Update 1

Well, perhaps the next bad habit I will have to work on is procrastination...since it has beeb nearly two weeks since the "Bad Habit " assignment, and I am just now updating it to my blog...I will have to keep this in mind.
Fortunately though my bad eating habits have improved greatly. About a week and a half ago, I made a very productive trip to he supermarket, and have only ate out about three time since then, this is mainly because three of my friends have had birthdays in the past few weeks.
This has not only improved my eating habits in that I know what I'm putting in my body most of the time when I cook at home, but further now my bank account looks much nicer.
So far the breaking of this habit has been going well but if anyone has any more advice I'm all ears!

A Bad Bad Habit....

I have a lot of bad habits, many similar to those that everyone has
been writing about. However, lately I've been getting worse and worse
about eating right.
I don't make it to the grocery store as often as I should, and thus
end up eating out more often that I can really afford. This is a
problem not just for the wallet, but for the body.
To improve this problem that has been snowballing, I plan to limit my
"eating out" to twice a week. I want to get more healthy foods from the
grocery store, specifically granola and fruit for breakfast, and more
protein and veggies for dinner.
Wish me luck! I will keep you posted!

Being Productive

There are a number of things that can help a person to be productive. Organization, efficiency, and dealing with your time well are the things we taught as we grow up. There are many different ways of accomplishing these strategies and making them work for you.

Outside of these techniques I recommend a number of other things that can help to keep you focused, these have more to do with keeping yourself sane then keeping yourself productive. After all if you can’t be happy, productivity is sort of out of the question.

1. So first, the basics. Organization is key. Some stay organized through date books and calendars, some via internet and technology, Prof. Brandon opened a whole world of organization by 3 x 5 cards. There are plenty of ideas out there, the important thing is to not just do whatever someone tells you, or whatever is the most popular way of doing it, but instead, do what works best for you. Try out anything you find interesting, or sounds like it will match with your personality, then do what’s best, even combine methods to make your own organization style work. This concept is true for efficiency and dealing with your time as well. For example, we have all learned that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, hard to argue with, however as college students we often put sleep higher on our priority lists. To help this we can work around the method. Find a breakfast to go, bottled juice, prepare a bagel the night before, or breakfast burritos for the week, and freeze them, then you can just grab it on your way out. You get your sleep and your energy. There are plenty of things like this to incorporate into being more productive.
2. Keep an open mind. There are so many things that can increase productivity, many not even directly related to productivity. Sometimes we need to relax, and take advantage of all those fun things that are available out there for us. There are venues, restaurants, music, and loads of events on campus. We should take advantage of these things, we should enjoy them, we should learn from them. If we spend all our time focusing on how to stay productive, how to get ahead, how to get that GPA, to get into that school, then we will miss so much along the way. We will also be liable to go crazy, insane from pure mundane boredom. I don’t suggest you loose sight of what’s important, or your goals for this educational experience, but sometimes it’s necessary to skip a night of studying for a night with friends, music, pizza, and beer.

Hope this helped a bit! Good luck to all!

Finding Good Music

This, I believe, is a great research question, because music is timeless. Mickey Hart, a drummer for the Grateful Dead wrote a book, “Songcatchers: In Search of the Worlds Music”, in which he explores the music of nations far and wide, with hopes to preserve the worlds music. The broad points of view and incredibly wide ranges of music open doors to the reader, expressing music as; something more than a taste, something more than the capitalistic empire it is here in the United States, something that does not just have a history, but is a history. This book intrigued me. It became clear that there is something very human about music. I know this cheesy phrase sounds like I’m just putting together words that sound good, but allow me to explain. Every person enjoys music, not merely because there is a need to fill what would be silent space, but that no space is silent, and since conception, since the rhythmic beat of our mothers’ hearts in the womb, we have a desire to compile the sounds that surround us into something with a beat, a rhythm, a harmony, even if just in the most pure form: music is human.

