Ludlow Massacre

In my literature class the other day, we were discussing labor history in the United States. We were reading "South of the Slot" by Jack London, and a group was presenting on The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It quickly became very apparent that not many people had heard of the Ludlow Massacre that took place in Ludlow, Colorado in the early 1900's. I think it is interesting that no public schools in Colorado discuss what occured during the largest labor conflict in US history. Fortunately enough, my grandfather took me to the memorial site when I was fairly young, and explained to me how tent colonies were set up by the Rockefellers in order to increase coal production, and decrease mining costs. He also explained to me how scrip was used to create a dependence amoung the workers. My family has always been very involved in labor unions, and I thought that was fairly normal amoung working class families in Colorado. However, I am becoming more and more aware of the negative "implications" unions have amoung citizens in this state. Here is the site in case you are at all intersted in why unions exist, what they have done for workers' rights, and Colorado history in general. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_massacre

Photoshop Ad

For my Photoshop project, I decided to critique the popularity of the Hummers. These are quite possibly the most outlandish vehicles currently on the market, and their recognition as “tough, dependable, and stylish” will hopefully begin to change. Not only do they have unprecedented low gas mileage, every “beneficial” aspect about the car’s design can be found in a more environmentally friendly vehicle.

Media Consumption Log

7:00am: woke up (regular alarm clock)

7:15am: made coffee (Starbucks coffee beans) and ate a granola bar (Nutri-grain)

8:00am: drove to school/listened to music (The Black Keys)

8:30am: researched the environmental impact of tobacco companies and cigarettes

9:00am: Started collecting cigarette butts from around campus for a project in Ecological Citizenship (Most common cigarette butts were Marlboro and Parliaments)

11:00am: Read Bartleby the Scrivener by Melville for my American Lit class

12:30pm: Ate lunch at Serious Texas BBQ

1:30pm: Went bouldering at Sailing Hawks (not much media influence, except for the brands of our climbing gear)

4:30pm: Wrote a response for my Ecological Citizenship class about the benefits of Equine Therapy

5:30pm: Made dinner at my house (Cheese enchiladas)

6:30pm: Watched an awful movie (Brick)

9:00pm: Read Young Goodman Brown by Hawthorne for American Lit.

Currently, the majority of the media I come into contact with is school related. My main interactions include researching for class projects, reading for my English courses, and interacting with different forms for Media Literacy. I don't have a tv at my house, and so I dont' watch tv. On the few occasions when I return home, I watch tv at my parents house, and it seems the longer I am away from it, the stranger it becomes.

About twice a week, my boyfriend and I rent a movie to watch at home. Our tastes are quite different; he likes politcal/action films, and I prefer lighthearded comedy. Last month, I finally watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Most of the music I listen to is while I am driving. I am not very good at listening to it while I am working on my homework. Even though I have quite a bit of mysic on my ipod, I find myself listening to the same three artists for months on end. I have noticed, my music preference changes with the seasons. Now that it is warming up a bit, I am branching out to new artists for the spring.

Nearly all ot the reaing I am currently doing is homework. I am reading parts and pieces of different works from my American Lit anthology, and different articles for both my Media Literacy Course as well as my Ecological Citizenship course.

At this point in my life, it is difficult to choose what media I come in contact with. It seems that my classwork dictates a majority of what I do. I have endless amount of reading, and videos to watch. It is exposing me to new things, that I probably wouldn't otherwise experience, but it also limits the amount of media that I deal with that fits my style.