New Orleans

Part I:

A passage from Tom Piazza’s Why New Orleans Matters that particularly took my interest was the introduction. I know that I’m a “soft” person it was very sad. I know a lot of people say that it was very redundant and that everything there was to say about hurricane Katrina has already been said but,  reading it was different. Of course seeing all of the horrible images of the aftermath on the news was one thing and living here now and still being able to see the damage is another thing but, reading it had a different effect. It stirred up something more. It gave a different view. Some of the things he wrote about, yes i’d seen them on clips of what was going on in New Orleans at the time but, I couldn’t believe. To hear about read about the desperation, the death, was very moving. It truly hurt my heart to hear of the father naked in front of his sons. To think about how something like that will be remembered, forever ingrained in the minds of those that suffered so terribly. How will those boys see their father as a man again? How will their father be able to look them in the face and tell them to be strong when he knows that they have seen him at his weakest moment? That is sad to think about. A lot of people only talk about those who didn’t survive but, what about those who did? What kind of struggles are they still facing? What about New Orleans? The city survived but… the d amage… the recovery. Tom Piazza makes you think about these things.

Part II:

I did attend Dr. Harris’s lecture and I was very frustrated by it. My frustration really did not have anything to do with Dr. Harris himself. He was great. i even stayed afterwards to speak with him. I had good things to say. It did seem as though he was a bit repetative about some things, things we’ve been hearing forever. Other than that, he was very inspiring. He is a successful man, someone that each and everyone of us can learn something from.

I was frustrated because I had to fight to hear to what he was saying and he had to fight to say it. This was really emmbarrasing because, last time I checked, we were all adults. One of the most important lessons I can remember is “there is a time and a place for everything” and that was neithere the time nor the place. It was childish and rude. So what if you didn’t want to be there. So what if it was movie night. I didn’t want to be there either. I had to study. I was tired. Even still, I was not rude. I really can’t say how this event could have been made better simply because I’ve found that a lot of students just aren’t appreciative of these events. They simply don’t want to go. It seems as though no matter how you change the event, students will find one reason or another to not like it.

Why New Orleans Matters/Outside Events

Part I:

I thought the introduction about Hurricane Katrina was the most interesting. It was an eye opener and brought back memories I’ve tried to tuck away. It just goes to show that trying to ignore the past isn’t the way to go.

The way Mr. Piazza described the harsh reality that we faced during Katrina is exactly the way my brother described the city. He was working as a criminal sheriff at the time and had to remain behind, helping the New Orleans Police Department with all of the people that were in the Superdome at the time the hurricane hit. I remember being calm, thinking the hurricane would pass and the worst would be over. I remember my calmness turning into fear when the violence began in the Superdome and my brother no longer kept contact with us. His phone was dead and the last message I received from him was telling us that they were shooting and that he loved us. Although he returned home safe weeks after everything was over, his life was changed as well as ours.

When I read the introduction and the hardships my city faced during Katrina, that was the first story that came to mind. It was interesting how Mr. Piazza recaptured those moments through words and painted that particular scene. It was also amazing how it stirred those thoughts that I tried to put away for the past few years. Instead of pushing away how I feel, I’ve learned to talk things out and express how I feel, especially about the tragic events of Katrina.

Part II:

I absolutely loved Dr. Harris’s lecture. What I took from the lecture more than anything else was believe in yourself, do not give up on what may seem to be impossible to accomplish right now. He dreamed about becoming an astronaut and no matter how silly that dream was, it didn’t matter to him. He knew this is what he wanted out of life and he went for it. Not only did he accomplish his dream, he went on to be very successful in other areas. I was moved by the story of his childhood and how he would pretend that he was in space. He was very inspiring and I appreciated him coming from out of town when he could’ve been tending to his property that may have been damaged by Hurricane Ike.

I believe that he deserved more respect than our class gave him. I understand that it was movie night but we could’ve found a better and perhaps more quiet way to make our exit. The timing was pretty bad, which brings me to my next point: not everyone has the same schedules. I know that we’re in college now, practically adults and having to get our priorities straight, but if there’s movie night and a mandatory Freshman Seminar event around the same time, I’m pretty sure movie night would win. I think outside meetings should be move convenient, especially since there are students that have to commute and aren’t able to make most of the events.

I also feel that if students aren’t able to attend an outside event, another option should be offered. And if there are students that attended the event but were not counted for whatever reason, they should be able to make it up.

NeW ORleaNS !

Honestly, I didnt really find the book “Why New Orleans Matters” very interesting, however, there were some interesting parts to the book. My favorite part in Tom Piazzas book was when he painted us a picture of how Hurricane Katrina really affected the people of the city. Like Danielle, what really caught me was the vivid picture he painted when he told us to draw on our wall three feet above the ground. I actually tried it, except not with chalk. I was actually amazed to see how much of my things could have been under water if I actually lived in the city. The fact that he went on to name the different types of harmuful substances in that water was mind blowing. Before I knew about hurricane Katrina and its effect it had on the city of New Orleans, but now since Piazza painted a really clear picture for me, I understand and appreciate what this city has been through.

Part 2

I didnt attend the astronauts presentation, but reading the other posts, I can tell that he was a successful African American man. Im actually mad at myself that I didnt go because since I was a kid i dreamt of becoming an astronaut. It sounds like it was pretty interesting. I even almost admire him, being that he is an African American entrepeneur, astronaut AND physician. I think that is enough to inspire someone right there. I think that it was a great idea for him to come to our school to show us college students not to give up, to work hard, and that we can be whatever we want to be, and also to show us the importance of an eduacation, and there is no such thing as too much education.

New Orleans

New Orleans is a place of pride, fun, and family. It has history almost every corner you turn on. People come here for vaction and some of the things we celebrate. Like when Mardi Gras rolls around then we have visitors for weeks at a time. Then when children are in school you will have visitors come to see the French Quarters theres always something to do there. New Orleans is also the birth place of jazz, alot people really live the music. You might have them come and visit and never go home they might stay here permentaly. As a New Orleans person born and raised here somethings dont excite me that much, but to sonme thats visiting they will get all worked up over it.

Jasmine Grant:New Orleans

I chose part two when he is returning to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. This section interests me beacuse I did not realize how much this city had went through from the aftermath of Katrina. It has been something that I have thought of just not as deeply. To read something about Katrina and what a person actually went through is really different from reading it in the newspaper. I would agree with him beacuse if it were me I would want to come back to the place I called home. It makes me better appreciate New Orleans and respect all the things that people are still dealing with until this day. There is nothing that I would add beacuse I wasn’t in the actual experience.

                    I was pretty much neutral about Dr.Harris’s lecture. I did like the fact that he talked about how our dreams can come true. We just have to work extremly hard and believe that we can do them. I felt that my peers were extremly rude. They talked through the whole lecture and just acted like they did not want to be there. I don’t think that we should be required to come to the outside events I feel that is no point to them. If the lectures were more interesting to the students I think that would make my experience better. I think that getting the students more invloved, having something to say would help. Letting us as students speak their minds, but still respectful way, would aslo help.

Revised Version of Tom Piazza and Dr. Harris

Part One:

The book Why New Orleans Matters written by Tom Piazza is very intriguing. The main idea of this book was to illustrate to readers the different aspects of New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina. He expresses his thoughts in great detail. Being a non native to the city of New Orleans this book helped me understand the different aspect of New Orleans especially the dreadful tragedy of hurricane Katrina an its effects . One point that stood out to me was when the author began to give very vivid details of the tragic and traumatic days of Hurricane Katrina. He begins by saying, “ If you do not live in New Orleans you can try this experiment: Put a chalk mark on your wall at a point three feet from the floor , then imagine everything below that line coated with toxic scum, swollen with foul moisture…take all of your books, place them in your bathtub and immerse them in a mixture of water, urine, spoiled food, feces, weed killer, and perhaps your beloved cat.” This passage caught my attention because I really did not fully grasp what the people of New Orleans were facing and how bad the conditions were during that time. While reading that small passage I envisioned myself in his shoes. Walking through infested water and trying to escape but with an uncertainty of where to go. Now I have a stronger clarity of what took place. I had imagined the conditions but I was not totally engulfed in them. Yes this small passage makes me think of New Orleans in a different way. The city is in the rebuilding stages now and they are doing a good job trying to get the city back to how it used to be. Now I think of the city as place of hope and dedication. I would add that through tough times New Orleans is a city that can not fall it will always stand tall and proud.

 Part Two:

The lecture on Wednesday was interesting in my eyes. I liked the fact that a successful and established African American male came out to Xavier and spoke on his achievements of being an astronaut and how he was able to obtain them. However I disliked the way the forum/ lecture was organized. For instance there were not enough seats and the time management was not that sufficient. The people around me acted well, we all focused in to hear the speaker. On the other hand the majority of my peers to me were not giving the speaker their full attention. I believe it is a good idea to attend outside events it gives you an added incentive, that may help you obtain a goal in the future. However the event I think should be presented to the students in a more timely fashion. Then it will give us time to fit it into our schedules. I had a good experience at the lecture. However if I was in charge of an outside event for the freshmen student body I would make it at a time that would be convent for the majority of the students. Also I would have the same speaker, but during the speech I would pose a question and answer period. I believe the students need to get more involved because the forum is geared in benefiting the freshman students. Moreover I would hand out some background material on the speaker and the topic at hand so the students would not be in a state of bewilderment.

 

 

new orleans/ events

I read the book so long ago that I don’t remember about too much except the Mardi Gras indians and the lady at the gas station that helped him fix his glasses with some nail glue. Looking back in the book, he talks about how he thinks New Orleans should be rebuilt. I agree with him that it should be rebuilt from bottom-up instead of top-down. Building off of what was already there is a good place to start. Turning it into the next Las Vegas sounds like a nightmare to me. I’m not sure what was going on with Ray Nagin…After a few years, it seems that many places have rebuilt, but as I go through the neighborhoods even right around Xavier, I feel so sad to still see the remains of what were houses a few years ago. I think about the people who used to live in the homes and wonder how their lives changed. I believe alot of people found hope through devastation. Maybe some people found better opportunities for work and/or lifestyle changes because of forced relocation and because of the outreach from other people/communities. It is always hard to leave what you are used to, but memories can never be taken away. If New Orleans comes back better than ever, it will be good for everyone. But every level of society should be in mind when rebuilding. Even the poor should have their place in the new New Orleans. I really don’t know how it is around here, but that is my Baton Rouge viewpoint. Because of Katrina, Baton Rouge has grown alot, bringing about a much-needed economic boost. Even though it was ridiculous in the beginning with the additional traffic and crime, everything has turned out for the better in Baton Rouge. I am confident that with time the same will happen for New Orleans.

