Monday, May 31, 2010

The Evergreen State Rivalry

Those who live in Washington State know this rivalry very well. It has been decades in the making and is one of the most storied rivalries in all of college. Those outside the state have only heard rumors, people who have just come to Washington State will soon know of it and the people who live here know this rivalry very well. Separated by a thin line known as the Cascade Mountains, on one side you have the University of Washington Huskies and on the other side you have the Washington State University Cougars. Both are excellent schools but in the end only the University of Washington Huskies will be left standing.

It happens every year for high school students, time to choose a college to attend. In Washington State most students will choose between the University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University (WSU). The UW is located on the Western side of Washington State in the city of Seattle and was founded in 1861. Since its founding the UW has grown into a very well known university. It is now made up of 3 different campuses with the main one being in Seattle and the other 2 being in Bothell, Washington and Tacoma Washington. Students come from all around the world to attend the UW. In 2009 the freshman class was little over 5,000 students strong which represented 44 states and 27 different countries. (admit.washington.edu/numbers) WSU is located on the Eastern side of the state in Pullman Washington and was founded in 1890. WSU has 4 different campuses around the state. The main campus is in Pullman, Washington with the other 3 being located in Vancouver, Tri-cities and Spokane. Thou not as big, WSU freshman enrollment for 2009 was little over 3500 students. (http://www.ir.wsu.edu/docs/wsufacts.pdf) For the new people this is where the rivalry begins, but for those who grew up in this state this has been a ongoing process and for most it comes down to one thing, athletics.

For as long as the two universities have existed there has been a lot of heat between the athletic programs and specifically the football programs. The UW has for the most part always had one of the best football programs in the nation. The Rose bowl and Orange bowl are 2 of the nation’s highest football title games, both are right below the national championship. The Huskies have won the Rose bowl eight times and won the Orange bowl once. On top of that the football program has also won 2 national titles in 1960 and 1991 and they also have the longest winning streak in NCAA history with 63 consecutive games won. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington#Athletics) Although WSU does have a football team they have never been as successful as the UW. WSU football has been to the Rose bowl but they have never won one and have never won a national championship. The biggest game of the year for both schools is the Apple Cup. The Apple Cup is the yearly football game that takes place between the schools and is the palace were the rivalry heats up the most. The first Apple Cup took place in 1900 and the UW holds the lead over WSU with a record of 65-31-6. Although the athletics are a big part of the rivalry with football being the main focus the little known one is academics.

In the field of academics both schools could not be any more different in what their main focus of study is. The UW is very well known for its research into the medical field. For example the UW school of medicine was ranked first in the nation in 2008(USnews.com) and the nursing school has been ranked number one since 1984. (http://www.son.washington.edu/about/pr_3-30-07.asp) But that’s not all the UW has also been ranked 12th in the nation for business schools for entrepreneurship out doing such schools as Stanford, MIT and even Harvard. (http://admit.washington.edu/Numbers) WSU may not be ranked as high as the UW but it is ranked none the less. WSU is ranked 22nd among public research universities without a medical school and 82nd overall among public and private research universities. (National Science foundation) WSU is known for its agricultural research and it research into the area of clean technologies.

This rivalry has been going on for more than 100 years with no end in sight. Ask and 5 people that go to the UW and WSU why they don’t like the other school and you will probably get 5 different answers. But no matter what happens the University of Washington Huskies will always come out on top. So like the beginning of the Husky fight song says Washington State University will always BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON!!!

Intro to Iron Man

I used this paper because I think it shows how I have taken the skills I learned in English 98 and used them in my other classes. I had to take two habits from the book “The 7 habits of highly effective people” and apply them to the main character Tony Stark. I really liked writing this essay not only because I’m a huge Marvel comics nerd, but I like how I was able to take a character I really like and was able to apply him to what I was learning in class.

Iron Man Paper

The movie Iron Man is a great action film and a great comic book film loved by a lot of people the world over. It did very well at the box office and was one of the better recent comic book movies like not only by comic book readers but by non-comic book readers as well. Iron Man is about the super genius and weapons manufacturer Tony Stark. Tony Stark is a very smart, very rich play boy who makes weapons for the United States military through his company Stark Industries. He doesn’t really have a care in the world, he does whatever he wants and doesn’t really turn a blind eye but he just doesn’t see what’s really going on with his own company. When he goes to Afghanistan to show off his latest missile the Humvee he was riding in was attacked and he was critically wounded by one of his own weapons. After he escapes from his captor and is rescued he makes a big change not only with his company but in his life as well. Instead of make weapons he now sets out to destroy, with his advanced Iron man suite, what he once made. By watching how Tony Stark is in the beginning he has the Win/Lose mentality where he is the only winner. When he is captured and realizes where his weapons are going and he makes a huge paradigm shift from being the Win/Lose rich playboy to being the Win/Win hero.

Through the first half of the movie Tony Stark is you typical rich guy. He’s in Las Vegas at an award ceremony, well he is supposed to be at the ceremony but instead he blows it off to go gamble at the casino. Here he has the Win/Lose mentality which Covey states “Win/Lose is a authoritarian approach: “I get my way; you don’t get yours” (Covey 207) and at 7 min. 45 sec. in the movie he is confronted by a reporter that starts to question whether he is a war profiteer he manages to spin and turn it around so he end up looking like the good guy and Winning the conversation and she loses because he gets what he wants from her and throws her out the next morning. When he goes to Afghanistan and finds out the very weapons he was creating to protect American lives was being used against them something inside of him changes. When he is rescued and returns to the United States turns away from the Win/Lose mentality and turns it into a Win/Win mentality which is “A frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions”. (Covey 207) When he was captured his eyes were opened and he realizes that the world needs more than just weapons that kill people, the world needs a hero and that’s what Tony Stark becomes. He makes the paradigm shift from being a being the playboy who just wants to have fun to become a man who feels he has a purpose in life to help people who can’t help themselves.

Once Tony Stark makes the shift to a Win/Win he is very proactive about doing what he feels is right. Covey says that being proactive “is why we can evaluate and learn from other experiences as well as our own. This is also why we can make and break our habits” (Covey 68) I think nothing shows this more than at the 1 hr. 28 min. make when his assistant Pepper Potts comes down a threaten to quite if he doesn’t stop doing what he is doing and he explains to her that he has finally figured out what he was meant to with his life.

I really like the character of Tony Stark not only because I’m a Marvel comic’s nerd, which I am, but I think he shows that yes people can change. He went from being some super smart rich playboy guy who only cared about himself to becoming a selfless hero for the peoples. Although it’s not quite as big as Tony Stark I have make a huge paradigm shift myself over this past quarter. No, I’m not flying around in a gold and red suite saving the world but I have made a change in the way I study and do my homework. I have passed classes before in college but I have never done this well and I have never passed all of my classes in a quarter either. This will be the first time I have done it and I think I have done it very well. Yes, like Tony Stark I think I made a huge paradigm shift but the only difference is the one I made was real and it will help me out for a long time to come.

Looking Back

As I look back on my time in English 98 I realize how I have improved as a writer and how my critical thinking skills have improved. I took this course so I could get refreshed on how to write a paper and not only did I do that but I learned a lot as well. I have met a lot of interesting people and we have all had a lot of laughs this quarter. So as English 98 comes to a close I look ahead to the next challenge English 101.