My First Bowl Game

Today was the big day! I went to my first bowl game- the Liberty Bowl. Is it sad to say it was also my first college football game and it wasn't even my school? It was my cousin's school Tulsa University against Iowa State.

We've seen Iowa State fans all over the city as we've been touring around. When I say they were everywhere I mean it. The red and gold cyclones/cardinals (I didn't get that either...) were everywhere. We even saw them at gas stations along the way down here from Missouri. We were hard pressed to find any fellow blue Tulsa hurricanes.

Our cousins told us Tulsa had a good team this year- they'd only lost one game. But that one game happened to be to Iowa State. I didn't know what to think.

When we got to the game the whole Iowa side was full and there was maybe a quarter of the Tulsa side full. Then it started to rain. And it was cold. And Tulsa was down in the first quarter. I really didn't know what to think.

And then they started pulling ahead. By halftime Tulsa was ahead and they managed to keep it up. We left a little early because of the cold rain, but we finished the game in the hotel.

It makes me smile a bit because the Iowa State fans we talked to and heard from made fun of Tulsa for its low fan base. Looks like the football team of a school of 4000 can be just as good and better than a school of 30,000!

Now we're just hanging out till the ball drops signaling the beginning of 2013. 2012 was another eventful year. It seems like every year that passes becomes crazier and faster passing. It'll be interesting to see what this upcoming year has in store for us!

Happy New Year!

Cotton- Yesterday & Today

I know I say this a lot, but I'm excited to be in agriculture!

Memphis was built around the cotton industry. Right on the Mississippi River, its location is ideal for trade. Yesterday we visited the Cotton Museum in the old Memphis cotton exchange.

Cotton has been extremely influential in developing our country's history- for good and for worse. In the first half of the museum we got to learn a little about this history and walk around the exchange.

Up high on one wall was the board where they kept track of the market reports, and below were phone booths where quick decisions could be made. Now the booths contain videos with stories from people who used to do business there.

The video I watched was about a man who grew up working alongside his dad buying and selling cotton. He said it was always something he wanted to do primarily because of the comradery formed in the industry.

Those bonds are still there, he said, but there aren't as many people involved. We learned that computers and the Internet make online trading much more popular.

Cotton is still a huge industry, but now like all other business sectors, they have to seriously consider the international market. In cotton that means China. They are the greatest producer of cotton in the world.

The second half of the museum was an interactive look at current cotton production. We learned how a cotton plant develops- from seed germination to the development of the fiber.

We also learned how far production methods have come from picking cotton and processing it by hand to the cotton gin to sophisticated machines.

There was also an exhibit on biotech seeds explaining why they are used- to lessen the damaging effects of weevils, and the basics of how they're made.

One interactive exhibit contained a bag of seeds and asked visitors how many seeds they thought the bag contained. I thought it seemed like a pretty small bag and could plant five acres.

After going through the exhibits, we took an audio walking tour around the neighborhood. We walking down to the river and saw various offices around the exchange where people once worked in grading, buying and selling cotton.

It's been another example of why we should remember America's agrarian roots. Even in the big city of Memphis ag is apparent. You can't understand what makes Memphis tick without going to the cotton industry. The old Memphis Cotton Exchange was an excellent place to learn.

Walking in Memphis

We made it to Memphis!

Yesterday we visited the Stax museum, which documents this American Soul recording studio's history. It was surprisingly very interesting. I was reminded of a conversation I had with Dad once. He said the blues is like the city cousin to country music. Both stem from a people working hard to survive and using music to make life a little easier.

At Stax I learned that country music had an influential part in developing "soul" music. The singers in a video mentioned watching the Grand Ole Opry. And some of my favorite countrified gospel hymns are full of soul like Precious Lord Take My Hand.

Then we drove by the motel Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in.

And we saw the peabody ducks march up to an elevator to their duck palace in the Peabody Hotel. A few words on that, actually just two could sum it up- over extravagant. These ducks are like kings and everyone comes to see them. So many in fact that you can't see well, as shown in the picture.