As far as outside events go, I did not attend the first event, but it sounded interesting to me and I think I definitely would have enjoyed it. It seems like it can’t possibly go too smoothly with that many people in one place. Maybe if events were attended with the freshman class broken down into smaller groups it would seem more organized. It also seems like people just need to learn how to calm down for a couple of hours. Maybe if light refreshments were served, people would not be so restless. I know food makes me happy.

New Orleans

Part I

  The question “Why New Orleans matter?” is answered indirectly in Tom Piazzas’ Why New Orleans Matters. Tom Piazza tells us how the magnificent culture of New Orleans is somewhat flawed but yet still one of the most amazing and interesting ones on Earth. The section that amazes me the most from his book is the beginning whens he speaks of his first visit to New Orleans. It interests me the most because I can relate to his first experience by looking back at my first experience. I remember the first day I walked the French Quarters and the river walk and the first time I heard the jazz bands walking up and down Bourbon Street blasting their music. Until reading this book I never really thought of how vibrant a city New Orleans really is to the rest of the country. I never thought that the culture of this city interests so many other American cultures and now that I see that it does have an huge impact on American culture. I agree that it, New Orleans’ customs, should be preserved because our world, the “Melting Pot” we call America, exists now because of its amazing, versatile cultures. This book causes me to see New Orleans in a very different way. I read it during the break between my summer session here at Xavier and the fall semester. When I returned to the city all of the amazing things that Piazzas talks about seemed to stick out more than ever before: the food, the music, the people…the entire city!

Part II

  I really enjoyed Dr. Harris’ lecture on his life and road to success. What I really enjoyed was that he explained how a good education and hard work can and probably will lead to a great life in the future. I disliked the fact that he said only people who attend college and further formally educate themselves become successful. I know many people who did not attend college and still live amazing lives, better than some who went to college. On another note, to comment on my peers behavior, I feel that many of us did not want to be there. Therefore, their attitudes reflected that they did not want to be there. Many even talked rudely throughout the entire lecture. I feel that outside events should not be mandatory. Students who are forced to do something often act in challenge of their oppressors, such as talking through a lecture they have been forced to sent in. Outside events should be extra credit. If I had to decide on an event it would probably be something more entertaining, maybe something off-campus that would attract the students more. We should visit the city more directly instead of merely viewing it from on campus. Maybe visit a museum or the French Quarters, just something that gives us more detailed and first hand insight on the city itself and not just watching movies on the history of New Orleans or hearing lectures on being successful. One always grasps more knowledge when seeing things first hand.

New Orleans

PART I…

 “I write “has” instead of “had”….an element about it that is timeless, that is always the present.   (pg. xvi of Intro)

This paragraph from John Piazza’s book had the most emphasis and personal connection to me.  I can remember speaking to a Florida resident when I was there and as I was talking about New Orleans and why I would never begin to compare it to any other city, I found that I too, spoke in present terms as though I hadn’t fully grasped the reality of the devastation.  The Floridian also made a comment about my insistent present tense and tried to sarcastically check me on it.  I retorted that on any given day Tallahassee couldn’t measure up post-Katrina New Orleans, even on its best day.  The point behind this recollection is that most New Orleans residents would find it highly insulting to hear the entity that is our still great city spoken of as if it is a “has-been.”  Its culture and spirit is still very present to its inhabitants and I feel that John Piazza did a wonderful job of capturing and explaining those feelings.  His book in its entirety expresses the thoughts and feelings that so many victims and bystanders probably would never or could never publicly declare.  He is the voice of a battered people and he does not fudge the truth that is hidden behind the media’s curtain.  Piazza’s insight into the “hurricane behind the hurricane” gives me an even greater sense of pride to be a New Orleanian.  Despite the negativity from people who know little about the tribulation and who are ignorant of the true struggle and frustration the residents went through as a whole, I feel that we are recovering beautifully and slowly but surely our great city will surpass its pre-Katrina prime (flaws and all).

PART II…

Dr. Harris’s lecture was informative and inspiring.  He didn’t just rattle off accomplishments as though they were a given; he gave us insight into his struggles and experiences that made him the successful and influential person that he has become.  Before that Wednesday, I didn’t have the slightest idea of who Dr. Harris was or even of his careers or foundation.  However, by the end of his speech I realized that I had seen him several times, (I simply didn’t know him by name) and I felt that I had really received a positive message. His presentation showed that he is an upstanding person and nothing short of a moral entrepreneur.  In addition, I completely agree with him that without hope, one can have no future.  On another note, I feel that the majority of the audience behaved very immaturely.  I believe that we conveyed a negative impression of Xavier University and showed that a large percentage of our freshmen have yet to become fully aware of the reality and responsibilities that adulthood entails.  I also feel that the overall activity was more or less ill-prepared and slightly unorganized.  From the lack of chairs to the delayed start and excess of latecomers, the event didn’t represent the true character of Xavier.  Nevertheless, things happen and sometimes you simply have to make the best of unforeseen circumstances; it could have always been worse.  Still, I hope that as a whole we have all learned from those mistakes and will put forth an effort during all future activities to have a better handle on the situation.

 

Why New Orleans Matters/ Outside Events

Part I

I chose to discuss the first passage of the book. It intrests me because he discusses the things that stood out to him when he would look at pictures and listen to the music. I can relate to where he was coming from when I would look at old pictures of anything I would imagine being there. When I decided to come to New Orleans I wanted to know what I was getting myself into because after Hurricane Katrina I was beyond a little skeptical. I would get on the internet and  look of pictures to see the area looked like beore and after. Even before i decided to attend this school I had been exposed to the earlier history of New Orleans by doing various projects for classes that I have taken. I didn’t think of how the food of New Orleans was a culture of its own. I agree because the food is nothing like what I am used to and I think it should have its own category. It has a unique taste due to the diffrent spices and technique that the chefs use. I do think of New Orleans now because its like I am still a bit culturally shocked and trying to learn as much as i can. I feel that this one passage open me up to thinking about New Orleans in diffrent ways. I’ve always looked at it from one perspective and by reading this I learned that nothing is one sided and it is always more to it than what is on the surface.

 

Part II

I thought the presentation was typical with diffrent information. Most lectures that i have been to weren’t voluntary. He had great and valuable information but I think it could have been presented in more interesting fashion. It was very formal and the occasion came off as informal to me.  I would’ve changed his approach to the audience. He started off by saying that he knew what we were going through and he understood but he did nothing to change it. I liked the quotes that he used they were of great quality and it was inspiring. I do feel that my peers didn’t act accordingly and that their demeanor was unacceptable. At the same time although we are now young adults alot of people aren’t very mature. I feel that when planning outside event the organizersw need to be more considerate of the pressure that has already been placed on the students. That night alot of people couldn’t eat dinner. One thing that would make my experience better would be a set time for the presenter because after a certain amount of time people began to get restless and thats never a good thing. The presenter should be advertised better. I think that would make people interested. It would also be nice if there was a presenter would interact with the crowd more instead of talk at them most of the time. If I were in charge I would advertise the presenter better and let the audience know the relevance of the speaker and why I think that it is so imperative that they hear wht the speaker has to say. I would give the speaker a few pointers that i think may help them and their crowd interaction.

Week 5

Part I

“If it is still hard to envision this, take all of your books, place them in your bathtub and immerse them in a mixture of water, urine, spoiled food, feces, weed killer from the garbage, and perhaps your beloved cat, preferably drowned and bloated. Make sure to turn all the lights off and leave the house as nearly as possible sealed to the fresh air, which, come to think of it, isn’t really fresh air anymore in New Orleans.”

Tom Piazza’s “Why New Orleans Matters” didn’t really grab and hold my attention until the middle of the book. When I read this section I could sense the anger and despair felt by Piazza. Piazza represented all New Orleanians in that instant. When we finally came back, after seeing the traumatizing despairity of the situation on every news station, we see exactly what’s left of what was once your home. Treasured momentoes, pictures, books destroyed in a sick and irreverseble way. The passage stuck out to me so much becuase it reminded me of going back to my own home. I was scared to go back, to walk in, and see first hand all that I’d lost. Thousands of people affected by the storm have suffered psychological trauma. In this passage Piazza lets the reader see his lapse in sanity and hope. It is an extreme piece of advice, but I agree with it. Piazza found it necessary, because even today many people don’t fully understand how devastating the damage was. I, personally, wouldn’t add anything to the passage. I think it screams its message well enough that it doesn’t need an addition by me or anyone else.

Part II

I thought Dr. Harris’s presentation on Wednesday was interesting. It was mindblowing to see someone who’d accomplished so much, physician, astronuat, and entrepenuer. Even though we live in a time where anything really is possible, it was still unbelievable and motivating for me to actually see him and hear him speak. The forum was fine, I just felt that it’s quality decline several notches due to poor communication, planning, and student behavior. The behavior of my peers was extremely disrespectful and childish. If you really could care less about what’s being said just don’t pay attention quietly. Anyone of us could have simply slept, texted, studied, or daydreamed through the whole thing. I’m sure Ms. Rodriguez wouldn’t agree with me on that one, but at least that way the disruptions would have been fewer. I don’t have a problem with the outside events we as freshman have to attend. Even if you don’t like most of what goes on in them you can still leave the event with at least one thing that will help you succeed as a Freshman here at Xavier. If I would have organized the event I would have ensured that all parties involved both directly and indirectly were aware of the schedule and had arrangements made to work around the drill for Chemistry 1010 that afternoon. The students, the professors, the forum coordinators, and all other staff involved should have been aware of the scheduling conflicts and arrangements made to deal with them.

