Sometimes I make time to be social

Despite the past week's busy schedule, social interaction and the kick-off to Christmas season were totally necessary.

Here is mine and Kathryn's room with our tree and colored lights! Due to last year's organization, it was a fairly quick process after formal chapter to set everything up because Kathryn and I being the people we are, all of the decorations and ornaments were in one box prepared for Nov. 1. We rock like that.

Amy, Cliff, Asher, Andrew, Sherman and I on our way to Harpos

A much needed Mark Twain reunion hosted by Elizabeth! Many of us crowded the J-Slums to hang out and it was nice to see such a variety of people to catch up with.

Look at that Twain love

Some of the group at Brittany's 21st Birthday Dinner!

Jenny, Amy, Jen, me and Katie!

Keeping to the rules

Yesterday night at 6 p.m. was the kickoff to the Missouri Student Association (MSA) 2011 presidential election. After much campaigning from the three president-vice presidential pairings-- Hansen-Oxenreider, Travis-Horan and Woods-Moon, the election was postponed until next week because of two complaints filed against one of the candidate pairings for illegal campaigning.

This so-called "illegal campaigning" was sending out mass e-mails soliciting themselves. Let's put this into perspective: we live in a world of technological communication, Facebook, Google everything....and sending out an e-mail to a group of people endorsing yourself is illegal. You can have websites, Facebook events, advertisements and fliers...but can't send out a mass e-mail or tell people to vote for you in a verbal, face-to-face conversation. I think there's some irony here.

The mass-email and notification rule is a very collegiate standard to uphold. At this year's Homecoming, I am aware of two pairings who were disqualified because although they all showed up for their blood appointments, donated blood, were healthy, arrived on time and volunteered....someone was spotted telling more people to give blood for their pairing's points. So no points at all for them. But it's not about the points....it's the fact that they all gave blood that will be donated to save LIVES. Heck, if it takes mass e-mails and verbal endorsements to help people change our world, let them happen! Why hold people back because it might not be fair that one has more access to another?

I really don't understand it. There is obviously reasoning for the mass e-mail rule and more, but you need to think of the end result and its benefits. In sarcastic retaliation to the e-mail discussing the post-ponement, Sherman and I posted Facebook statuses instructing our friends:

Due to the substantial judicial issues affecting the MSA election, please write in Fabes-Artemas for the 2011 MSA President/Vice President. Sherman Fabes and I believe we can pull this upset off.

It received a pretty adequate response from our Facebook followers with likages, comments and even tags in new posts. Thus, it was a funny joke of the week, and I encourage people in their future endeavors not to make rules against e-mails and things that could better our environment.

Crossing borders

One topic that has sparked my interests lately more than I thought it ever would is the United States-Mexico border, in terms of illegal immigration as well as identity. I used to be very adamant about my view; it seems like a cut and dry topic. If you are born in Mexico (or Canada, Greece, any country for that matter), you are not a U.S. citizen and thus, do not deserve to enter the country we fund. End of story. That should be ethical, right? But it's not.

When I think about the issue, I see it as one of induced self-esteem of Americans for monetary and economic purposes. Even if it is better to not overpopulate our country, the U.S. feels a sense of power and torture over immigrants such as Mexicans. In the long run, it is not just a problem of our country's size and money, it's about our egos, selfishness and disrespect toward other cultures. There are huge race and generation fault lines present through our biases toward immigrants. Thus, I came to the conclusion that is is the norm in American culture to uphold a sense of empowerment against a group of individuals when really, the ethical thing to do would be to stop torturing them and look out for the best interests of a group.

For example, when a Mexican who was born in the U.S. is crossing the border, it is the norm to be incredibly tough while letting him over. Checking multiple forms of identification (I personally had to show two IDs when I crossed the border and I am a blonde, Greek-American girl), questioning and evil stares are typical. The employees, regardless of who they are at home or outside of their job, exert this unnecessary power that shows that they are better because they have all say as to who enters the country. But what else makes them any better than us? NOTHING.

