Internment Memorial

The vignette I have chosen to write about is of the Boy Scouts saluting the flag.

I chose this one because I thought it had some interesting messages.

The boys were gathered around an American flag pledging allegiance to this country.

It takes a lot of integrity and heart to continue to pledge allegiance for a country that has turned its back on you.

It is both heartwarming and sad to look at this vignette because it shows just how assimilated the Japanese were to American society.

I found it admirable that the boys tried to continue with their everyday activities and interests despite their current situation.

It is also interesting that the boys were dressed in their Boy Scout uniforms.

Internees were only allowed two suitcases of clothes and these boys believed that their uniforms were important enough to be brought along.

Ruth Asawa did an incredible job capturing the spirit and reliance of the Japanese people during this horrific period of American cruelty.

Word of the Week #10

1. Ecumenical

2. http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Doctrines/dangers_of_ecumenicalism.htm

3. The ultimate goal of the ecumenical movement will be to bring all religious groups together into one worldwide group, if not in organizational unity, at least in sympathy of the movement.

4. Promoting or relating to unity among the worlds Christian churches.

5. It is difficult to have a productive ecumenical dialogue among religious groups because of their differing viewpoints.

Japanese Internment

After the Japanese bombed Peal Harbor in 1941 the American government decided to take action against all remaining Japanese American citizens in the U.S..

In 1942 the government began registering all ” enemy aliens,” because it was believed that this was the only way to keep an eye on the Japanese.

The military discharged almost all of the 5,000 remaining Japanese American service members in 1941.

President Roosevelt and the secretary of war Henry Stimson decided that the risk of another Japanese attack on Americans was too great to risk.

On February 19, 1942, all people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and shipped off to internment camps, known as Executive Order 9066.

110,000 people of Japanese descent were divided between 10 camps spreading from Arkansas to California.

Those interned were only allowed two suitcases that each weighed 40 pounds.

The camps themselves resembled prison quarters with poor food and dirty living spaces.

Internees worked approximately 44 hours a week earning around $16 per month.

President Roosevelt rescinded Executive Order 9066 in 1944 and the final internment camp was closed in 1946.

After leaving the camps Japanese Americans had to rebuild their lives from scratch.

The government said the internment was for the protection of the Japanese Americans, in case any Americans wanted to retaliate after Pearl Harbor.

The real reason that the government chose to intern Japanese Americans was to keep an eye on them and make sure that no other such attacks would take place.

It is scary to think that the government was able to sell this idea to the American people and have it seem like it was for the benefit of Japanese Americans.

Post 9/11 the question can and would America do something like this again always arises.

I believe if the American government knew they could sell the idea of internment camps for Middle Eastern people the way the did for the Japanese they would have tried to do so by now.

I think that our world is too aware and informed to allow that type of enslavement to take place again.

Although many people thought after slavery this country would not be able to get away with something like that again and we were proved wrong.

Ignorance and anger make people do terrible things so I cannot definitively say that in the future this type of thing could never happen again, I just think it would have to be more difficult for the government to get away with.

Reference: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1679.html

Word of the Week #9

1. Utilitarian

2. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/

3. Utilitarianism is one of the most powerful and persuasive approaches to normative ethics in the history of philosophy.

4. Designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive. Philosophy of, relating to, or adhering to the doctrine of utilitarianism : a utilitarian theorist.

5.  Politics often times deal with the utilitarian theory of doing the best thing for the greatest number of people.

Feature Story Prep

Facts:
According to the Walden Behavioral Center 15% of women 17 to 24 have eating disorders.
In addition 40% of female college students have eating disorders and 91% of female college students have attempted to control their weight through dieting.
According to the Department of Mental Health of South Carolina 8 million Americans have an eating disorders.
According to students against destructive decisions, a national student run organization, four out of every 100-college women have bulimia.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an eating disorder is present when a person experiences severe disturbances in eating behavior or extreme distress about body image.
According to the National Eating Disorder Association, 10 percent of people with anorexia are men.
Five out of fourteen of males deliberately vomit after eating and twelve out of twenty-one had a history of binge eating.

Possible Interviews:

Tai Reid- a student who has suffered from anorexia and the body images that come along with it.
Jennifer Walthrop- member of the eating disorder team and Health Center official.
Ellen Lynn- counselor at the Counseling Center who has dealt with people with eating disorders.

Various Students who have experienced friends or family w/ eating disorders. Ashley Naylor, Sheryl Sims, Sarah Taniyama, Yvette Szabo, and Rachel Layton. I am interviewing other students to show the lasting effects eating disorders have and the effect they have on body image.

Other articles:
http://psychcentral.com/library/eatdis_general.htm
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/an-introduction-to-anorexia-nervosa/
Spitzer, R L L. “Binge eating disorder: its further validation in a multisite study.” The international journal of eating disorders 13.2 (1993): 137-53.
Stoving, R., Andries, A., Brixen, K., Bilenberg, N., & Horder, K. (2011). “Gender differences in outcome of eating disorders: A retrospective cohort study”. Psychiatry Research, 186(2/3), 362-366.

Word #8

1. Merino
2. http://www.knitpicks.com/Merino+Style_YD5420104.html
3. Merino Style produces a soft, flexible felted fabric that is ideal for little accessories and home décor items.
4. A sheep of a breed with long, fine wool. A soft woolen or wool-and-cotton material resembling cashmere, originally of merino wool.
5. I have a wool sweater that is made of Merino fabric making it extremely warm.