New Orleans

Part 1:

I would like to start off by saying that I enjoyed the book because I am not from New Orleans and it gave me a picture of the Crescent City before it was ruined by Hurricane Katrina. I had spent a summer here and my experiences coincided with some of the spots he talked about. I had been to Bourbon and Canal. I was here for the Essence Jazz Festival. Which leads me to my favorite passage: ” The food is prepared by people who compete to sell the one or two dishes that any given booth is allowed to sell”(p 63). I was there and I saw all of the booths. I had so many choices and I wanted to try them all but I went to the shortest line. It served barbecue and dirty rice. I enjoyed it although it wasn’t like my moms dirty rice. I also like the passage about the guy that Piazza met at the festival on page 65. I would have never guessed that a surgeon or any prestigious doctor would dress like that.

Part 2:

I attended the forum and I felt special that the speaker was a black man, a successful black man. He was one of the first black men astronauts and entrepreneur. It was interesting at first but I was took distracted by the fact that I had an exam at 6. So I was listening and trying to mental study at the same time. Now my peers who talked and were being rude  on purpose shame on them and the ones who left early because of the movie shame on them too. But I along with a few others had an exam for Chemistry and when we left 5 minutes to 6 we weren’t disrespectful. We were disrespected but we weren’t equally so. We had to get to out test for 6 and of course we weren’t allowed to because we were being “disrespectful”. I apologize (even though we had to go). I feel that it was a good idea to have him talk to us but how much cooperation do you expect when you force people to attend? I would have really enjoyed it if I didn’t have an exam and if I didn’t have to miss dinner. I just think working with us and better communication would work in the future. Or have food afterward. Or make these things during actual class time might work.

New Orleans

My favorite part of the book is on page one-hundred twenty nine when Piazza makes the attempt to have his readers that are not from New Orleans empathize with New Orleanians. The reason why this passage interests me so much is because alot of people that were not from New Orleans prior to Katrina have no way to understand what people from New Orleans had to go through. But as far as what he was saying, I have to agree with him in what i think he was trying to say, which is that no matter how you approach that situation without experiencing it first hand, you can not imagine going through what the people of New Orleans had to go through. But all in all after reading the book I can say that in the first few pages he managed to make me a little more appreciative of New Orleans. But at the same token it also helped me realize that in ten years from now, I really do not wanna still be here in New Orleans because I found that the city is not really made for me. As far as adding to what Piazza says in the book, there is not too much he did not manage to touch on.

I actually did not attend the Dr. Harris lecture but as for my input on having meetings outside of class, I feel that it is a waste of time. With all due respect to the people that plan for these, they made the mistake of making these outside events mandatory because it gives the illusion that freshman seminar, a class that counts for nothing other than a required prereq for graduating. If they wanted to really make this experience better, they would give the students the option of going to freshman seminar or not. I believe that if the sessions were optional and organized, there would be a more appreciative attitude in the rooms they are held in. But like I said if I were the one in charge there would be many changes to the seminar program. The freshman seminar program would be used only to help those freshman that actively seek out the class and there would be no penalty for the students that opted not to go to the class. So that would help to fix the problem that was aparent in Dr. Harris’ lecture because the only ones there would be the ones that want to be there.

New Orleans

I choose to write about the passage that states, “A man committed suicide by jumping from one of the balconies, a harbinger of worse, much worse, to come. People were kept inside by guards-at first to keep them from going out into the storm and being killed and later to keep them from illegally foraging for food of fresh water. And perhaps, to keep them from the television cameras as well.” What caught my attention about this section is that while I was evacuated during Katrina I heard that a man committed suicide in the superdome; not from the news but by word of mouth. The news contradicted this story by saying these rumors were false when a viewer called in to ask about them. This leads me to question the authors creditably and wonder where he found these sources, being that he was not a resident or directly effected by the happenings of hurricane Katrina. Also, the writer goes on to say that the people were kept back by the guards to prevent them illegally foraging for food or fresh food and perhaps from television cameras. The national guard made it perfectly clear that people trapped in the city were able to take any necessities need such as food, water, and clothing. While this was fine at first some people  (Which were witnessed on camera) went out of control and started to take numerous boxes of tennis shoes, televisions, and other out of the ordinary luxuries? Maybe if the guards would have held them back more we wouldn’t have had to rebuild the Oakwood Shopping Center that was destroyed by man. It seems to me that the author is trying to place all the blame on the government and the public heroes when a lot of the fault lies at the feet of New Orleans residence too.

            I did not attend the Wednesday lecture with Dr. Harris. From what my peers said about the lecture I understand that it was solely based on the experiences of an asturnauont. Due to this fact I would most likely not have been entertained by this lecture. The idea of a man traveling through space does not enlighten me in the least bit. I believe if God wanted man to explore space he would have created man with the ability to survive in space without suits, ships, and oxygen tanks. The fact that we have to attend these outside events are very inconvenient and pointless. They can be inconvenient to many who have to work, take care of a family, or do other important tasks. I have two jobs and I already find it tiresome to manage to go to class furthermore go back to school to sit in at an event that serves no purpose to me. The experience would be better if these outside events were voluntary and extra credit. That way people wouldn’t be forced to attend but at the same time more likely to because of the extra credit.

We Still Remember…

The passage I chose was ‘“Water” was a euphemism. No one knows for sure everything that was in the soup that flooded the city, although what is known—oil, lead, asbestos, human waste, human remains, benzene, battery acid, chemicals from chemical spills—was enough to scare even the military personnel I would encounter so often during my visit.’  This would have to be my favorite passage because the experience remains so vivid in my mind.  Every news station on the television was constantly showing updates of Katrina present conditions and the aftermath.  At the time, I thought the effects of Katrina were being exaggerated.  It just seemed like any other hurricane that rolled across Louisiana and I truly did not think much of it.  I imagined going back home after the storm and returning to daily life soon.  However, that was far from the truth. I think Tom Piazza used the perfect word to describe the city—soup.  Never in my life had I seen so many people die all at once.  No one could have predicted the levees breaking and the heartache that would be gained from just this one hurricane.  I am sure the people who choose not to evacuate were thinking the same way as me.  Katrina was just another storm and there was nothing to worry about.  Piazza’s words are precisely what New Orleans physically appeared as.  Bodies were floating all over the place, filthy greenish-brown water reached the windows of buildings two or three stories high, and the most troublesome images were of the actual victims.  Everyone was in tears, regardless if you actually knew someone affected or not.  Realizing what New Orleans faced at the time was hurtful and it caused the country to mourn with the victims.  After citizens were allowed to go back into the city, I remember my mother saying that the military were everywhere.  Standing at almost every street corner, holding big guns…seem as if it was the end of the world.  So I definitely agree with this particular excerpt from the book. 

 

I thought the forum was informative and Dr. Harris was an inspiration to anyone aspiring to achieve in life.  The very first thing I noticed about him was something I read on the slideshow.  Dr. Harris holds three different careers as an astronaut, doctor, and entrepreneur.  His credentials say enough and apparently his is a very busy man.  I felt honored to be in the presence of such a successful individual, especially because he was an African-American astronaut.  Dr. Harris also came from an underprivileged home with only his mother to raise the family.  I thought that was uncommon but not impossible.  Dr. Harris took time out of his schedule to come to Xavier and speak to freshmen.  Somehow, I think we are not everyone’s favorite group of people. Anyhow, I definitely felt inspired to accomplish any goal set in my path.  If he can maintain holding three careers, surely I can handle one. 

 

As for my peers, I thought they were unprofessional.  I felt embarrassed for them to some to a certain degree.  Most of them talked during the entire presentation and groups of students left at a time.  I thought it was disrespectful to the speaker but their actions are completely out of my control.  If we could change anything about the meeting, I would have everyone sit there quietly so that Dr. Harris can share his experiences with us.  The presentation was not long and it would have been shorter if he was not getting interrupted every two seconds.  As young adults, we should have more respect for anyone who tries to help us prosper in life.  I think my peers might appreciate more someone closer to our age that is also widely known in our generation.  Maybe they would ‘behave’ more appropriately if it were someone we actually knew.

 

New Orleans

Part I:

In “Why New Orleans Matters”, Tom Piazza talked about what went on during Katrina. This particular section interested me because it happened just as he wrote. The people in New Orleans went through a lot before Katrina but suffered during and after everything was over. The people tried to save themselves but the people who couldn’t moved to the chaotic Superdome and Astrodome. When the people found out what was happening to their city it got worse. The main cause for this effect was the government. Where were the government officials? Where was the National Guard? Where were the Mariners? Where were the paratroopers? No one knew. These people came to help the people of New Orleans five days after the storm. People who don’t who haven’t visited New Orleans criticized it for all the bad aspects it has but forgot about the good facts that were there. An Australian journalist criticized New Orleans about the bad living conditions, crime rate and the lifestyle of its civilians. New Orleans is not what people make it seem to be. It’s a great place to be. There is a large variety of food, monumental buildings, and historic sites a visitor can view. But it’s strange how a person could do all these different activities and not interact with all the bad people put New Orleans out to be. Tom Piazza specifies that New Orleans is a great place to b. He really gained my respect when he did because some journalist like the Australian journalist did would give New Orleans an awful description. I wouldn’t change anything Tom Piazza stated in his work of art.

Part II:

Dr. Harris’s lecture was interesting but he really gained my attention at the end.  I like the way he emphasized little dreams you have as a kid could take you on a long journey throughout life. Even though he went to school and became what most children’s dreams are when they are young is a doctor, he still went on to pursue his biggest dream. That was to be an astronaut. That little dream has helped him to make history. I feel my peers could have been more respectful and gave Dr. Harris there complete attention. He could have gone to any school or college to talk to some regular individuals. There must have been a good reason he chose Xavier and my peers showed him a totally different aspect of what he may have thought us to be. The events we have are good but the events that outside of school is a little hard to attend. Not all of us have transportation to these different sites. In other words, if I was to plan an outside event I would have proper transportation. Students tend to get bored in a place they are not comfortable in. I would my peers turn in a list of events they would be interested in and where. It would be hard to pick an event to satisfy everyone but I would have to remember what most college students like to do. From there I would make it educational.

