Final Paper

So I am working on my final paper for IS 101 and having trouble with it. It shouldn't be that hard, since I am doing Michael Crichton's The Lost World, but I am having some difficulty finding some sources. My grade is sitting fine right now, but I want this paper to make me feel proud of my writing skills. I want this paper to be for me, and how much I have learned about Jurassic Park. The letter grade will be the letter grade and there's no getting around that, but I will be much more satisfied if I can tell myself that I gave it my all in this last, final paper. I'm reading over the sciences that I have to cover on the final project guide that my professor sent out, but Crichton doesn't talk a lot about genetic engineering in this book. Having said that, I don't want my professor to think that I am shirking my duties by not addressing it, instead I will discuss Crichton's stance on extinction and compliment that with his stance on evolution. Both sciences play a crucial role in his novel, and they are very interesting subjects. Crichton talks about behavior extinction, and that is very hard to research! I think I will just cite the book for behavior extinction and back that up with some general extinction facts from top notch sources. Since I am a creationist, researching evolution will be a fun task that will test my faith as well as make me grow as an open-minded, liberally educated person.

My Credo

About a week ago I wrote my two page paper about what I believe. A very general paper, but well worth the time and effort I put into it. I especially enjoyed the fact that we got to work with little restrictions, leaving us plenty room for creativity and self reflection. I thought about writing a paper, but that seemed too boring and I didn't know how to get my point across while trying to string together flowing sentences. As I thought about it more I looked closely at what type of person I am. As I thought about that more and more I decided that I am a person of statements, therefore my paper is full of statements of what I believe. Once i began my work it wasn't hard to come up with statements of what I believe. I thought of myself on a religious level and on a secular level, or what I thought incorporates me as a person in everyday life. I tied religion and everyday life together with what I thought was a neat representation of who I am and who I want to be. I looked to my family and the morals that I have been brought up with. I looked to my mentors and their important traits that I believe are virtuous. I thought to my friends, of whom I would give my life for. All of these people I looked to guidance for in my thoughts and in my feelings expressed in my credo paper.

The Lost World

I'm approximately 76 pages from finishing Michael Crichton's Lost World and loving it! The Lost World is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I was surprised how different it is compared to the book. The movie portrays Ian Malcolm as the main character, but the book almost dwarfs him when compared to Levine, the arrogant, rich, and quite annoying scientist. The setting takes place on Isla Sorna, a secret island controlled by Ingen and used as a dinosaur engineering facility. In short, Isla Sorna is Hammond's dirty little secret where many dinosaurs died as a result of testing. Rumors have spread that strange creatures are appearing on the chain of islands that Isla Sorna is found on, and Ian and company figure out which island it is. They travel there to rescue Levine, who on his own traveled there by himself to see the dinosaurs in person. Unfortunately for Levine, he runs into some velociraptors, a predator I would never want to come face to face with. In my final paper I will discuss some more science of the book, but I was surprised that genetic engineering isn't the main topic of the book. The focus appears to be on extinction and dinosaur behavior. An interesting topic that I wish to delve into further in my final paper.

Clinton 3 Table Tennis Tournament

This Thursday night at 8:30 Clinton 3 is hosting a table tennis tournament. There are 16 entrants and 7 star players. The prize is $50 to Walmart and bragging rights. Now, I'm not going to talk about how easily I will win this tournament, that would be arrogant of me. Instead, I am going to talk about how I would spend the $50 at Walmart. One thing is for sure, I am not going to spend it on myself. I will probably spend it on food or accessories for my dorm. I think that stacking up on desirable food items for myself and my two Josh friends would have healthy benefits. I have also contemplated buying Christmas decorations for my room so that we may look festive for the holiday season. I think that a large Christmas tree would look great in our window! Another idea I have for spending this gift card would be on Christmas presents for my family. My cousin Jeff needs his Wartburg shirt for Christmas day, my sister needs some Wartburg apparel, and my brother needs video games. I could save the money for a more appropriate occasion, but that wouldn't be as fun... I have also thought of selling the gift card for $50 cash and taking Josh and Josh out to eat at Applebee's! One thing is for certain, if I don't win this tournament, all of my practicing and nights of little sleep will have been for naught.

A Luther Rivalry

I have two cousins in my family that I look up to more than anyone else. Jeff Sansgaard and Andy Jolivette are my two favorite cousins, and are great guys that I have looked up to my whole life. They each went to Luther where Andy played basketball and Jeff played football for the Norse. I always thought I would go to Luther, but then I looked at Wartburg and for a while it was a tight race between the two schools. Obviously I chose Wartburg, so that didn't go over very well with Andy or Jeff. I never thought that I would end up hating Luther, a college that I respect and admire because of my cousins. The bitter dislike started for me at the IIAC Cross Country Championships this fall at Wartburg when Luther pretty much swept the conference race and blew out everyone else. It made me sick watching the blue and white uniforms standing on the podium and it only got worse when the chanting of Lu-Lu-Lu-Luther started up. I have now made bets with my cousins on Wartburg-Luther games and fortunately I won because we beat Luther in football. As a result of that game, Jeff has to wear a Wartburg shirt at Christmas and I will also provide him a sheet of music with Wartburg's fight song to sing before the table prayer at Christmas dinner :) I think this might be one of the best Christmas gatherings for a long time to come.

A Psychological Run

Today I went on a run that could possibly be the most taxing run on my mind that I have ever gone on. Many thoughts ran through my head, and more than often we were stopped and had to start up again along the way. We started off at my high school in Garner, and ran our way through town. It was really cold out and very taxing on my legs, as I was wearing shorts. I was running with my buddy Tyler and my brother Michael, both of who I respect as runners. Anyway, we ran through a part of town that is fairly new and dogs began to chase us! We slowed down and stopped and let the dogs sniff us for a while before their owner came out to talk to us for a while. We started up again just ten minutes into our run and continued our way through town for about 15 more minutes during which my brother got sick and had to turn around. Tyler and me then turned and ran down a very long road that is just straight out and back. There's something about running on a road that doesn't end for miles and is nothing but empty corn fields that is eerie. Not a scary eerie, the kind of eerie that you feel as if there is more to this life than you think. Seeing endless land just laying out before you makes one think of a more omnipresent presence out there. I like to think of it as a psychological run with God. An endless stretch of road where it is you, running, and a higher presence.

Faith and Wartburg

This blog is in regard to our discussion about faith on Wednesday.

I really enjoyed watching the Lutheran Song on Youtube and having a class discussion about Lutheranism and Wartburg. I thought a lot of people had many good things to say, and even though I didn't agree with everything that was said I thought as a whole my faith grew from the experience. I especially liked talking about how we perceive Wartburg as a "school of the church." The idea that Wartburg should be a school to challenge our faith more than nurture it was very eye opening to me. When I came to Wartburg I thought I would find many peers worshiping the same as me and as eager as me to test my faith in the "real world." That has not always been the case. My faith has been challenged as I am now responsible to worship on my own time and focus on what I want my faith to mean to me. I am faced with so many struggles everyday with how I want to live, and that helps me grow as a Christian. New temptations and sin come into my day all the time, and having strong faith helps me meet these challenges head on. I will further discuss this topic in my next paper about what I believe.

Erik