Solar Power

  Cities across California are increasing the amount of solar panels to help save energy! Solar panels are just as effective as using electricity and it can save any person a lot of money given time. Salinas, CA has the highest amount of solar roofs in Monterey County with 79 grid-tied photovoltaic installations, According to "California's Solar Cities report." Carmel-by-the-Sea has the second highest amount of 73 grid-tied photovoltaic installations. Monterey comes in right after Carmel with 72 grid-tied photovoltaic installations, and followed by Pacific Grove with 19. Seaside comes in fifth with 15 installations , Marina 8 installations, Soledad 2 installations, and Del Rey has 1 installation. Sand city comes in last with 0 installations, but only has a population of 300. Overall though, it seems like people are really trying to "go green!" More and more people each day are making an effort to save electricity and Monterey County is making that different through solar panels. 

CLUB FAIR!!!

The club showcase was held at two different times on Wednesday; I went to the one from 12-1p.m. I had no idea that there were this many clubs on campus. There were clubs such as an anime club, the starving artists club and even a bicycling club. There were all different types of people with all different interests. I was interested a lot in the greek clubs that were all there. It was easy to sign up, all an "interest" had to do was put down their name and email. Most clubs would contact the "interest" about there events and what- not going on. I really liked being able to see what CSUMB's clubs had to offer. A lot of them were really inspiring to me. 

Connections

In reality, the majority of all people are surrounded by technology. Most people, whether they admit it or not, wouldn't know what to do with out technology because of how much we rely on it. Almost all jobs require some sort of technology use, whether it is email, data collection, or contacting people through a phone call. In my life, I would definitely have a hard time not having my cell phone. This small 4 by 2 inch piece of technology has become my lifeline. It affects my life to great extent because it is my main way of communication. It keeps me in touch with family, friends, and work. It also has the internet to connect me to facebook and email; which are both more ways of communication. 

James Burke comes up with an idea that an elevator is a "technology trap." People just use it because it saves them energy and in some cases it is a necessity; such as if you were in a wheel chair. But, I also think of an escalator as a "technology trap." People don't think about how it was made or why, they just use it because it is there. Although technology has benefited us in many ways, it has also weakened us. Common technology users have become lazy. They take advantage of the resources given because it takes less time.

Every day a person is born and the day that person is born, is the day they start relying on technology. Now there are always those exceptions, but in general, if we lost all technology people would go insane. It would take a while for people to adjust to this new life. Children at the age of 5 are already using cell phones and computers. Most jobs require use of technology. Businesses would crash and the economy would be even more shot. I believe that our society would be completely hopeless with out technology.

If we had a blackout like the one in 1965, I believe we would be a lot better off in some ways, but not all. In some cases, we would have more generators to keep us going and things like that. But, now that our world is so far off from not using technology, people wouldn't be able to communicate properly; people wouldn't know what to do if they had to face a problem by talking to a person face-to-face.

Technology does separate us from our instincts, from nature, and from each other in some way. People have become so in touch with virtual communities and what-not that they don't know how to fully handle communities in reality. 

If an emergency occurs at CSUMB, we have emergency power, but it doesn't last for long. As for electricity in the dorms and dining commons, the power will only last about three hours. Our food supply could only last us for about 2 days if everyone ate their meals on campus. For the most part, we should be able to get our power up and running with in a few hours anyways. Also almost all college students have cell phones, so we would still have some kind of technology on us. Overall, I think CSUMB would be just fine if we had a power outage because we are well prepared with all of the drills we do.

The Pacific Grove Triathlon

 The 15th annual triathlon was held at Pacific Grove, in Lovers Point, throughout friday to sunday. There were two major events going on through the weekend. One being the 'Olympic Distance Triathlon' containing a 1.5k swim, 40k bike, and a 10k run, while the other one was an 'Entry Level Sprint Distance Triathlon' containing a 0.25 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike, and a 2 mile run. The second event is great for first timers, but either way both events take a lot of prepared training.

I attended both triathlon events on saturday and sunday. The athletes on both days were truly an inspiration. My brother participated in the 'Olympic Distance Triathlon' on saturday morning making that his 8th triathlon event to participate in so far. He has been training for the last year or so for this event in particular. 

Throughout the weekend there were a lot of ways to volunteer so my roommates and I did community service with the sorority Theta Alpha Sigma. It was definitely tiring getting up at 4:30am, but well worth it to see the look of accomplishment on each athletes face. Ages ranged from about 10 years old to 79 years old. There were people participating with lost limbs and heart conditions. The triathlon at Pacific Grove was a great way to get a variety of people together that had the same goals by the end of the day: to finish the Pacific Grove triathlon and to earn the sense of accomplishment.

(http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/media.htm)

Multitasking

Multitasking is common for just about everyone. It allows a person to do more than one thing at a time. In my life, I use multitasking quite often. Even with simple things, like listening to music and doing my homework. Although I like multitasking, there are some times when I can't. Such as when I don't understand math homework or when I am reading, I can not listen to music because I need constant concentration. In the article, "You Say Multitasking Like It's a Good Thing," Charles J. Abate, says the brain is incapable of doing two things at once. But, multitasking is not necessarily thinking about the two things at once, it is more of an action.

I agree with both, myth one and myth two, but I also believe that it depends on the person. In myth one, it talks about how multitasking saves time. Multitasking can save time, but it can get frustrating for people when trying to handle more than one thing at once. In myth two it talks about how "multitasked learning is as good as single-tasked learning," and I also I agree with this. Once again. I really do think that it depends on the person. Multitasking is different for everyone. Some people can handle it and some people can't.  

Jazz Gallery

My overall expression of Jazz: The Syncopation of Democracy, the exhibit, was refreshing. When I first entered the exhibit, I was not interested at all. I've never really been a huge fan of jazz so I didn't connect with it right away. After looking around the exhibit, I've realized that there are a lot of connections between jazz and democracy. Jazz is simply way of life. Each jazz artist puts their life experiences into their music and it's a way of teaching the world. George Gershwin created the song "Summertime" to try and create his own style. The connections between jazz and the American opera can possibly be about real life. In every jazz piece, the artist talks about their life experienced and in the American opera, the director is always trying to portray some way of life. The reason why Nina Simone's lyrics and Tupac Shakur's writing were next to each other in the gallery is because their lyrics had many similarities. But more importantly, Tupac was acknowledging who came before him. In his music, he respects his ancestry. Tupac connects to the current music that resonates with me.