What the West Wing has taught me about the expectations of politicians

If you haven't ever seen the show, stop now, go start a Netflix account (or use your current one) and watch one of the revolutionary show that has come into our televisions in the past fifteen to twenty years. 

I have been watching The West Wing whenever I have a set amount of time to myself. I usually classify this as "me" time where I will do something away from the work of everyday, and take some time to relax and enjoy myself.

The West Wing, if you haven't ever seen the show, is the "behind the scenes" look at the lives of the people involved with the daily functions in the West Wing of the White House. It's a very thrilling and exciting show that has been a favorite of my family when it first came out, and is now allowing me to be enjoyed again at an older age when all the topics they are talking about makes sense.

The West Wing has allowed me to become more educated about what happens in our government and has allowed me to raise in maturity as I rise into the world of adulthood.

I never have liked to really discuss politics. I feel like it's always a topic to get people going and argue, and also the fact there are plenty of people in our country that don't know about what they are talking about, we don't know one more, but this past election brought the most out of me with the world of politics and it's rather interesting to think about how the country is actually ran.

Here are a few things that bother me about the world of politics.

• The argument is made that when you don't vote during an election, you don't have the right to complain about the election, which I feel is WRONG. Why? Because if I don't feel like ANY of the people on a ballet can do the job, or if I don't like any of the candidates ideas, why would I vote? 
• Political parties are dumb. We are founded on the fact that all people are equal, but political parties put a barrier between people and at times prevent ideas and bills from being passed.
• Instead of going onto Meet the Press and other political talk shows to discuss why the person on the opposite side of the aisle is doing something YOU don't like, how about you meet with them and attempt to change it? I'm tired of seeing little politicians passing around the blame and turning to the media where as if you want something to get done, you should sit down and figure out how to fix it in a way that works for everyone instead of playing "I'm going to go cry to mommy"
• You can say what you do, but you will be remembered for what you say you did. 

The politicians we have today in the Federal Government need to jump from their seats and understand that in order for things to change, you will need to actually start talking and now staying on the other side of the wall.

But hey, who am I but the person who can possibly be voting for you during an election season.

-Cookie 

3/11/13. Ball State needs to redefine communication.

As I woke this morning, I woke up like every morning, wanting to go back to sleep, but because I couldn't due to classes, I got up and showered. As I got back into my room, I noticed the time I had before class, so I thought I would turn on the news and plop down in front of my computer. I began surfing the interweb for the news and happenings of the day, when my roommate shouted.

"Hey, there is a gunman on campus apparently"

What.

I was shocked. Scared, Nervous. We had a similar situation last year, but that was just outside of campus. According to the report, the suspected gunman (who was between 5'2 and 5'5) was seen north of our library  wearing a pair of dark pants and a light colored jacket. According to the later reports, he had a gun in his left hand.

Woah.

Things began rushing into my brain. Things like "no way... this could never happen here... I wonder if people are okay..." among a vast majority of things. I took to twitter as whether or not I was attend my first class crept up in my mind.

Upon further investigation of the situation, all residence halls and classes were suspended and put on lockdown respectively.

Wow.

This was real. And all the time, my best news source for what was going on wasn't my University, though they did provide us the first alert. The best sort of information I was getting was from Twitter, Facebook, and the news.

Now, as I "safely" sit in one of my classes for the day, I reflect on what will be known by many as the day Ball State's walls were destroyed.

Communication in this day and age shouldn't be that difficult. Getting information out to a large group of people should be a lot easier and is a lot easier than it has been in the past. Tweets, posts on Facebook, anything of that nature allows for quick, fast, and easy bursts of alerts and news that allow for people to be informed about the things they need to be concerned about, but why are students turning to social media rather than their own University for information.

Ball State has two ways methods of communication used to communicate with students directly. Emails and Text messages sent to direct students and staff with information on emergencies like bomb threats and shooters, etc. This method has been used for many years and for the most part, Ball State hasn't had much in terms of issues, but there are a few things that aren't clear that students continuously question.

So what is the issue? Well, as students began to wake and see the issues that were arising on campus, it seemed the local news was more informed then the students who would be walking around campus.

Let's take some examples. In order to be informed about the actually lock down that was placed on Residence Halls, I saw a tweet from a fellow student. In order to be informed of the FULL description, I was informed by the news.

I understand why this might be an issue for one university to manage. I understand that completely managing information and getting solid information out to students as frequently as possible may be outside of the realm of possibilities, but as I reflect on the fact according to Ball State, I am "safe" because the "campus is secure." I laugh. I laugh because with a university of over 20,000, how can you tell me we are "secured?"