While not quite as extreme examples, there are small things that happen on life's daily basis, as well as laws, that prove this unnecessary exertion of power. Last week, I spent an hour and a half waiting to pick up my MU basketball tickets outside Mizzou Arena. About 500 students waited outside in the cold, and in these experiences last year, people were getting frostbitten. But the arena employees won't just open the door and let you sit in the heated building while you wait for your tickets. Or let you in to use the bathroom. That door does not open a minute too early; it's firsthand torture. Would it be unethical to unlock the door and let people inside for their health's sake as they wait? Apparently so.

There's a different type of torture by the law like when I am right outside of a popular Columbia bar "canning" for Relay, but can't walk into the bar because of one number that adds to my identity--my age. While this is a different type of example and I do believe the drinking age should be 21, it's the premise of the fact that one 'bouncer' is holding me back from stepping foot on that territory when in reality, who is he to be in that position? Another individual empowering others of equal, lesser or even greater value than himself.

Ilyse, Jackie and I outside of Harpo's collecting money for Relay.

We fundraised over $500 that night!

As a strict person, I'm saying that America needs to tone down its relationships with its rules and evaluate whether the rules are upheld for ethical or empowering reasons. If I were the Mizzou Arena employee who watched someone outside go to the hospital for frostbite, would I feel good about myself? The bartender that watched someone go away in an ambulance outside because they weren't allowed in a bar to use the bathroom? Watched the immigrant that was shot because he or she wasn't allowed across the border when in reality, met all standards? Think about it.

So much to say

I feel like it's been two weeks and not just one since I last blogged, but look forward to a plethora of posts in the near future :). Time has flown by with many trips, revelations, photos and more so keep checking back!!

Halloween!

Day 1: Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry!

Day 2: Convict!

Day 3: Convict again....for rushing the field at last week's football game! But I was pardoned :P!

Another eventful week

The start of "Halloweek" (a term describing Halloween week in a college atmosphere) has been ultra-busy and eventful! It started off with sleeping in after an exhausting Homecoming weekend, and if anything, has been a week of a lot of journalism, business and ethics realizations.

Wednesday afternoon, I received a text message to go to the New Student Center. A coke vending machine was crowded with probably 50 students, and I couldn't tell what they were staring at. Coke was doing a promotional event for happiness at this one machine where there was a man in the vending machine. You inserted $1, chose which Coke-brand soda you wanted, and it fell out of the machine per usual. But then, a surprise came after. Some of these surprises were cookies, candy, free t-shirts and Mizzou and Coke merchandise, a two-liter bottle of a Coke product, a Polaroid image of your face as you received the second gift, and Kansas State football game tickets!

I obviously was incredibly excited and went to the machine twice. I got Sprite both times, with candy as my first surprise gift and a two-liter Sprite as my second. But as happens with State Farm Insurance promotions earlier this semester and more, why is Coke spending their money branding us when they already have business? What was their goal while instigating happiness? As much as I hate to say it, no business just wants to throw away a ton of money getting some University of Missouri students who were in the right place at the right time to favor their brand. It bugs me that I could not discover their intent. It would have been cool if the dollars (since mine was given back the first time) were donated to a cause to promote happiness, or if the gifts were donated, but I realized by asking and that was not the case. So if you happen to be a business owner or large company reading this or campaigning on a college campus, inform students of your mission so it actually comes across!

I sat in the Student Center for a few more hours studying and chatting with Kate and Sherman, when I got a call (which ended up being a rumor, but) four people were shot in Mizzou's Virginia Avenue Parking Structure. The University Hospital was on lockdown, which is on campus, and people began to freak out. There was no alert sent by the university but MU Alert and the Columbia Daily Tribune, as well as KOMU News (our NBC affiliate TV station) began to post live updates by the minute. No other campus buildings went on lockdown, but this was the first news event where I followed the entire story on Twitter. The term "University Hospital" became a popular trend on Twitter, with Mizzou and its plethora of news outlets and journalism students on Twitter taking over the world with both this and Mizzou College Gameday becoming a trend last week. That's pretty cool that we have so many people informing the world that we're being trended!

