The N-word

In a panel discussion held in Meridian Hill Hall we discussed the N-word in how we as young ppl view it in today's time. The views ranged from very conservative to very liberal and laid back. Some argued that the word was just a reminder of the hardships our people had to go through to be recognized as equal human beings, while still others argued that by using a different variation of the word thus changed its meaning completely despite where it was rooted from and now referrs to a term of endearment. In my opinion I feel like the word shouldn't be used because despite how we may look at the word now, you can't change where it orginated and how it used to be used.

3rd Freshman Seminar Colloquia

On November 19th, 2009, we had Dr. Fatimah Jackson come out and speak on the Importance of Interdisciplinary Approaches in African American Studies (the How and Why).
A little background info on her:

• She is a Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Institute of African American Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
• She was previously a Professor of Applied Biological Anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park.
• She is one of the most important scientists studying the origins of humanity, and was one of the scientists who helped map the human genome.
• She was the coordinator for genetics research for the African Burial Ground Project in New York City.
• She has published over 30 research articles.
• Received her B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University.
• She has studied and used research from geography, molecular and population genetics, ethnography, demography, history, evolutionary biology, bioethics, toxicology, epidemiology, and public health and integrated these data in a biocultural anthropological context.
• Dr. Jackson is a scientist who seeks to solve real-life problems in the African-American community, including environmental health, cancer health disparities, and hypertension-related issues.
• In 2002, Dr. Jackson co-founded the first human DNA bank in Africa (based at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon) with the aim of changing the way that anthropological genetic research is done on the African continent (moving away from the colonial approach), enhancing local infrastructure and expertise, and dramatically improving the potential for scientific understanding of the interactions of genotypes and environmental factors in producing specific phenotypes (by providing a local context for data analysis and interpretation).

Some of her main points of her presentation:

• Ethnogenetic Layering (EL) needs to be used as a tool to incorporate data from diverse fields in addition to important research issues
• Human hetereogenetic and bicultural variability present a challenge to classical racial stratification models of epidemiology and public health
• New approaches needed in order to comprehensively capture the nuance of human biodiversity  as it relates to health
• We need to expand and acknowlege diversity as a whole among us
• New models must contain relevant cultural behaviorial diversity, genetic variation, non-genetic biological differences and be contextualized by appropriate  biological linage historics
• Enzymes vay among different groups of people

Though I could not stay long, I think she started off doing a great job of her presentation. However, I do feel like a presentation to this depth should not have been made mandatory to all freshman seeing that it could not hold the attention spann of those not at all interested in the biological differences between diverse groups of people.

Jamica

Being 1/2 Jamaican, yet being raised in America and never haveing had the chance to travel to my father's home country has always sparked an interest in my mind. So I decided to research it.

• Jamaica is the largest English-speaking island in the Caribbean and the third largest in the region.
• Classified as a developing country. We have a mixed, free-market economy consisting of a combination of state-owned entities and private-sector organisations. Our two most important economic sectors are tourism and mining, with agriculture and manufacturing also contributing to the economy. Tourism and mining are responsible for earning most of the valuable foreign exchange needed for trade.
  
• A parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with the monarch being represented by a Governor-General. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who officially uses the title "Queen of Jamaica" .
  
• Gained its independence from Britain on August 6, 1962.
  
• Jamaica has seven National Heroes. They are: Nanny of the Maroons, Samuel Sharpe, Paul Bogle, George William Gordon, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Norman Washington Manley and Sir William Alexander Bustamante. These individuals fought for the social and political freedoms we enjoy today.
  
• The Jamaican coat of arms depicts one male and one female Taino Indian standing on either side of a shield, bearing a red cross with five pineapples. Above the shield, a Jamaican crocodile rests atop the English royal helmet and mantling. Our national motto – "Out of Many, One People", is inscribed in a banner, beneath the shield. William Sanderoft, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, designed the crest in 1661. The original coat of arms bore the Latin phrase, "Indus Uterque Serviet Uni", which may be translated "Both Indians Served One Master". This was later replaced by "Out of Many, One People".
  
• The indigenous streamer-tailed hummingbird or "doctor bird" is Jamaica's national bird. It is called the "doctor bird" because of its long black tail resembling an old-time doctor's coat. The doctor bird's feathers are the most iridescent and beautiful of all the hummingbirds on the island.
• The flower of the lignum vitae tree or "tree of life" is Jamaica's national flower. It is a lavender-blue flower, which blossoms during spring and early summer. The tree is indigenous to Jamaica and grows best in the dry woodlands on the northern and southern coasts. Its wood is thought to have medicinal value. It is also widely used for the manufacture of furniture and to create beautiful art objects, sought after by locals as well as visitors.
• 
  