Now, I mentioned before that music in the United States is in a form of capitalism, it is an industry. This point can not be argued, and I am not about to advocate that it is a bad thing. Capitalism makes America work, people desire to have music, other people produce that music as a good, and sell it, then turn a profit, and hopefully proceed to use that profit to create more music…so on and so forth. It works-everyone gets what they want. Until of course the buyers find a way to collect that music for free. This is a problem for music, as an industry; a problem for the artist, for the record labels, and even for the local record shop owner. However, it may have more than just the obvious benefits for the listener. Decades ago the Grateful Dead performed concerts and allowed people to bring tape recorders on long poles, known as tapers, to collect the music of the show. It was never outlawed, and in fact supported by many in the industry; every concert gave every song a new sound to share with others (damn hippie’s right). Now however the price of “sharing” music comes with a criminal charge.

So how can we today benefit from this spontaneous form of music sharing, that opens our ears to new sounds, that helps us find our favorite beats, rhythms, and harmonies, without emptying our pockets, but still supporting music as an industry? I found one great place, via, none other than, our profound World Wide Web. It’s called Pandora. The site allows you to type in the artist, the song, or the album that you are in the mood to listen to, and then the compilers create you a radio station based on the most basic forms of music applied in your selection. It is called the Music Genome Project. It explores, studies, and even pairs you up with other people’s radio stations to find the most music out there. You grade the music; you tell them if a song or an artist belongs, on the station you hear it on, or somewhere else. I am, and forever will be an advocate for purchasing albums, because I think something precious, that someone worked very hard for, is lost, when we pick and choose the songs we listen to, rather than hearing the entire album. But, Pandora opens listeners up to new music, new artists, and new albums to purchase.

History Repeating; RIAA Goes After College Students

I'm sure we all recall a number of years back when the Recording Industry Association of America targeted teens in random regions of the United States for music file sharing, fining them hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars based on the number of songs they illegally downloaded.

There was an uproar. Kids were not merely charged these great fines but threatened with criminal charges as well. The websites that offered, assisted, and promoted this 'file sharing' however were not so targeted. Instead a number of them turned around and changed the websites to, a "pay for the song system", and thus profited.

I recently read an article in Rolling Stone, issue 1023, by Steve Knopper reporting that now, thousands of college kids are being targeted for the same offenses. Dorms have a particularly high volume for file sharing. For this reason the RIAA is going through the universities to get to the kids.

"...[The RIAA] sends letters to colleges listing IP addresses of computers the organization claims have been used to share music illegally. From there colleges are instructed to identify the students and pass along the letters. The letter encourages the recipient to make a quick settle via the new Web site p2plawsuites.com to avoid a future suit."

This effort encourages the targeted students to pay a few thousand dollars rather than some $750.00 per song, not to mention any number of costly court and lawyer fees.

So for us, college students, this sucks. If you've read my other blogs, you know I support buying the music. I believe that it encourages the artists to keep the art in the albums and the songs. Further, it supports local business, record shops, concerts, etc.. On the other hand, music sharing is a great way to learn about the new artists that are out there.

The problem, in my opinion is that the industry is being, well, a big fat jerk for lack of a better phrase. They are bullying people into paying an unjust amount of money. Punitive damages in this matter, to the music industry is not unreasonable, after all, those "jerks" have mortgages to pay, and families to support, just like the rest of us. Punitive damages, or however they prefer to define charging $750.00 for a song, that if purchased online would be $0.99, are effective in that they are step in solving the problem. The price you pay in the end makes a point to the rest of the file sharers out there, that this is a bad thing. However, did this work the first time? Well, they are doing it again, so it was clearly not entirely affective. Now they target a new group of people though, so perhaps there are just working there way through society, and earning a good amount of money while doing so.

This does not sound like a justified resolution to me. What I don't understand is why the RIAA does not target the websites. I understand that file sharing is quite simple, and may happen even if we did control every major music sharing website, but wouldn't it be more affective than sporadically going after random violators? I don't have the most knowledge on the subject, but am ever so curious...if you have it, give me some insight!

Planning the Southwest

How can we prevent urban sprawl in the Southwest without jeopardizing the "wide open spaces" ambiance?

I believe that the southwest has a problem with urban sprawl. In most major cities in the southwest, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Los Angelas, the BIG ones, development goes out instead of up. This can be a problem for communities that not only desire, but require a sustainable lifestyle. It is clear that water and food are among the most important resources for a society to maintain or grow. The Southwest Region of the United States has a lack of water, there is no argument there, and for food to grow, water is an asset. As communities grow outwardly, and residents try to spread farther from other residents, the ability to maintain a sustainable community goes down.

