Why Cities Feel Glorious

The feeling that overcomes you when you enter a city, surrounded by looming towers and enveloped by seas of unique people, is one that it almost impossible to describe.  I've often found myself wondering why cities seem to have this overwhelming effect that suburbs just never seem to live up to.  Aaron' Renn's article, "Why Cities Feel Glorious," does an interesting job of examining the reason behind this feeling of superiority that comes along with being in a city compared to a suburb.  As Renn points out, everything in a suburb is a scaled down and less magnificent version of what is already in a city.  Renn points out that even the name "suburb" declares that a suburb is merely a sub par version of an urban setting.  

I agree with Renn's justification that the architectural exuberance of a city is what makes it so great and that the architecture of a suburb is even to some points submissive and unimportant.  I think Renn successfully emphasizes the cultural significance of cities versus suburbs.  No matter how hard suburbs try or want to be as sacred as cities, they will never be able to reach the historical points that cities have reached.  Not only are cities older than the suburbs that surround them but they are more heavily populated and centered around the activities and events that create and mold history.  There is a level of depth and importance in cities that cannot be replicated in the suburbs.

Perception of Waco

Growing up if I had been asked where I was going to college the answer was always, "not Baylor."  Ironically,  here I am.  With 15 people in my family having attended Baylor, I always had the intentions of going elsewhere.  From my perspective Waco seemed dirty and ugly and all around boring.  Up until the very last minute of decision making, I had every desire to spend my Freshman year living anywhere but Waco, but the close it got to choosing where I would be, the more that Waco seemed to fit me and just make sense.  I was not excited at Waco in the slightest.  I had always had a view of Waco as being cursed by poverty and having absolutely nothing to do.  There seemed to be nothing special about Waco other than Baylor itself.  As I have settled into Baylor and become a part of the community of Waco,  I feel like I couldn't have been more wrong.  The people of Waco make the town an incredible place to be.  One of my favorite places in the world has become downtown Waco.  On occasional nights when I finish homework and studying early I'll find myself taking a drive through the downtown area just to look at the old buildings and lights that hold such tradition and history in them.  There's something really special about Waco that not many towns have.  Every street and corner has character and a past that can't be replicated anywhere else.  Waco has gone from being a place that I dreaded living to somewhere that I know I am going to have a hard time leaving and will return often.  

The Solution to World Poverty

In finishing the essay, “The Solution to World Poverty” by Peter Singer, I found myself immediately disagreeing with his closing comment that “we are all in that situation” that Singer hypothetically creates in order to get across his point of humanities ignorance to help even when they are able.  In addition I found myself with few exceptions, disagreeing with the essay as a whole.  Singer makes some very strong points,  yes, we as an entire whole of humanity have created focuses and priorities that do not match up with the morals that a majority of us claim to follow.  We spend money selfishly and flippantly without thinking of others and the repercussions that are frivolous behavior could be having, but his overall point that there is relevance between intentionally choosing to pick a material object over the life of another person is hyperbolic and all around just untrue.  Choosing to save a priceless car over the life of a child is not equivalent to going on a shopping spree rather than donating a large sum of money to UNICEF.  The moral implications and consequences of both may be relatable but the overall intentions are not even close to one and other.  He also leaves several holes in his argument, failing to point out that organizations like UNICEF and other relief programs also spend money frivolously and there is no way for the donor to ever truly know where their money is going.  The only implication of donating to these foundations is the instant feeling of fulfillment that comes from knowing that you gave an effort to help someone in need.  This is in no way more morally correct then just going about your life spending your money as you please rather than seeing spending money as a selfish act that takes the life of innocent children, which is implied by Singer to the extreme in this essay.  

Journal Exercise, p. 201

I received a phone call from my parents on Monday that started with the phrase that no college student wants to hear, "Mollie, We need to talk."  My parents had become concerned that I had been spending so much money eating out recently.  I explained to them that the food on campus is less than appealing and at some points all around unappetizing.  When I wake up in the morning I crave breakfast but I want something healthier and more natural than the concoction of scrambled "eggs" in the dining hall.  As I have gathered from my peers and from my own experiences the campus dining could use a little more than an overhaul.  Without having food on campus that appeal to students they are forced to look else where.  As a part of the student government I would use the $10,000 to invest in a solution to this issue.  I would use the money to start or renovate a dining hall into having a section that is completely farm to table with natural, organic and delicious meals that made students actually want to eat on their meal plan rather than venture out into Waco to spend their parents money on over-priced and over-portioned meals.  Students could have the opportunity to pick from an array of heart healthy and delicious meals that would be included in their meal plan.  A student’s diet is a vital part of their overall experience and their life as a whole and would be a valuable place to invest the assets.  

Evaluation Essay Thesis

Magnolia Homes has become the perfect example of the essence of Waco, combining tradition and family with change and progress while enhancing the strength of the local economy.  

Conserving Communities

Through out my reading of "Conserving Communities" by Wendell Berry, I found myself constantly coming back to an observation of a central questioning of the moral focus of our economy.  One of his thoughts that especially struck me was his thoughts on the education system.  Berry points out that our education system is focused on teaching children how to get and have a job that can make them the most money rather than to actually educate them.  He emphasizes that rather than actually teaching children about the world, we treat education as "job training."  As a student I felt that this was a very interesting thing to point out.  Our lack of focus on local economy as a whole centers around this moral dilemma of humanity measuring success based on how much money someone makes or how high ranking their position is in their job.  As Berry puts it we think that the "summit of human achievement is a high paying job." As a society we have failed to construct our everyday routine around actual moral values and instead have focused our values on goals that are amoral.  Resulting in an economy and society that are more interested in winning and defeating each other socially and economically than benefitting everyone in a just way.  As Berry explains through his central message in the essay, if we were to focus our economy more locally the repercussions would be more positive than imaginable.  The ideals of the current global economy that centralize around “mega businesses” has led to massive, unfixable issues.  

Evaluation Essay Businesses

Magnolia Homes

Magnolia Homes is a real estate and home renovation business featured on HGTV run by two Baylor graduates and Waco residents.  I feel like this would be a great business to do an evaluation essay over because the business has brought so much positive influence to Waco and has also focused on improving the community and involving the residents of Waco in the process of beautifying Waco. It would also be an interesting topic because it is specific to Waco and not a chain business so the evaluation will be very unique.  Identifying the criticisms of the business would also be easy because it would not be hard to collect information about the business and my perspective of what is done right and wrong.  

Cafe Cappuccino

Cafe Cappuccino is a local breakfast place in Waco that is very popular amongst Baylor students and Waco residents.  This would be a smart choice for my Evaluation Essay because it is a very Waco specific place that serves food that is very common and can be easily compared to other well known restaurants in order to provide a solid understanding of the menu to the reader.  It is also very accessible which provides me the opportunity to visit and evaluate the restaurant based on a basic criteria of atmosphere, food and service.  

Teriyaki Park

Teriyaki Park is a sushi and asian food restaurant near campus downtown that is frequently visited by Baylor students.  As a topic for my Evaluation Essay this choice would provide a unique menu that would create a very detailed evaluation of the restaurant based on the criteria of service, atmosphere and menu.  The atmosphere and the mood of the restaurant are very individual and would provide a very intriguing topic for the paper that would entice the reader and leave them wanting to read more and to try Teriyaki Park for themselves.