   
• Although ackee is not indigenous to Jamaica, we have embraced it as our own, making it our national fruit, and a key ingredient of our national dish - ackee and saltfish, which is usually served for breakfast or brunch. A delicious fruit and a local favourite, it is also a part of our everyday diet. Ackee was brought from Africa, probably on a slave ship, and now grows extensively throughout the island. The unopened ackee is poisonous, but once the sun has dried out the noxious juices, the ripe, yellow fruit is safe to eat, with a flavour and texture much like scrambled eggs.
• 
  
• A diagonal gold cross divides the flag into two black triangles and two green ones. Opposite triangles have the same colours. "Hardships there are, but the land is green and the sun shineth" is the flag's theme. Black represents the strength and creativity of our people; green, our wealth of agricultural resources; and gold, the sunlight over our island and our future hopes.
  
• National motto, "Out of Many, One People" reflects Jamaica's rich racial heritage.
  
   

Wellness Issues: Stress/Health/Physical Education

Living in a nation where a large proportion of the population is over weight, there's no wonder there are so many products being developed to keep this new generation of youth in shape. There's a big push right now to keep away that Freshman 15, that extra  weight so many new college entrants gain when they go away from home and are forced to survive on their own. In the 2nd Colloquia staying fit was discussed, see topics below:

• Physical Fitness consists of body, mind, spirit and environment.
• 6 Principles of Exercise: regularity, progression, balance, variety, specificity, recovery and overload
• FITT Factors: Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type
• 5 Fitness Components: Cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength/ endurance, flexibility and body composition
• Applying FITT factors to 5 fitness components to create weekly wkout schedule

I personally fall into the category of those who have gotten to college and forgotten that exercise and healthy eating is a major part of staying healthy. I think we all not to take a look at our own lifestyles and see where we have fallen off the ball and get back on track to living a healthy and fit lifestyle.

Citizenship and Leadership

Citizenship and leadership are two words I believe go together hand and hand. If one displays citizenship I believe they are portraying the qualities of a leader who is leading by example. They are talking and walking the talk, they talk toward greatness and success. Just look at the greats like Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kenedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Maya Angelou and Nelson Mandela and Think on that!

My Life Story

As a child we imagine life full of fairy tales and happy endings, only to be disappointed when reality sets in. For most of my childhood, it was just my father and me, without my mother who would pop in and out of my life carrying false promises and shattered hopes. When my dad decided to bring a “new mother” into my life, I felt as if he was trying to build the perfect family he always wanted, breaking the father daughter bond we had developed. The year before my fifteenth birthday was one of the worst years of my life which changed life drastically for me. I was put into foster care in November 2005.

That year my dad and I fought each and every day. When we weren’t fighting, I was “playing mommy” to three small children. My schedule in the eighth grade went as follows: come home, wash the dishes, entertain the girls, feed them dinner, bathe and clothed them, put them to bed, clean up again, and then I was able to do my homework and get myself ready for bed. I didn’t have many friends or a social life and barely asked for anything or complained much, yet I felt unappreciated and more like hired help then apart of a family. I was subjected to fist fights with my dad and being told constantly that I was a no one and would end up just like my whore of a mother with children before I even finished high school.

Though my home life was a mess, very few knew about it even after I was taken away and placed in foster care. I never let my living situation affect my schoolwork, which was where I drowned my sorrows and was determined to prove my dad and everyone who ever doubted me wrong. I had decided that despite everything I had been through to make something of myself at any cost necessary. While in foster care for the last four years, I’ve continued to excel in school, found time to volunteer, work part time at the Department of Human Assistance as a Student Aide and at McDonalds as a cashier and go to church.

During the last few years I have volunteered with a foster youth mentorship program called Wonder Inc as a student counselor, where I was able to interact with young foster youth and see them experience adventures that they might not had been able to had they not been in the program. Seeing the small children who had been through so much in their young lives able to truly enjoy their childhood for such a short time away from the drama of their home life was the highlight of my whole experience. I have also helped out at the Healthy Five decathlon educating elementary aged children about how to eat healthy every day and at the Foster Youth Health Fair teaching teens about having healthy relationship through the art of drama in a play called "Hot Gossip".

In June 2009, I was the first of all my siblings to graduate from high school and go to college. I currently attend Howard University and plan to one day open up my own non-profit organization in order to help at-risk teens have a place to turn when the world lets them down and have someone who cares about their future waiting for them in the wings when they succeed. I refused to let the many obstacles of defeat and tough decisions I’ve faced stop me. I now use my past as a stepping stone to build on a better life for myself. Looking back on all I’ve been through, despite everything my parents put me through I continue to press on; no longer for the benefit of revenge, but now for the satisfaction of enjoying my life for me. I thank them both and many others for giving me the tough skin and tools I needed to persevere in life. Putting an end to that chapter of my life, I now am able to begin writing the fairy tale ending of the life I always wanted and deserved to have.