In Albuquerque, due to the county boundaries, and the nearby pueblos, there is not much more room for urban sprawl, but Rio Rancho does not have such restrictions. Rio Rancho, like other cities in the Southwest, continues to sprawl, in order to facilitate for the open dessert marketing tactics that many developers have promoted to Unites States residents east of the Mississippi. Building up would reduce the amount of sprawl, but would deplete what we love so much about the southwest. Santa Fe, among other cities has height regulations for buildings, which seems appropriate, until we run out of space for all who want to enjoy the dessert.

I introduce this blog as an open question. Who has an idea, I think its time we start to think outside of the box. Sustainability is a world wide problem, and applying any thoughts or ideas on the matter at home, could create a resolution for any number of problems. So if anyone has any thoughts or information regarding this matter, please comment back-I'm more than interested to hear what anyone has to say!

Soldiers & Students

My brother is a Marine. He graduated high school last year and joined the Corps right after, as many of his friends were putting up posters in there new college dorms he was shipping off to boot camp. I am more proud of my little brother than I can write here today, he is a strong kid, and does well for himself, and cares about people more than anyone I know. I for one don't think he belongs in the military, but there he is. Now, he has had his gripes, and in no way enjoyed boot camp, I guess they're not supposed to, but there does seem to be some advantages for him. The other day he called me and had just bought a new truck, all by himself, he pays for his car insurance, his cell phone, and any other expenses that may come his way. And mind, he doesn't have to pay for food, and for his entire term in the military, will never pay for housing. This means that the better part of his pay check goes to things he wants, not needs, like road trips to near by colleges to visit high school buddies, or an X BOX for his dorm to fill in his spare time.

For most of us college students, this is not the lifestyle. The better part of our college career, we remain broke. This is different from being poor, it is necessary that we are clear on this distinction. We are not poor, we have clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, and are generally well fed, and more than anything-we are being educated, there is nothing poor about the situation we are in. However, we are broke, we don't have expendable incomes like that of my eighteen year old brother in the military. For most of the students at UNM(based on the fact book I was shown earlier this semester) to be here means work, we work to pay our bills, we work to buy groceries, and we work real hard to get scholarships, to avoid those nasty student loans, and after all that is done we may be lucky to have some left over to save up for a trip, or a shopping spree. I am aware that this is a generalization, and it does not by any standards apply to everyone, but we have all experienced this enough to understand.

Before I make anyone angry, let me express something important. I am aware that when one signs up for the military, he or she is literally risking his or her life, this is especially true in recent years. For that, these individuals ought to be honored, such a decision is hard, and courageous, and they work very hard to receive their bi-weekly paychecks, and frankly, I believe that in a perfect world they ought to be paid more than what they get. In my opinion, the military should treat its recruits much better than they do, but this is not a perfect world, and that argument is another article entirely.

To get back on track, let me dip into our history banks a bit. In historical Rome, there were the Spartans and the Athenians, the warriors and the educators, and it is unquestionable that Rome needed both, and thrived because it had them. Looking in our world today, of us pseudo-adults, I see a similarity that my father recently pointed out to me.

Our nation needs soldiers and students, but where did the labels go wrong? Why do we have to have such an incentive to prepare young men and women to be soldiers? Its not a job that everyone wants to do, but perhaps if it was not as scary as it has been, or perhaps if the honor and benefits were more long term it would be more desirable, not just for the fast cash incentive there is now. And further, why doesn't our nation put more of its tax dollars into higher education, should college be something for the elite, something you get to do, or should college be something the government wants everyone to do, and is willing to create incentive out there for kids to go. Even if we can't afford to throw thousands of dollars at kids to get them to come to college, why not put more money into programs that will make it easier for students to not only get into college, but get out-with a higher education.

It seems to me like its a social problem, if we see it the way we look at it now, it won't get better. However, some governmental changes have the opportunity to help it along. We can do our part, but, in the end we may just have to sit back and see what happens.