Then we ate at Rendezvous, a famous bar-b-que place.

I'm a Mizzou girl representing Katie's school in Tulsa in an area infested by Iowegians- never thought that'd happen. Tomorrow's the Liberty Bowl. More updates later.

Christmas Adventures!

I have done absolutely terrible about keeping you updated over this lovely Christmas break.

My friend Sophie, an MU engineering student from China came for Christmas. It was really fun sharing American Christmas traditions with her like making sugar cookies and gingerbread houses.

Now Elizabeth and I are in St. Louis with cousins for the night. We went to see the Christmas lights in the zoo and the park. Tomorrow we're going to.... drumroll please.... Memphis, Tennessee!

I've never been to Tennessee before so I'm pretty excited. One of our first stops will be a cotton museum, so that will be interesting. I'll try to keep you posted!

A Trio of Experiences

This semester is finally winding down!

It's always so busy this time of year, and so I have picked a few things going on in my life to share.

Multimedia: Many Memories

Most of my finals have involved projects or papers rather than tests. For our final project  in Multimedia, two other girls and I created this website.

Oh the memories! We had an interesting time going to different Cultural Bricolage events to get footage and audio clips. Putting it all together was another adventure. I broke my personal record for the length of time sitting in the Student Center. We started editing and putting the final touches on the site at 6:30 p.m. and didn't get done until 11 p.m, which is better than one of my friends's group- they didn't get done until 1:30 a.m.! Those are the nights you remember from college, right?

Poetry: A Poetic Ag Conversation

In an hour or so I'll be headed to my final Poetry class. We are reflecting on the semester and our "current poetics." Not really sure what that means, but I will say this has been a good random class to take.

Last week each of us met individually with our poetry instructor. Of course, during my meeting we got into a conversation about agriculture and creative writing. When I mentioned my passion is agriculture, my instructor immediately was interested and said she had just watched Food Inc.

Ah, Food Inc. Why does it so often come back to this? She said it made her concerned, so I asked which part stuck out to her as most alarming. Surprisingly it wasn't the livestock side, which is what I generally think of when people say they have concerns, but the section about corn, Monsanto and GMOs.

Before I answered, I tried to remember what I learned at this year's AFA Conference. Meet in the middle and focus on shared values.

The problem I have with Food Inc., I told her, is that it examines issues in a very one-sided fashion. And, the other side of the story, or at least a more balanced story, is exactly what I am passionate about writing!

Yes, Monsanto is a huge company, I told her. The plant scientists who work for Monsanto are very successful in finding seed traits they can use to develop seeds. These seeds, which are indeed genetically modified, have different advantages from resistance to weeds and pests to requiring less water. The idea is less inputs and increased genetics results in greater efficiency- higher yields using less resources.

There are definite advantages of genetic modification, and Monsanto is definitely a leader in this area. The problem, highlighted in Food Inc., is that since these seeds are patented anyone saving seeds, purposefully or accidentally, can be sued. I consider any lawsuit unfortunate, and these occurrences have the potential to be extremely emotional financial tragedies.

However, I also believe it's important to take a few steps back and look at the flip side of the coin. For my poetry instructor, I compared it to her own intellectual property- her poems. It would be like if someone took her poem, or even purchased a copy, and used it for their own profit. Is that right?

There are so many gray lines here. Absolutely there are happy stories and sad stories in the ag industry, just like anywhere else. There are advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons, and they all have to be balanced. Bottom line is we have to consider the bigger issue of producing safe food with less resources in an affordable manner. I don't think we can completely discredit the benefits Monsanto brings to the table on this front.

It's Supper Time!

On a slightly lighter note, next week is Finals and I only have one! Yay! Oh, the joys of being a journalism student during finals week.

Since I'll just be working on little things and studying here and there, I decided I would do all the cooking and cleaning for my house and offer the people around me prepared meals. So far the finals schedule is throwing a wrench in things, but I hope they will take advantage. I will deliver pre-portioned meals if I have to!