Why New Orleans Matters/ Outside Events

 Part I:    I like  the idea of how Tom Piazza talks about the realities of New Orleans which are positive and negative.  He does not give a description that shows one side of New Orleans, but, instead, shows New Orleans as a whole, which to me is the most accurate way to describe New Orleans.  This interests me because I was raised in this city, and I hear a lot about its negatives.  However, to read about the positives made me remember that this city is special even with its flaws. 

     Plus, I agree with his portrayal of the “crescent city.”  I am aware that New Orleans has much to offer, and yet, to read his portrayal amplified for me how great New Orleans actually is. I also enjoyed how he is able to make it appealing to others despite its flaws.  He talks about Jazz Fest which I adore, and the music, the food and the diversity of the people which brings back found memories of my own.  These include watching different vendors sell unique jewelry, hearing different artists playing at the same event, and watching native Indians dancing ritual dances.  I think he makes Jazz Fest come alive.  On the other hand,  he countered this positive with a negative such as Katrina.  Piazza tells of the devastating event, and he told of the realities that occurred.  To tell readers women were raped and homes were destroyed, I think takes a lot of courage because it is hard to rehash what actually happened.

    To add on to what Tom Piazza has said, I would like to say that one is unable to imagine how great New Orleans is until they have actually experienced it themselves, and even then, I am sure the city still has plenty more to offer.

Part II:     I enjoyed the forum with the NASA astronaut, and I thought it was educational and fun at the same time.  I especially enjoyed how he presented his information, for he started talking about his goals and dreams from when he was a boy and how he achieved those goals in his adult years. However, some of my peers were quite disruptive, and it was very unappreciated. On the hand, I do remember seeing a lot of my other peers showing genuine interest in what he had to say.  For example, his explanation of the “vomit comet” spiked many interests.

     In regards to attending outside events, I do like the thought of it, but with so much home work and other plans, it does make me think that I need to spend my time on other matters.  For example, I have two major tests this week, but the night before them, we have a mandatory attendance of a movie.  Therefore, it makes it kind of hard on me because I want to go to keep my attendance up, but I also want to to do well on my tests.

     To make the experience better, I would try to provide some type of snack to keep the students awake and alert.  Perhaps to also make sure we our paying attention, a small questionnaire might also be helpful.  Plus, a description of the event would also be nice.  For example, I know only the name of the movie we are supposed to watch.  I think it would be beneficial to have some facts about the movie before we actually watch it.

    

New Orleans

Part One

To be frank, Tom Piazza did not actually interest me at all while reading his book. I’ve tried looking for parts that interested me, however, I have had no luck in this pursuit. The book was not entertaining unfortunately. This is okay though because all books are not meant to entertain. Piazza’s work is more of a documentary-type piece. He basically goes over his life and highlights the city of New Orleans and the role it has played in his life. There was not a moment in the book where Piazza utilized dialog or the narrative standpoint. Therrfore, he was not writing to keep the reader’s attention to the point where he or she could not put the book down. The point was to inform his audience of the authenticity of New Orleans. The most interesting part to me, even after failing in actually finding an area of interest, came right at the beginning when he told of his experience watching the jazz funeral. Now if I were to see a real funeral like tht while down here then that would be truly interesting. I have never heard of travelling down the street with a dead body, celebrating; not here in America at least. This adds on to an eerie and almost gothic nature of New Orleans. I’ve always pictured this place as a haven for spirits and voodoo activity… jazz music and a dead body??? It all goes together. If Piazza had emphasized the structure of the cemetaries, New Orleans’ spooky ambience would be further acknowledged in the understanding of the reader.

Part Two

I attended the lecture from Dr. Harris. Notice I did not say speech, or presentation. I said lecture. That is what the “presentation” felt like. It was not interesting, and that is a first for me because the world beyond our world has always caught my attention. But this time, I was struggling most of the time to keep my eyes open. Dr. Harris was rather cliche at some points. For example, him telling the audience that we can be all that we want to be or something. I know he was trying to be encouraging but it made me feel like I was back in the fifth grade. Yes, Dr. Harris is an excellent example of an African-American success, but he just wasn’t entertaining at all. Not even with the pictures on the overhead. But this all may have something to do with my mood at the time. Dr. Harris had many good things to say, but I probably missed them because I wa worried about my butt hurting so bad. I was rather uncomfortable the majority of the time due to the shortage of chairs. I had to plop myself on the floor all the way in the back. I could barely see Dr. Harris, let alone the pverhead pictures. With all of this being said, I believe most of the people who left at the end were actaully very rude about it. They were loud and obnoxious. Yes, a portion of them were heading to a drill and had to rush, but there are those that were just outright ghetto and loud, as if they were trying to make Dr. Harris aware of their boredom in his speech. I feel that those inconsiderate people reflective Xavier students in a bad way. Dr. Harris has every right to forward his bad perceptions of XU students to the following presenters and whoever else may come. I just hope that next time we don’t act so rude towards someone who is trying to help us, even though he was really boring. There is not much to do about the scheduling, because in reality everybody is not going to make it everytime. So that is fine. What is not okay is not being prepared for all of the students or having enough chairs. The chair shortage probably added to students acting out because we were so uncomfortable. These type of situations can be avoided. So next time there needs to be enough chairs for everyone. Also, every event is not going to be enjoyable to every student. So in this case, there is not much to be done about making the events more enjoyable.

Week Five

Part I

“New Orleans, infact , is filled with people who came for Jazz Fest and never left. Or who went home and quit their job and came back. I think Jazz Fest teaches them what to love about the city, and how to love it. It is a kind of distillation of the mythology of the city.”

This passage pokes my interest because of what he states, it’s basically true. Many people who come to visit the city fall in love with the atmosphere here. They always praise the environment of the city and how humble the people are. Many people even eventually move here or always come back frequently to visit. The Jazz festivals always attract visitors from all over the country and always keep them faithfully coming back again. I agree with Tom on the subject that once you love you can not turn your back. The Jazz festival gives the visitor a chance to experience a piece of the New Orleans life, that’s why people love it so much. Jazz festival give them a reason to believe New Orleans is different, it shows them how unique this one little city is.

The first few chapters of this book actually gave me a different view on New Orleans. I’ve never actually thought about what made New Orleans special. Reading Tom Piazza book opened my eyes to the details of New Orleans that I didn’t think about. He went into details of the different things about New Orleans that made it matter like the music, food, people, and just their way of life. This book made me realize all the little things about New Orleans that I loved and appreciate and wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else in the world. In the beginning chapters, he talks about the personalities of the people within’ New Orleans’ community, that was one of the main aspect that made him fell in love with New Orleans.

Part II

When I was just sitting down waiting for the presentation to begin, I kept thinking how old this man must be for being an entrepreneur, a doctor, and an astronaut. To my amazement, he was younger than I expected. Dr. Harris’s presentation was quite interesting at some giving points, like when he was joking around, but after some time my attention started to wander around. I was amazed at the accomplishments he made throughout his life, for instance he was the first African American to perform a space walk. He accomplished something this big and was in Xavier University to tell us, isn’t that what’s amazing? There wasn’t much I didn’t like, space wasn’t just a part of my interest and maybe that’s why I started to wander off in my own thoughts.

Most of the peers during the presentation, to my opinion, had acted like a bunch of freshmen high school students. I feel they didn’t act like Xavier’s students. It appalled me how they responded to Dr. Harris when he made a statement that his presentation wasn’t going to last much longer. He has to stop in middle of his thought to try and control the attitudes of most of the peers in the room. He made time out of his schedule to give us a presentation; everybody should have appreciated and at least acted accordingly.

Having outside events is actually a great thing to do, it brings the students together. The only thing I don’t like about outside events is that it’s mandatory, and I don’t think something like that should be against our wills. Beside that point, I think Xavier made these events mandatory to bring the students together and experience something together. What would make my experience better if had better chairs to sit in; I hurt my back in those chairs. To make a event enjoyable, the events have to be something that interest everybody in some kind of way. I think what makes an educational event that students would actually appreciate is something they can participate in. A lot of people aren’t interested to sit in a room and listen to one person talk for an hour; their patient would start to run short for the event to end. What makes a presentation enjoyable always depends on the speaker itself, if the speakers know how to connect with the students. Other than that, having snacks on the side is one of the main thing everybody love.

Why New Orleans matters

Part 1

In the book “Why New Orleans Matters” by Tom Piazza, he does a great deal of telling his readers about Mardi Gras and the Jazz and Heritage Festival. He also tells about the culture and the food in New Orleans. As a local New Orleans resident I feel as though he did an okay job of telling his readers bout what happens at the Mardi Gras parades. Him telling the history of it was good but telling what actually goes on I didnt agree with it. I like the way he talked about Mardi Gras Indians. You can find the Mardi Gras Indian suits worsen on that day. I felt as though he could have made the Mardi Gras section more interesting. I guess if you’re not from New Orleans it would be very interesting, but for me a resident for over eighteen years, it was nice but not interesting. How ever I do believe he did a great job about the Jazz fest. I like how he made his readers aware of the thousands of people that attend such a hot but fun event. The jazz is an event that I would advise all the students who attend Xavier that is not originally from New Orleans to attend. I think they should also attend Mardi Gras parades. The parade they really need to attend is the Zulu Parade, but be safe because people are drunk and they will be acting crazy. The culture of New Orleans is like no other. People say “New Orleans is a city within a city”. In the book he talked about the jazz funerals but its nothing compared to being there. We celebrate the life of people by having a second line. When he talked about the food of New Orleans I began to get bored. That was the most non interesting part of the book.

Part 2

I attended the assembly with the African American astronaut. He talked about the way he always liked the sky. He talked about how you can become anything you want. I think that being an astronaut maybe very fun, but I would never do it. The people who planned the assembly didnt do a very good job. The timing of the it was wrong. They should have consulted with all of the faculty before having it. Some students had labs and other things to do at the time of the assembly. I think that the entire freshmen student body could have behaved differently. Everyone was very upset because of this assembly. To me it was very boring. I felt as though I could have used that time to go and study. If I was going to waste my time going to something like this it could have been intertaining. I didn’t like the way that the assembly was only suppose to be an hour and it didn’t end until about two hours later. I really don’t like how you cant miss no more than two of these assemblies but yet you have a class or something at that time. Then you cant miss the class because it will count against you and you cant miss to many days of class. Students really shouldn’t miss any days of class because they will be pushed behind. Nobody should have to make that choice.

