The Need for a US Rowing Museum

Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States.  Fewer than ten thousand varsity student-athletes compete in collegiate rowing, however.  Rowing has such a rich history that it is about time a museum be established to preserve and promote rowing awareness.

Rowing is by far one of the most intense and demanding sports in the world.  Oarsmen and coxswains devote countless hours of year-round training in order to maximize boat speed- the goal of any serious crew.  The majority of the United States population, however, has no clue what rowing is all about.  Quite frankly, I did not even know about rowing culture until joining the USC Men’s Crew Team.   A rowing museum would solve this problem.

My proposed museum would be located in Southern California.  The west coast is renowned for its great rowing programs, and the museum could be fully taken advantage of in an environment that is suitable for rowing year-round.  The museum will double as a boat house so that community members (children in particular) can get involved in rowing.  This will help rowing become more popular among the masses, hopefully propelling rowing back into the forefront of college athletics. 

With United States collegiate rowing dating back to the mid nineteenth century, one would think that a rowing museum would already exist.  The only established rowing museum in the world, however, is located on the Thames River in England- site of the world-famous Royal Henley Regatta.  While this is considered a good museum, it does not represent United States rowing well.  A museum in the United States, therefore, would make rowing more accessible to Americans in particular and truly show what a great sport rowing is!  

California ScienCenter

Out of convenience and an interest in the subject matter, I chose to visit the California ScienCenter for my museum trip.  In particular, I visited the Air and Space portion of the museum.  This area included Air and Aircraft, Humans in Space, Mission to the Planets, and Stars and Telescopes. There was also a smaller area in another part of the museum which I did not visit called the Air and Space Discovery Room  which was intended for little children).  The arrangement of the museum was very clever and added to the success of the exhibit.  There were various levels which a shuttle-like elevator took you up through.  The spacecraft and aircraft were also arranged strategically, with the oldest towards the bottom and the newest towards the ceiling.  Each craft had its own placard with information.  There were also various videos and audio clips playing throughout the museum.  Some of the most exciting parts of the Air and Space section were the hands-on activities. This included a wind tunnel in which you could actually enter and learn about drag.  Also, you can board a helicopter and work its controls. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Air and Space portion of the California ScienCenter thoroughly.  I have always had an interest in spacecraft and aircraft and the visit simply piqued this interest.  Although the museum is similar to other science centers around the nation, the quality of the artifacts, displays, and hands-on activities make a trip to the California ScienCenter more than worthwhile.   

The Effect of an Apology

In the case of Don Imus, there were several apologies actually made.  Immediately following the comments, Imus made an apology on his radio show (see YouTube video below). 

In reality, this apology probably hurt Imus because it was so short and seemed relatively unplanned.  The apology took all of twenty seconds and Imus made the mistake of saying “we can understand why people were offended” which can make it seem like people who were offended are actually at fault.  The tone of this apology does seem sincere; however, Imus’s behavior following the incident does not back up this sincerity.  Later, Imus appeared on various shows including ones hosted by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in order to seek forgiveness.  In all, these apologies were directed at the wrong audience.  Imus wronged the women of the Rutgers basketball team first and female African Americans second.  He should have apologized in that order, rather than appealing to the masses first.  A personal apology is far more likely to be accepted than a large-scale one.  Thus, his widespread approach further hurt his odds of being forgiven.   Finally, Imus made an apology to the Rutgers team at the NJ governor’s mansion.  Although there are no records of this event because it was closed to the media, the two hour plus meeting was by far Imus’s most successful apology.  For once, he subjected himself to answering questions rather than having the upper hand that he is used to.  In the end, this apology was sufficient enough for the women to accept the apology and move on.

Overall, Imus definitely needed to apologize.  The order of his apologies and the way he went about the initial days after his comments were not effective for being forgiven, though.  Imus should have appealed on the personal level first and then dealt with the rest of the population that may have indirectly been affected by what he said.  Most of all, Imus’s recent actions show that he is resorting to his old ways and that his apologies were not sincere and therefore not effective.       