How can you tell me you know the person either isn't around anymore? How can you tell me that we are secured when you can't even know if you didn't walk right past the person? Students deserve security. Students deserve to know that they can safely walk around on campus without the fear of finding this person around if he is still around.

Communication needs to be clear. With some many sources coming out and people passing information, it doesn't make sense why you let false information sit. I've seen countless differing stories about what actually happened, if a person was caught. One tweet I saw said they called the BSU PD, and was informed "Not sure if they found him, but you are safe"

Really?

Ball State needs to be held accountable. They need to be held accountable for the fact students across campus are not informed enough about what emergencies are happening on campus. They need to be held accountable for making sure we get the information. Because in this day and age, we shouldn't have to sit unknowing about where a person is on campus. It's a shame to sit back and what a campus cater to the news teams of the state rather then the students of this school.

In order for the notifications to be completely effective, Ball State needs to mandate any on campus student to sign up for the notifications either by email or text and USE THEM PROPERLY. 

We will see what comes from this, but Ball State will need to redefine their communication more than their education.

-Cookie

Motivation helps.

I constantly go back to one day in my head.
One day.
One day when I think about sitting in a room of adults who's jobs are to supervise students.
A room of hall directors.
And I think about how much motivation does for me.

I think about how much motivation from people other than me gets me going. Gets me happy. Gets me
Well.
Motivated

It's always entertaining to sit back, think, and reflect on what makes working on something easier, quicker, and better. I always sit back and look at columns, blog posts, websites that I've left or stopped working on because of the fact either I wasn't motivated or the people that I was working with hadn't motivated me.

I never saw myself as someone that needed to be told "Good job." I never thought of myself as someone who sat by as I hit enter and watch and hope a lot of people take the time to read the 500-1000 words I spew out occasionally. I never thought I would wait as I prepared a guest to come speak at a meeting, to get an email from my supervisor telling me "good job."

But then I reflected and I saw that I do benefit, like many people (including you) from some sort of recognition of how something was done. Either taking the time to finish writing, designing a poster, or whatever. Having someone else tell you good job can sometimes make that uneasy feeling of not knowing if what you are working on is really worth it, worth it.

So let me leave you this. If you run a group. If you run a website, if you run a staff, a group of leaders, or anything. If you work with others or lead them, encourage them. Tell them good job. Tell them thank you for their headwork. Because ultimately, that could be the big thing that helps them decide whether or not they really want to stay or not.

- Cookie

How Professional Wrestling is benefiting from Zeb Coulter

I won't lie to you.

I won't try and tell you that Jack Swagger has anything to do with him being over as much as you may think. Sure his look has changed. His gimmick, his mindset. That may all be true, but if that were the case, when I wake up tomorrow annoyed with the fact I have to go back to my residence hall, I'll ignore that.

Okay, so I got off track.

Zeb Coulter is a character played by the famous pro wrestler Dutch Mantel. That glory of a full beard and all rests on the face of someone shifting the attention of pro wrestling.

Let me start out by saying this. Yes. Pro wrestling is fake. Yes, people have used steroids in pro wrestling. Yes, I am extremely good looking, but no, you may not take my picture.

Zeb Coulter's outlandish works, along with Dutch's beautiful shifting of personality has given the mainstream media to oddly enough see WWE in a better light than it has before. Usually, when you mention pro wrestling to someone in the media, they will pull out names like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Hulk Hogan. Guys that have for better or for worse not put the best light and let people outside of our world lay their vile minds into what they feed is the best thing for an industry they don't understand.

Which is wrong.

Pro wrestling is about entertainment. It's about emotion. It's about being able to believe in a character, but ultimately being able to identify with a character. Challenging authority, questioning laws, simple things. Wrestling allows for someone like me to know I'm okay with being different because I don't have a bountiful list of friends who like wrestling. Most just don't bother to listen to me when I bring up the fact something happened.

But I continue to enjoy this industry

Why?

Because of people like Wayne Maurice Keown. Because of him, I feel confident in being a fan of pro wrestling. I feel confident in being able to continue to write when many years ago I really never had the clear understanding to write blog posts or columns. I can identify with the "good guys" who have to face the bad guys and defeat the odds.

Wrestling is fun.
Wrestling is unique.
Wrestling is something I love and lets me feel identified.

And that's why I watch.

-Cookie