HU Clubs and Orgs.

Well there's LOTS of clubs and different organizations on HU's campus with it having such a diverse student body. Below is a list of most, if not all of them:

Academic and Professional Organizations
African Student Law Association, Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity Incorporated, America Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Humanics Student Organization, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Engineering Without Borders, Entreprenurial Society, Episilon Sigma Iota Sorority, Inc., Graduate Economics Association (GEA),Graduate Physics Society, Graduate Political Science Association, Graduate Sociologists, Graduate Student Association for Atmospheric Science, Health Professions Society, Hispanic Student Dental Association, Howard Business Law Society, Howard University American Chemical Society, Howard University Association of Black Journalists, Howard University Entrepreneurial Society, Howard University Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Howard University Pre-Dental Society, Howard University Robotics Organization, Japanese Culture Club, Intellectual Property Students Association, Kappa Epsilon Pharmaceutical Fraternity Inc., Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Inc, Management Team Leader, Muslim Law Students Association, National Community Pharmacists Association, National Society of Black Engineers, National Society of Minorities of Hospitality,Nsaa Dance Ensemble, Orthpaedic Surgery Interest Group, Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Society, Public Relations Society of America, Spanish Language Society, Sterling Allen Brown English Society, Student National Medical Association,The Howard Players, The Spanish Club - "Chango",Thomas B. Smith Biological Society, Women in Medicine
Honor Societies
Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc, Golden Key International Honor Society, Knights Fraternity, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, Inc, Rho Chi Honor Society, Beta Sigma Chapter,

Political Organizations
College Democrats of America,Howard University College Republicans, Howard's Educational Revolution, Howard University Amnesty International, NAACP, Nation of Islam Student Association, National Council of Negro Women
Religious Organizations
Adventist Student Organization, Alpha Nu Omega Fraternity, Inc, Alpha Nu Omega Sorority, Inc, Alpha Omega Steppers for Christ, Andrew Rankin Liturgical Dance Ministry, Bethel Campus Fellowship,Chapel Assistants, Christian Brothers United,Christian Sisters United,Howard University Community Choir, Rejoice in Jesus Campus Fellowship,Tom Skinner Campus Ministry/Noonday Prayer,Word up! Bible Study,

Social Organizations
African Students Association, Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity, America's Promise, Cascade (formerlyB.L.A.G.O.S.A.H.), Black Retail Action Group, Campus Pals, Caribbean Students Association, Circle K International, Cimarrones, Collegiate 100 of Howard University, D.I.V.A. Inc., Endustry Power Players, Ethipoian Rastafarian Community (ERC), Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority, Gentlemen of Drew Social Club,Graduate History Student Association, Hatian Student Association, Howard University Transfer Student Association, Howard University Club Baseball, Howard University International Pals, Howard University Peer Educators (HU P.E.E.R.S.), Howard University Red Cross, Howard University Real Estate Club, Howard University Taekwondo Club, HU S.T.A.N.D., Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Inc., Kwame Ture Society, Ladies of the Quad Social Club, Mecca Mob, Misses at Meridian Outreach, National Society of Perishing Angels, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Inc., Poutre… Beyond Profound, Progressive Black Men, Incorporated, Society of Collegiate Black Men, Students Advocating Youth (SAY.),Swing Phi Swing Social Fellowship, Target H.O.P.E., Tau Beta Sigma Band Sorority, Inc. Eta Delta Chapter, Vizion Performance Dance Team,W. Montague Cobb Anthropological Society, Talented Tenth, Ubiquity, Inc.

State and Regional Organizations:
Alabama Club, California Student Association, Chicago People's Union, Chocolate City Club, Colorado Club, Delaware Club, DMV Club, Florida Club, Georgia Club, Louisiana Club, Massachusetts Club, Michigan Club, Mississippi Club, New Jersey Club, New Yorkers Unlimited, Philly Club, Pittsburgh Club, Tennessee Club, Texas Club,Virginia Club,Washington State Club

Student Councils and University-wide Organizations:
Bison Yearbook, Bisonette Dance Ensemble, College of Arts and Sciences Student Council, College of Dentistry Student Council, College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences, College of Medicine Student Council, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health, Graduate and Professional Student Council, Graduate Business Student Council, Graduate Student Assembly, Homecoming Steering Committee, Howard University School of Law, Howard University Student Association, HUSA Policy Board, School of Business Student Council, School of Communications Student Council, School of Education Student Council, Social Work Student Council, The Hilltop Newspaper,Undergraduate Student Assembly, WHBC 830am Channel 51,

I, myself, am a part of NAACP, Target H.O.P.E., the Cali Club and Misses at Meridian Outreach Society. Which clubs or orgs woud you consider joining?