It was a great way to follow the updates and it was discovered that what really happened was a gunman shot four people in Callaway County, who were sent to University Hospital in mid-Missouri. The gunman was on the loose and since only three of the four had died, rumor had it he was around to "finish off the job." The parking garage came nowhere into this besides its proximity to the hospital, but KOMU and some other news outlets refuted this by serving their duty to the news and driving through the garage and around the locked down hospital to discover and share the truth. That evening, my journalism news class had our tour of the KOMU news station where we watch the live 6 p.m. broadcast and see all the equipment, and it was a great night to attend because of all the breaking news. It was an awesome experience to see the studio and part of me made me wish I worked there, although I am glad with my choice of going the strategic communication sequence.

The next morning, for the same journalism class, I had to attend one of Missouri's Master Honor Medal speakers. This is an award given to exemplary publications, editors and more, each of whom gave a presentation about their career of publication. I attended ZETA Weekly News Magazine's presentation, which is a magazine published in Tijuana, where Adela Navarro, one of its directors, discussed drug-trafficking. ZETA is known for giving in-depth coverage and does not have many competitors due to fear of covering such topics in Baja California, Mexico, but has a strong presence both there and in southern California.

Her presentation was actually given in Spanish, so I understood most of it, but a translator was present with a thick British accent, making it almost equally difficult to understand him. She discussed the ramifications of covering the truth in such a dangerous area, and said that 44 journalists have been killed on the job in the past four years. Wow. Imagine following your passion so much that murder is a prevalent daily consequence. I was interested in working for ZETA while I was at Project Mexico (this was the ideal life situation for summer 2011), but feel that my parents would never let me pursue this risk even if I could. I interviewed Adela after her presentation and asked her a few questions in Spanish. Since I feel I'm invincible, I asked if they offered internships, but that would only be possible if I enrolled at one of Mexico's universities. Their passion and in-depth reporting still amazes me, and with a vote on the legalization of marijuana next Tuesday in California, the future of drug trafficking has a lot to hold. After attending this event, I will be following the story and interested in its outcome!

With two exams in marketing and accounting this week, time to go study!

Perfection

Here's an interesting and applicable article I found in Glamour magazine's health section (Credit: Sarah Jio)!

It is inspirational because although I wouldn't label myself a perfectionist, I feel that some of these qualities fit me and a lot of my friends. And here comes the news telling us we have a 51 percent increased risk of death. Read it and tell me what you think!

The Best Health News We've Heard All Year:

Are you a perfectionist?

Many women are, but we might want to rethink our demanding ways. Researchers recently found that self-described perfectionists--those who placed the highest expectations on themselves--had a 51 percent increased risk of premature death compared with their more chill peers. "People who are motivated by perfectionism carry around more anxiety as a result of being too hard on themselves," says the study's lead researcher, Prem S. Fry, Ph.D., Western University in Langley, British Columbia. "That anxiety makes the body more susceptible to physiological stress and even physical ailments, and the result can be a health disaster." How can you silence your inner perfectionist?

FIND YOUR FOCUS.

"Instead of trying to do everything exactly right, prioritize the areas of your life where you really want to excel," suggests Fry. That might mean accepting that you'll never be a tech wiz--or even giving up some activities altogether.

LEARN TO MOVE ON.

Case in point: Many artists, architects and Olympic champions strive to be flawless, but they can do it in a Zen-like way--working to perfect their art or craft, yet having the critically important ability to move on after a bad race or an uninspired painting. "The key isn't whether or not you're perfect, but whether you berate yourself internally about it, says Tina B. Tessina, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and author of It Ends With You: Grow Up and Out of Dysfunction.

DO SOMETHING THAT SCARES YOU.

Ever tried salsa dancing? Public speaking? If it freaks you out, do it, says Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D., a psychologist in Wexford, Pennsylvania and author of A Happy You: our Ultimate Prescription for Happiness. "Perfectionists tend not to try new endeavors for fear of failure," she says. But here's the thing: "Doing something out of your comfort zone lets you give yourself permission not to be perfect, and you'll be healthier for doing it," she says. "Getting out of a rut can boost your physical health, research shows, not to mention your happiness."