NeW OrLeAnS

Part I:

“Everyone who loves New Orleans learns to love it with its flaws. It may be hard for people who have never been to the Crescent City to understand the passionate love people have for it, to understand why it’s worth fighting for—why it matters.” This quote from Tom Piazza’s book, Why New Orleans Matters arouses many responses to why New Orleans really does matter. New Orleans has a very rich culture in every aspect: food, music, dance, Mardi Gras, Jazz fest, and much more. It is definitely a city that you have to experience to truly understand and appreciate its importance. Being a native of the Crescent City, I never really realized how much New Orleans truly meant to me until I started traveling other places for music events and summer programs. When I spent my summer at a music festival in Oneonta, New York last summer I realized how much New Orleans food was so unique. I do not think I have been to any other city where Tony Chachere’s can be used on almost any food and the seasoning is carefully allowed to soak into the food giving it an everlasting flavor. This particular quote just opened my mind to the fact some people really do not understand what New Orleans is about. Although New Orleans has its flaws, such as poverty, a horrible education system, and its bowl shape, making it so easy to flood, its inhabitants truly love it. I really liked some of the intricate events Piazza described because they made me think of how much I really appreciate our culture and that there is no other place like New Orleans.

Part II:

I enjoyed learning information about his job and interests as an African-American astronaut. Although I knew what an astronaut was I did learn quite a few things I never heard of. Some of my peers were very interested in the forum, whereas, on the other hand, many of them behaved quite rudely. I thought it was very disrespectful of how many side conversations there were, which actually distracted the presenter. It was also impolite that many students left in a huge crowd during the middle of the presentation, besides those who had to get to a Chemistry drill. I do not mind having outside events as long as they are something that may be beneficial for me to learn about. I think the speaker this time was okay, however, he may have been able to hold more people’s attention if he used a more interactive approach.

New Orleans

The introduction is where I found most of my interest. In the introduction he talks a lot about the hurricane and everything the residence of New Orleans went through, the ones that evacuated and the ones that chose to stay. In the introduction he breaks down why many people had to stay instead of choosing to stay, he also gives incite on the government and FEMA; how he and everyone in America were amazed by there slow responds to the situation. one passage that I loved was ” Anger is famous for being, often, a mask for profound grief” (Tom Piazza) It took me a while to understand what he meant but then as I read more and took a minute to think about what he really meant it became clear. Anger is just a being a feeling that last for a short amount of time, and we use anger to cover up a lot of things, in the case with hurricane Katrina many people covered their grief, sorrow and frustration with anger. I totally agreed with what he wrote, I related a lot of my past experiences with covering them with anger instead of letting them out. Even though I have not finished the book yet, I don’t look at New Orleans in a negative-different way, I only look at it as a positive way. From the jazz music he talked greatly about to the food. There is noting extra that I could add to the book or any passage that I read; these are his thoughts and feelings not mine.

 

 Dr. Harris’s lecture on Wednesday was interesting, it could have been a little more exciting but for the most part I learned from the lecture. what I did not like about the lecture that has noting to do with him was that it was mandatory, I feel we are in college now but it still feels like we are being controlled all over again. For the most part I enjoyed what he had to say, I took in him explaining that you should reach for the stars and you can accomplish anything in your lifetime no matter your background or your age. My peers, where should I start? They were disrespectful to the fullest; we are in college we need to show respect for ourselves not only that but for the whole freshman class and Xavier. We were totally off the wall disrespectful. Having the outside events are very interesting because you never now what you will learn from them, but I still feel that not attending them should not be held against us. Even though we complain, we all learn something from the outside events even if we won’t admit to it. I’m really not sure what I would change, because I don’t know what would be educational, fun and rewarding without being boring. Education along is boring at times so when it comes to fun and education it’s hard to mix the two; in my personal opinion.

 

Courtney McClain

New Orleans

Part 1:

In reading Tom Piazza’s Why New Orleans Matters for the second time, I came to realize there were certain aspects in the book that re-inforced how I thought about New Orleans that I didn’t see when I had read it in High School. Our city is unlike any other city, its unique in what we have inside our city “walls” you can say. We have many festivals from Mardi Gras which I’m so lucky to have lived in New Orleans to have participated in so many years, and Jazz fest which many have heard about. He explained how Jazz fest was a major event where many artists/bands come to New Orleans and how thousands upon thousands of people come every year just to listen to them and listen to their music. I believe what he said that made it stand out was that they came to listen to New Orleans’ own musicians and how they give out a certain image of New Orleans in their own music and how they love to do their own thing. The book gives out a bigger range of understanding the city than the real world offers. To my cousins, they see New Orleans as French Quarter, beignets, and Bourbon street, which are major things, but doesn’t come close to defending what New Orleans is. It’s a place of unique people, places that still exist even after hurricane Katrina which Tom Piazza calls a horrible experience for the people of New Orleans.  He explains in details how horrible life was, and how its residents just wanted to come back home. Which I agree with him fully, when Katrina hit, all I thought about was home and when can I get back.

Part 2:

In one of the four mandatory meetings we had outside of class, I didn’t particularly like how it was. The ballroom was fine, but it didn’t have enough seats so there were a number of us sharing and sitting on the floor which was very uncomfortable, but bearable since it wasn’t for that long. The students were a big roll on how things turned out to be. Many of them didn’t want to be there, some had chemistry labs to go to after and were mad because they were forced to go listen to Dr. Harris last minute. A lot of students were very rude and noisy which seems to have made Dr. Harris mad, but he only told us once to be quiet, which I found surprising because of the amount of noise the freshman student body was creating. The presentation he gave himself was very good overall. I learned a lot that I wouldn’t have realized, and his inspirational talks gave some of us a bit of motivation and he gave me a new mentality of that we are the only ones that can defeat ourselves, so we have to stay focus if we want to succeed.

The outside events in general are fine, as long as we know ahead of time when they are because a lot of us had to forcefully cut plans off, such as work for a few, just to attend and it isn’t the easiest thing to do to cancel work at last minute. What would make it better of course is, just give us more notice so we can schedule ourselves and have more chairs so all of us had a seat. Another thing that I realized in the time I was writting this, another thing we have to change is our attitude. Come into the ballroom not being all moody and childish about it, but just come in and try to stay attentative, if not then just keep our mouths closed and sit there blankly for the few of us that want to learn.  Its not only being respectful to the speaker, but to our peers also.

-Hai Tran

New Orleans

Part I

In the book Tom Piazza talks about the Jazz Festival.  This was one of my favorite events that happened in New Orleans.  It interests me because usually people who aren’t from New Orleans describe the event wrong, but Tom Piazza hit it right on the nose.  This is something I thought of before hand.  I agree with how he talked about some of the people there are of high esteem and you would never even guess that they were doctors and lawyers.  He also talked about how you can just start dancing with the already hundred people dancing.  He said how there is a gospel tent where the word is going forth and the organs are playing.  He talked about the blacksmith that’s there and the cajun band as well some international acts that were there.  Some examples he gave were Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris, and Dave Matthews, Jimmy Buffett, and Aretha Franklin.  He talked about Deacon John and his band also.  They are usually on a small stage in the mid afternoon is what he said about them.  He mentioned how you spend the day in the sun talking to strangers.  Also he mentioned the food that was there.  He talked about the snowball stands and the turkey and pork po-boy’s.  Also he talked about the fulsilli macaronni in cream sauce with crawfish tails.  I completely agree with what he said in the book.  This does not make me look at New Orleans in a different way.  I can not think of anything to add to this.

Part II

I did not like that mandatory outside event at all.  It was crowded, there weren’t enough chairs, and the people were too loud.  I could not see the speaker from where I was in the back either.   The students were rude and kept walking out in the middle of him speaking.  I understand that some of them had make up chemistry labs to go to but the rest of them just did not feel like being there.  Also there was this gut who was close to me who just kept on distracting me by doing the dumbest stuff.  He was dancing and he put the chair on top of his head.  I did not like sitting on the floor at all.  Also I could hardly hear the speaker where I was because people were talking and this one guy had his MP3 player really loud.  My peers were really disrespectful to the speaker.  I do not particularly like having outside events unless the have to do with something that directly affect me.  If the people were quieter, I had a chair to sit in, and if the professors would do better at enforcing the rules, I think that I would have enjoyed the speaker.  I also think that if the speaker walked around more then people would have stopped talking as much.  Also I think if he would have had microphones in the audience for him to to have more of a discussion with the students then more would have been more interested in what he was saying.  Also I think the speaker should have been more enthusiastic and excited.

Why New Orleans Matters/Outside Events

In Why New Orleans Matters, Tom Piazza talks a lot about the culture of New Orleans. I did not know about the parades with the Indians and a lot about Mardi Gras until I read the book. I have never been to Mardi Gras, and I am really excited to be here in New Orleans so I can experience it for the first time. He mentions Jazz Fest and how thousands of people come every year to enjoy the music and the good food. He talks about the art and all of the bands that come from the city. The book did make me look at New Orleans in a different way because all I knew about was the French Quarter and Bourbon. That is what I thought made the city of New Orleans a popular place for tourists to visit. Piazza also talks about the hurricane and how it was a very horrible experience for the residents of the city. The people that were staying in the Superdome experienced very tragic things. First of all there were thousands of all kind of people staying there. There was also little medical help and a lot of crime going on. Females were getting raped when going to the restrooms and just a lot of horrible things people had to go through.  He talks about the chaos of the city and how people were being robbed and killed when the rescuers were there to help. In the end he talks about how a lot of the residents wanted to come back home and make New Orleans like the city they once knew.

Dr. Harris’s presentation was very interesting. He was successful in three careers and that was very amazing to me. He was a doctor, an astronaut, and an entrepreneur. It was interesting to find out that he is an African-American male that has actually gone to space! He is a good person to listen to and can help motivate you to accomplish whatever goal it is you has. I think my peers were very rude during the presentation. People were talking, texting, and walking out while he was speaking to us. I think the events should not be mandatory, but just for the students that would like to take advantage of going to the events to learn new things. But if it has to be mandatory then the events should take place during the class period and we just meet in the auditorium. I also think we could decide as a group what topics might be interesting to hear about and that would probably make students more motivated to come to the events.

