss. University of Alberta (Canada), 2009. Dissertations & Theses: Full Text, ProQuest. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.

“Good Times Burgers and Frozen Custard Announces Exclusive Use of 100% All Natural Coleman Beef.” All Business, 10 Jul 2003. Web. 26 Mar 2010.

Kenner, Robert, dir. Food, Inc. 2008. 2010, DVD.

“Lies and Deception: How the FDA Does Not Protect Your Interests.” Smart Publications, 2008. Web. 26 Mar 2010.

Lipschutz-Robinson, Shirley. “Genetically engineered Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH/BST) in your milk.” 2010 Shirley’s Wellness Café. Web. 15 Mar 2010.

“Milk Sucks…” Peta. Web. 26 Mar 2010.

Raabe, Richelle. “Monsanto is Bad!” Facebook (Group). Web. 15 Mar 2010.

“Recombinant Growth Hormone.” 2009. American Cancer Society. Web. 15 Mar 2010.

“Report on the Food and Drug Administration’s Review of the Safety of Recombinant Bovine Somatropin.” 2009. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Web. 16 Mar 2010.

Rossler, Charlotte. Concerned citizen. Letter to Jane Henney, Commissioner of the FDA. 12 Jun 2000. Web. 20 Mar 2010.

Sayre, L.. “Protecting Milk from Monsanto. “ Mother Earth News 1 Jun 2008: Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.

Washburn, Kevin D.V.M. Interview by Alexandria Randolph. 26 Feb 2010.