New Orleans Importance

I would like to start by stating that New Orleans does matters.  When the question “why it matters” is aroused, than many answers are there.  First, New Orleans is full of heritage and culture.  Referrin to Tom Piazza, “Burbon is not the real New Orleans.”  Everything makes this city matter; from the culture, friendly faces, preserverance, spirit and most of all determination.  No matter the damage dealt or destrucution reaked, the New Orleanians rep their entire state with pride. If thats not a reason fo be important than there must be no reasons.  Honestly, Mississippi is known as the hospitality state, but I think New Orleans is the best state to be in. This state is unbelievable and no matter the destruction dealt, New Orleans will always matter.  New Orleans has introduced many new methods for almost everything.  Its unique spices and tecniques have influenced cultures all over the world.  When it comes to music, New Orleans hass become the heart and soul of music.  Constantly introducing new styles and flavors, New Orleans has become a main attraction to many people.

When it came to the presentation, I enjoyed it.  His quotes and motivational expressions made me feel as if I could never fail.  I like the quote “A person only defeats himself.”  This really meant that the only way someone will fail is by not trying or not being positive.  When it came to my peers, I noticed that in some instances, majority of them left.  For the few that stayed, we chose to stay to represent our school and the show our level of respect.  I think that we should have out-side programs but they shouldn’t have to be mandatory.  The reason for this is that if someone choose not to learn, then they will be stuck in the past while we are engaging towards the future.  I always said that the choice of ignorance should be there.  Understand that the people who is at school to be at school will be there.  Let the people who want to prosper from the outside events take advantage of the situation.  In our next evnet, I would like to have something to get the audience involved so maybe they could stay focus.  I also believe that learning can  be fun and at the same time it can be educational.  I propose that it should be some type of activity that should catch the attention of the onlookers.  I also think that we should have a presentaion with the students actually given it.  We could have like group meetings to search for topics of interests.  Once we have the topic of interest, many more people would come.  We also could get professors to speak on topics that the students are interested in, in hope that they find out things that was unknown to them or their friends.  By doing this, we insure more participation and the attention or more students.  Would you actually want to miss something that you are concerned with? No, and neither does the other students.

NeW OrLeAnS[♥]

 Part 1

         Why New Orleans Matters was full of sincerity and emotion, but there was one particular idea that Tom Piazza spoke of that sparked my interest. He stated how former first lady Barbara Bush was visiting the Astrodome, and told a radio interviewer, “So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them. How could they possibly miss a place where they were you know underprivileged?”(pp.152) Through his strong diction, emotional tone and rhetorical questions, he makes it clear that the statement she made hit a soft spot in his heart, causing him to become very defensive for his city. When he ask, “How could they miss a place where the father kept his uniform from World War Two in a cardboard suitcase lined with newspaper,”(pp.153) it made me more empathetic to him as well as those that lost such material during Katrina. The media focused so much on the clothes and the houses lost, they fail to state the things such as baby pictures, shot records and “WWII uniforms.”

          I totally agree with Piazza and his emotion on the statement made. He stood up for New Orleans said what any one would have said, except more sensored. Not only did speak out of anger, he spoke out of pain. Not pain because the city was down, pain because the city’s spirit was down. This book didn’t really change my outlook on New Orleans because I’ve always loved New Orleans and from the first day I saw the horror on T.V. I felt for all the people who had to go through Katrina. I dont think Tom Piazza could have said what he said any better. He speaks from his heart, his mind and his soul about the New Orleans life style; the culture; the New Orleans way. 

Part 2

        Dr. Harris’s lecture was interesting in some aspects. He spoke of the actual astronaut activities and cautions. For example, if an astronaut drifts too far from the ship he becomes unobtainable. He will continue to float into outer space and die from hunger. I thought that was entertaining. Though business and astronomy is not my thing, I tried not to let it bore me. It’s good to see an average African American man doing well and setting a positive example. I felt like my peers could have appreciated the fact that this man took time out of his schedule to come speak to us. They could have been a little more respectful and not walked out before the speech was even over. I dont have a problem attending outside events, as long as they are somewhat informative for me. Hopefully that does not sound selfish, because I know that there are other majors besides science in the school. I think a good way to improve attendance and attention would be to make the presentations during the actual class periiod or the same day of the class period. And I am sure we could also talk to our peer and try to help influnce them to be more respectful.

Why New Orleans Matters

Part I:
In “Why New Orleans Matters” Tom Piazza illustrates the view of New Orleans and the disaster, chaotic, hectic, and unprepared of Katrina. In the introduction, Piazza had stopped me by this section and I thought about how angry I was when I was watching the news in 2005. “Like the rest of the country, and the world, I watched in anger, confusion, and disbelief. This was happening in the United State of America. Where was the plan?” I totally I agree with Tom Piazza on this. When Katrina hits, my family and I would all glued our eyes on the television to observe on what is happening to our City. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on the news. The city filled with water, people on their roof screamed to death for help. Not to mention the chaotic in the Superdome. This was happening in the United States of America? I didn’t believe it at first, but to face the truth, that did happen in America. Like the rest of the country, and the world, I thought America has the plan for this, but it turned out to be the disaster which recorded in history. After Katrina, New Orleans became so dangerous, the shooting, killing, raping, robbing, etc. made me and my family having a second thought of moving back to New Orleans. Fortunately, we moved back after one year; there is no other place like New Orleans. It might be a dangerous city, but it is my home.

Part II:
Dr. Harris’s presentation was really interesting to me. It amazed me to know that he is an astronaut, an entrepreneur, and a doctor. I thought it is nearly impossible to accomplished 3 major careers like him in a life time, but Dr. Harris made it. He is now my inspiration. I like the PowerPoint Dr. Harris had prepared for us; it really gave the images of how it feels like leaving the earth and living in space. I was really into the lecture at first when there was not any interruption. Talking and texting during the lecture were such major problems; it was disrespectful to the speaker and others around. Not to offend anyone but it was a disgrace to walk out when Dr. Harris was giving a lecture. In fact, it is a disgrace to walk out while anyone is giving a lecture or advice. I think some students should have been acted better. Actually, I was embarrassed because my boyfriend from LOYOLA was there with me and he gave me a comment, “This is just like high school, this wouldn’t happen at Loyola.” Of course I gave him a look, but I didn’t have anything positive to say at the time. He did say the lecture was valuable. I don’t mind attending outside events, as long as it fit into my schedule. If the school scheduled an event for the students, I am sure it must be helpful for the students. If I was in charge of organizing an outside event for students, I would provide hand-on activities or something that will interest the students instead of just another lecture since the students had enough lectures during the day.

New Orleans

         The reason why New Orleans matter’s to me. Is that I was born and raise here all of my life. New Orleans has its down fall. Like the crime rate, hurricanes and all. But that doesn’t make me want to dislike my city at all. Why New Orleans matter is that the culture, food, festival, and concert events are the best in the nation. I feel that our culture in New Orleans are different and unique in its on way. Like the city is known for being a french own city. New Orleans has different cultural people in the New Orleans area. Like Spanish, African, Hispanic Background so on and so forethought. The food in New Orleans is so different from other states in the United States. Seafood id the main seller in New Orleans catering. Different types of seafood New Orleans has; are shrimp, crawfish, oysters, and more. The List can go on and on about seafood in New Orleans. They also different types of events that’s amazing when alot of tourist come to the Crescent   to enjoy. Mardi Gras, Essence and more. These events are the best their the main attraction of New Orleans. I agree that New Orleans is going to be with it is no matter what happens to it. Hurricanes can’t stop how we feel about NOLA. If you want New Orleans to be a safe and caring environment get involved and it will be.I believe that New Orleans is the best place to be very friendly and loving atmosphere. 

I think that Dr. Harris presentationwas very interesting. He was explain how you can dream, and how you believe the dream to the fullest and you can do it. Sky is the limit to do what ever you put your mind to do in your life. Just trust in yourself, believe you can do it. If you do believe in yourself you can do anything. He also was telling us to make sure we stick to what we believe in our dream and it will come true. I feel that my peers acted immature and childlike at Dr. Harris Presentation. He didn’t deserve that at all. We suppose to be grown college mature students at Xavier. They act like little children running out of the ballroom when they can. Also been stop at the door and being turn back around unto the ballroom again. When they told them they can leave most of the freshmen class got up and walked out the door, some of them even ran out of the door. That was so wrong to treat that man that way. I have  that it sometimes a good and bad thing. it sometimes interfere in people schedules.  If it would be a outside event I would make it both educational and fun to be there. I would interact with the students. get them involved in the program also. That’s most important thing to do. It would be more interesting in the program from the aaudience.

Why does New Orleans really matters…

In the book Why New Orleans Matter by Tom Piazza, said “New Orleans is a city of elegance, beauty, and refinement.” And then he states “New Orleans is a city of violence, poor education, and extreme poverty.” Those two statements to me are the best parts of the book. They wrap up the city into two well composed sentences. I have lived in New Orleans for 18 years! All my life! I have been with this city through all it ups and downs,From Mardi Gras every year to Katrina. Being a New Orleanian I can say that this city is such an amazing place as Piazza explains in his book. It offers culture exploding and spirit giving experience everyday. But like every city, New Orleans has it down points. After Katrina we really got to see how our city’s education compared to other cities; and lets just say it wasn’t good. Only students who enrolled in the top notch school got a top notch education. The violence in the city is another imperfection. We are also a city in which the violence is terrifying. At a certain time in the night we all know when its time to head on inside for the night to be safe. Poverty does seem to have gotten worse since Katrina and may have to get worse before it gets better. But nevertheless new Orleans being the beautiful city it is, has loads of community service groups who are working together to improve or imperfections and become a violence stable community, poverty free, and well educated city. New Orleans is a city of progress.

Part 2!

Dr. Bernard Harris gave a wonderful presentation the Xavier freshman. He lectured to us about his experience as a astronaut. He shared with us his experience as him being the first African American to go to space! I think that is such a great accomplishment for the African American race. Its such a privilege that our school allows us to have to meet such great individuals like Dr. Harris. I do understand others frustration about being forced to go to these outside events. All though others may think that student shouldn’t be forced to hear lecture they do not want to; these lectures it make us students well-rounded and more aware of our outside surroundings. I do think his presentation could have been a little more interactive with the audience. He would have had a better audience if he would have tried to compare his experience to the experiences we are going through in college now. I do not think that the students should have been rude to him because of the boredom. It wasn’t fair to Dr. Harris when the students made rude remarks or talk while he was presenting. Its never acceptable for any student to think that they have to enjoy everything about every lecture they go to. Likewise the presenter should think to try to be more creative with his or her presentation. He would have been more enjoyable if we were able to actually been in groups doing different space like activities.

All in all the presentation given by Dr. B Harris was a rewarding experience. I think Xavier should try to have more interactive presentations. I think having presenters students actually know and could relate to would also make the lecture more interesting.

Shannon :o)

Week 5: Tom Piazza and Dr. Harris

“For years we had been told that such a storm making a direct hit on New Orleans was not just possible but also inevitable. For years we had been told that the failure of the levee system was inevitable. For years the government had been aware of a working model of just how the flooding would come. Now that it happened, whatever plans had been made were obviously completely inadequate. To add insult to injury, the president of the United States, claimed on television that nobody could have foreseen the breaks in the levees.”

I love this statement from Tom Piazza. He proves a point about how lazy the government is and shows how much the government does not take precautions well. After the storm, we all thought the same way what Tom Piazza just said in this statement, and I agree what Piazza said because as you can see after the storm the levees where not fixed. The city was destroyed and many people have died. I think the government did not want to fix the levee until they felt like it was necessary so they can save their money. This changes New Orleans dramatically. It makes our government look like bunch of idiots, and the government is who New Orleans is represented by. I don’t think I can say anything more to what Tom Piazza said, but he is completely right.

For me, I loved outer space, so this would have been a great opportunity to get some more knowledge about outer space. What I like about his presentation was  all the interesting facts and funny things that can happen out of earth. He mention that if you get lost out of space you would die of hunger, and that sounds like it sucks. The thing that I did not like about this outside program was that it was made mandatory on the last minute. As young adults, when we hear mandatory, it sucks the excitement out of everything. I was really mad at my peers because I was forced to go to this as they were told to, but you still have to respect others, and especially Dr. Harris. Many people had other activities or school work to do, and they where already in a bad mood coming in. I was sitting on the floor while trying to listen to Dr. Harris, but to many people was walking in front of me, and i was getting mad. I couldn’t barely hear anything nor see anything, and the most important reason why I left early  because I  felt embarrassed.  He kept on asking us to stay quiet angrily. I love the fact that Xavier holds outside events. It shows that the speaker cares by sacrificing  their time  to speak to us, and share their experience so we can relate to them. If I was in charged, the things that I would try to do to make it more fun and educational is to not call the meeting mandatory. I would call it to be in your own benefit if you came. After the presentation, you should have to write a mini summary of what you heard or learned from the speaker for class points, not extra points. For entertainment, I would do a raffle on many gifts like discount in the bookstore, free gas, or etc.

[[Why New Orleans Matters]]

Part 1::

One of the sections that most sticks out to me is Chapter 6. This chapter talks about Mardi Gras. This section interest me for many reason. I would always hear people talking about this occasion, but I was to young to go. Now that I am of age and live in a place where attending Mardi Gras is a reality I really would like to go. I had thought of it before when I visited New Orleans when I was younger.  Now I’m thinking about it occasionally and can not wait unitl February. I agree with the author when he says he didn’t really think about it until he lived here. I mean what reason would he have to until now. It kind of makes me think of New Orleans differently. The fact that they have this huge celebration before Ash Wednesday is just fascinating to me. Along with many other places they dont do this where I’m from. The culture behind it and the reason why they celebrate is interesting to me, which is why I would like ot be apart of it this year. There is not much i would like to add because in my opinion Tom Piazza covers it perfectly. Only thing that I would like to say to add is more about the people he encountered. I remember when my friends and I went exploring and just driving around the city, we got so lost. It was funny to me when he mentioned St. Charles because I was like hey I’ve been there before when we were just driving around. This is by far the best passage of the book.

Part 2:

I personally like Dr. Harris’ forum. I enjoyed learning about space. I thought it was very informative and it was interesting to learn about him and the time he spent while in space.  Wow, I feel that my peers acted acted horribly during Dr. Harris forum. They were very disrespectful and extremly rude. It was making me mad because I wanted to hear what Dr. Harris had to say, but it was hard because everyone was talking. It made it extremly difficult to understand what he was saying. I kinda have mixed emotions about having outside events that I must attend. I kind of like them, but at the same time they are kind of annoying to have to attend outside of my class. What makes it really bad is that it counts for a greade so I have to attend. Even thought I would like to have outside events it kind of interferes with other things. What if I had alot of homework to do or had plans to something else during one of these events I would have to cancel all of my plans just to attend this even because its a grade. I think these events should be during class not outside of class, however I realize this is hard because everyone doesn’t have the same class on the same day. So I guess you could say I’m not for these outside events. This sounds selfish, but things should be planned according to  students schedules as to eliminate having to go to these things at 5pm. They would be better either early in the day or around noon. If I were to plaan one of these events I would have one or two outside events. Some students aren’t from New Orleans so I would possibly take them to a festival or something to show off the New Orleans culture in hopes that students learn and appreciate the culture more.

New Orleans

Part I: I really like the first section in Tom Piazza’s book Why New Orleans Matters because I thought it was very interesting to learn about New Orleans history and culture. New Orleans has so much culture that know one really thinks of. I like how it talked about what New Orleans has to offer. It has art it has festivals, its home to jazz, and Mardi Gras. It also is also culinary, social, historical, literary, and architectural. It also talks about what he had to go through to get to New Orleans. He had to report him self as bankrupt so he could go to New Orleans. It was his dream as a child to come and live in New Orleans. I didn’t know about how much culture new Orleans really has and all the bands that come from New Orleans like, The Louis Armstrong Hot Fives, Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers, King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, and later Fats Domino, and Professor Longhair and Irma Thomas and Dr john and many others. Yes it does make me see new Orleans in a different way because I thought the only important thing about New Orleans was the French quarter but I was wrong New Orleans is Known for many more things and I see that know I never really thought New Orleans was really special but I see it different know because New Orleans is way more that people give it credit to be. I really don’t have anything to add to was Piazza says because I think he cover ever thing in his book.  

Part II: I attended Dr. Harris’s lecture on Wednesday, I thought it was very interesting. I liked the forum but I thought it would have been better if Dr. Harris showed more pictures and told more about his experience as a astronaut. I really like when he showed the pictures of space and told us stories of what happens in space and how it feels like to live in a place with no gravity. I think that most people were very rude during his presentation because everyone was in a rush to get out of there and people were talking when he was speaking. What made it more disruptive is that every time someone tried to leave they would have to go back to there seats which made a lot of noise through the presentation, and as soon as it was ok to leave every one left and no one was interested in asking him any questions. I don’t really like outside school events because I live kind of far so its hard to go home and then come back to school and I have to go home cook clean and do my homework so is kind of trouble to have to go back to school after school. If I was in charge of organizing an outside event for students, I would make it fun by getting someone I know they would want to hear, I would also make sure it meets every ones schedule so they would be able to attend. I would also ask the students who they would want to see that way I get some one that will hold every ones attention. That’s I would do.

Why New Orleans Matters

Part I:

Tom Piazza writes about New Orleans from a tourist to resident.  Why does a city underwater and ravaged matter to the American people. According to Tom Piazza it is because of the cultural and historic aspect of the city. The food, The Building, And the music are of central importance to him. In the first section of chapter five after laminating on those points, he devels a bit deeper. He talks about the darker side of New Orleans. This particular part is interesting to me because, it shows that the city is not all about good times. Beneath the good times lay a economic an political disaster. The educational system which was in shambles before Katrina now is a completly broken. The economic system is supported mainly by the gentrification of numerous areas of town which lead to tourist dollars. The drug riddled and crime infested areas area mere streets away from tourist attractions. In the section he points to different stories of the pain that families face just to provide thier children with a different life. The struggles they experience are magnified by the contrast that can be seen two blocks north. This could be seen before Katrina and still today. I do agree that these are true variations of everyday life in New Orleans. I do not however see that as the only two varying degrees. Their are areas where people are doing simply okay and everyday is not filled with suffering. Thier days are also not filled with cleaning ladies who come from across the city to work. Their are countless stories of “Why New Orleans Matters” that I do not feel where discussed deeply enough. Their stories are ones that should be heard also.

New Orleans/Events

In Why New Orleans Matters, Tom Piazza illuminates the storied culture and uncertain future of the great and most neglected of American cities.  With wisdom and affection, he explores the hidden contours of familiar traditions like Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, and evokes the sensory rapture of the city that gave up jazz music and Creole cooking. He writes, too, of the city’s deep undercurrents of corruption, racism, and injustice, and of how people endure and transcend those conditions.  And, perhaps most important, he asks us all to consider the spirit of this place and all the things it has shared with the world-grace and beauty, resilience and soul.  “That the spirit is in terrible jeopardy right now,” he writes.  “If it dies, something precious and profound will go out of the world forever.”  I agree to what Tom Piazza is saying because New Orleans and its people has a spirit that no other city has.  After Katrina, majority of the people wanted to come back and and make New Orleans home again.  But because of the city’s corrupt and disfunctional government, many just stayed where they evacuted because the city was not what they would usually call home.  But like any other faithful citizen or like me , home is where the heart is and New Orleans is home for me.  Like they say the spirit of Louisiana makes Louisiana home. And now I can really relate to it, because I went to Georgia for Hurricane Gustav and all I could think about is when I can go back home.

Events

I was not able to attend the lecture with Dr. Harris, but I heard good things about it.  I wish I could have been there, it would have been nice to say that I  have met an Doctor, an Astronaut, and a Entrepreneur.  This freshman seminar class helps create a sense of community.  A chance for the students to get to know one another as well as the instructor, and a chance for us to gain insight into students experiences, perspectives, and ideas.  On this note, maybe in order to get the students involved, it would be great for them to plan their own event.  Something that they all will enjoy.  First, I would see what they maybe interested in and go from there.  Because I know if I do not like something I’am not going to be fully attentive.  So they would create some fun activities that they would all engage in .  And as for attendance I think it would be good because it would be something that the students planned for themselves, something that they voiced their opinions on.  

And as for these mandatory lectures, I don’t have have a problem with it but I feel that some of them are unnecessary. Other thing , Iam a commuter and these late night lectures are inconvient , not everyone can live on campus. But like I said I don’t have a problem at all about the events, just make sure its convient so that everyone can attend.

Why New Orleans Matters

Tom Piazza wrote a beautiful book on the best city in the world, New Orleans.  He talked about its rich tradition and he discussed the highlights of the city. While he does this, he also speaks about the poverty, violence, and poor education.  This is a section in which I firmly agree with what he says.  Despite the beauty and all of the fun opportunities, many parents of kids that live outside of town don’t like their children out in the city on Bourbon Street or to the many nights clubs.  This is due to the massive violence that occurs on a daily basis.  While knowing all of the hot spots of the city and learning of the highlights, I believe more people should be alerted about the poverty and poor education.  Perhaps, as more people learn of theses travesties in our community, more will be done to add to the glory of New Orleans.

I attended Dr. Harris’s lecture and I disliked the fact that we were forced to go.  If I am forced to go anywhere, regardless of how beneficial to me it could be, chances are that I am not goin to pay attention.  I didn’t really gain anything from his speech because I wasn’t really trying to pay attention because I had just come from practice and I had drill right after.  I don’t believe that we should be forced to attend these events, and that it should be voluntary.  If I were in charge, I would try to make it more of a social thing.

“New Orleans”

Tom Piazza wrote a book about a city that is beautiful on the outside, but still has its blemishes at time.  In “Why New Orleans Matters,” he speaks on New Orleans culture, their music and food, and he also gives history about the city.  Thats mostly the beautiful attributes about New Orleans, the sites, food, and music, but he also spoke about the blemishes.  The blemishes was the poverty in places, poor education, and the violence.   He also captures the spirit of New Orleans, and its people, which helped get a better understanding about New Orleans and its history, since this is my first encounter with the city.  My favorite section was the introduction, he vividly described the experiences of people during Katrina and after.  He spoke about how some places in East  New Orleans was filled to rooftops, whereas people were forced to climb on rooftops and cutting through thier roofs with only a “pocket knife.”  He also talked about the occurences in the Superdome where the roof began to part with the buildig, toliets overflew, and the population increased from 10,000 to 30,00, and there was little medical help.  He also spoke on how people lost communication, and how gangs swarmed the city steeling medicine, robbing people, and even shooting rescuers who were trying to save others.  Then he speaks of the next week after, where peolple traveled in buses to other cities.  He also criticized how our federal, state, and local response was slow and inadequate.  He talks alot about the affects of Katrina, but what I specifically like, is where he  begins to talk about the good qualities of New Orleans and where he states, “Everyone who loves New Orleans learns to love it with its flaws.”

Mr. Harris was actually interesting a times.  I admit it was hard to stay interested through the whole thing because of the fact that I am not interested in what astronauts do.  It was exciting that he was a black astronaut, a sucessful blackman, and a entrepanuer, and you don’t see that alot know-a-days.  He was unique, and he gave off good examples for us, like if we set our minds to do something, we can achieve it no matter what anyone tells us.  It was also different, I never had actually been in the presence of an astronaut so it was quite different, and his experinces with walking on the moon was pretty cool.

NEW ORLEANS

Part 1:

 Tom Piazza, ‘Why New Orleans Matters” is a book about the indispensable history and culture in New Orleans of American.” New Orleans is a city of elegance, beauty, and refinement,” Tom Piazza writes in ‘Why New Orleans Matters.’ “But it is also a city of violence, poor education, and such extreme poverty you’d have to see it to believe it.” I till remember that when  the first time I visited New Orleans as 4 years ago I walked to the Mississippi River. There on a lonely pier was an old black trumpeter playing his solo jazz tunes into the river. I sat there on a stump and listened to his lovely music for about an hour. We never acknowledged each other, since he never looked away from the river, which was his primary audience. But for me that experience will always mark whatever I think of that wonderfully strange and compelling city. Two years later, after the Katrina, Tom Piazza’s “Why New Orleans Matters,” said New Orleans still is…a small model of all the best of . You have a truly multicultural city, in which all social and ethnic and economic levels of society have somehow managed to fashion a distinct and beautiful culture out of the tensions among their differences…In a larger sense that is the story of the United States culture also, but in New Orleans the expressions of that culture have included jazz, rhythm and blues, a distinctive cuisine and so much more. so New Orleans is great at all.

Part 2:

I was very interested in Dr. Harris’ presentation, and I was learned sometings about the space. Dr. Harris is a doctor, an astronaut and an entrepreur. He is a first African American to perform a space walker. When he showed his picture with his tream, I was interested. I could see how they lived in the spae and they were difficult to wolked in the space,cause without gravity. He answer our questiones in detailed. The space is a mysterious and many people had dream one day could walk in space. But Dr. Harris did, so he is a mysterious person to me.

I have been in NASA research center one time cause my fiance is work there. Before I been there I never know about the NASAand I couldn’t see how big is the center and they have many of secarity. From Dr. Harris presentation I see more details and mysterious of the space. compared I just visit the NASA research center it is different. and it is more interested to me.  In a addition to an astronaouts besides had knowledge, they also needed a stronger body, Dr. harris said,when you walk in space it is no a easy job. Because in space has very high and very low temperature. basides those, space still a mysterious place, we needed to learn more and to explore more in the future. Dr. Harris’ presentation in a good ideal to our major. I think many of us had interested of it and waitting for our dream come ture.

 

Christina’s New Orleans Blog

Part 1: Why New Orleans Matters

In Tom Piazza’s Why New Orleans Matters, Piazza discusses many different subjects of what New Orleans has to offer.  I do not believe that the way he discusses some things does New Orleans justice, but I think one has to experience some things for him or herself.  Reading this book as a native from elsewhere highlights some aspects of New Orleans that I should encounter.  I learned of many restaurants, holidays, and events that New Orleans hosts since reading this book.

Piazza goes into detail about jazz funerals which are usually held for community leaders or well known musicians.  I find this very impressive being that jazz originated from New Orleans.  After the regular funeral service finishes, the pallbearers would carry out the body and place it into a horse-drawn carriage while the band starts playing.  Once the casket is secured, the procession continues through the street while being led by the band and perhaps ending with a band also.  This particular session interests me because my father is in the funeral business, and I have never heard of such a thing.

Reading Why New Orleans Matters gave me a sense of how rich New Orleans is in culture.  There are a lot of things that make New Orleans different than any other city in the world.  The food is different, the music is different, and even people’s accents are different.  By attending school in New Orleans, I actually have experienced what New Orleans has to offer first hand and I love every minute of it.

Part 2: Dr. Harris’s Lecture

Dr. Harris’s lecture was very informative and beneficial.  The main message that he was trying to get across was to dream big because if you do not have dreams, goals, and aspirations you do not have anything to strive for.  There is no harm in dreaming big, and when you dream, have the biggest dream that you can possibly have. No one can take away your dream.  Even though I do not want to be an astronaut, it was amazing to see how he, as an African American, achieved his goals. Not only did he go in space but also he was the first African American to walk in space.

I believe that the presentation was not as interesting as it could have been, but that is no excuse for how we, as a class, acted.  We should have shown him more respect regardless of how we felt or what we had to do.  This may have to do with the overlapping of events that night.  I think having outside events is good because it exposes us to different things that are going on.  The experience would have been better if it was planned better, but I believe that the first event was a learning experience for us as students and for the faculty.  If I was in charge of organizing the events, I would try to have several events going on throughout the semester instead of just four.  Then, the students would be able to choose three that they wanted to attend.  It seems as if there were entirely too many people in the ballroom to really be focused on what was being said in the lecture with all the distractions going on.  With smaller groups come fewer chances for distractions.

Why New Orleans Matters?

Tom Piazza, a fiction writer, music critic, journalist, lecturer, and jazz pianist, can tell us all about his adopted home, and the longer we stay in New Orleans, we can realize that Tom Piazza’s vision of the Crescent City is smaller than he stated. This city’s diversity can only be picture only if you are here to experience it. With many different cultures calling this home, the food can have a lasting impression in taste. You can have cereal at the University Center, fried chicken from Popeye’s, shrimp etouffee from Bubba Gump’s, and have a piece of addictive piece of praline from Aunt Sally’s Praline Shop. Here, in New Orleans, you can have a piece of every country in your stomach in a matter of one day. This city is bigger than food, but there is also a unique, beautiful sound in the air. The music is a mixture of the old and new, the fast and slow, and most of all the loud and louder. You can always have a song to dance to. If you like upbeat music, Bounce music or a brass band can bring to your feet, or for those who love the “slow jams” jazz clubs or sweet melodies in your heart can swift you off your feet! All I can say that Tom Piazza’s perspective could any tourist set for high hope for the city, but the book is setting you up for more than anyone can experience! We all can say and believe that.

I attended Dr. Bernard Harris’s lecture, and I was slightly disappointed. I believed that they placed this event in an untimely manner. The timing threw all of people off track. No one could explain or tell the students anything, and this was disappointing. I can say that this may cause why many students to be irate.  As of Dr. Harris, I was excited to meet and listen to him. I knew that he could advise us through his life story. How many people can say that they actually had contact with an astronaut, mater of fact, an African American astronaut? His presentation was a push to make this experience here at Xavier worthwhile. He was the center of my attention. I am glad that he visual pictures of his experience in space. The fact the he has multi occupations prove that anyone can take advantage of all of his or her goals. His mission is to explain to children, teenagers, and young adults that mathematics and sciences are important can help useful in any professional occupation. He stresses this because many people do not believe in this. He has seen space. He promotes goodwill and gives his own medical advice. There’s a bird. There’s a plane. No it is Dr Harris, the highly, reformed superman! I would like for more visitors like him. He gave a positive vibe throughout the ballroom! I think everyone can agree with this statement. I am looking forward to who else is coming this fall.