The Don Imus Debacle

After the 2007 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game between the Rutgers’ Lady Knights of Rutgers University and the Lady Vols of the University of Tennessee, Don Imus, the host of the MSNBC radio show Imus in the Morning at the time, made various racially-driven comments about the players from the Rutgers team. Imus and his executive producer Bernard McGuirk talked about the appearance of the “rough,” “tattoo[ed]” girls from Rutgers compared to the “cute” girls from Tennessee. The pair went on to refer to the Lady Knights as “nappy headed hoes” and “Jigaboos,” referencing the Spike Lee film School Daze.

There was an immediate backlash from fellow members of the media, political figures, and the nation as a whole. Imus issued a series of apologies, some on the air and others in more personal settings, however he was still fired from his position by the CEO of CBS Radio Leslie Moonves.

Living in New Jersey at the time, this issue was extremely prevalent across the NY/NJ media. I was a direct witness to both sides of the story as well as much of the aftermath the insensitive comments created. Indirectly, the Imus debacle also threatened the life of the NJ governor Jon Corzine, who got into a serious car accident on his way to Imus’ formal apology to the Rutgers team and the governor’s mansion.

Not everyone was against Imus , though. Fellow “shock-jocks” Gregg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia, better known as Opie and Anthony, were outraged that “a radio pioneer and philanthropist” was fired from his job over something that they did not even consider that edgy. This led to the creation of People Against Censorship, a group devoted to defending freedom of speech.

I definitely think that the Rutgers Lady Knights deserved an apology, but Imus’s various apologies were not too convincing, especially after he has continued to make racial remarks on the airwaves.

Viterbi Students: Critical Thinkers or Human Calculators?

When most people consider engineers, they immediately picture some geeky person sitting by themselves and crunching numbers all day.  In reality, an engineer does a lot more than crunch numbers.  (the geeky isolated part might be correct…)  At the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, there is an emphasis on critical thinking from day one.  Some of the very first engineering classes aim to teach students the importance of going beyond the formulas and numbers.  This includes various design competitions, where the process of synthesis is focused upon, tests and homework based around real-life problem solving skills, where the process of application is developed, and computer programming courses, to ensure students are able to fully utilize the technology available to them for complete and accurate analysis of engineering projects.    It is more than apparent that the Viterbi curriculum is oriented to transform number-savvy kids into full-fledged, critically thinking members of the engineering community.   

Throughout my early engineering career at USC, I am more than pleased with the amount of critical thinking in the curriculum.  I am constantly being challenged academically and I feel that I have learned a lot in a relatively short period of time.  Viterbi’s curriculum definitely has my seal of approval.

A Path to Salvation?

In his article A German Lesson: the Fallacy of One True Path, Daniel Goldhagen brings Pope Benedict XVI’s ability to critically reflect on his past into question.  Benedict himself was a small boy during the Nazi reign in Germany and, as Goldhagen mentions, at one point joined the Hitler youth.  It is obvious that Pope Benedict had a first-hand view of what hate and intolerance can do to people and, moreover, the entire world as a whole.  This is why Goldhagen questions Pope Benedict’s stance that Catholicism is the only true path to salvation.  Goldhagen argues that Pope Benedict should not denounce other religions and that his “ecclesiastical totalitarianism” is far too similar to the Aryan race that Hitler promoted.  As Goldhagen refutes in his closing lines, Pope Benedict is likely to argue that “his truth is the Truth,” however, this idea is what has driven many of the most despicable and horrid political regimes throughout history.

Personally, I think Goldhagen’s article is intended to drive home his point using a fairly shocking analogy.  Any comparison to Hitler or the Nazi rule will immediately grab the attention of the reader.  I do, however, also believe that Goldhagen’s argument has some merit.  He is by no means comparing Benedict himself to Hitler or trying to present Benedict as a bad person.  He is simply questioning Benedict’s views from an academic standpoint.  Why did Benedict not use his personal experiences and involvement in one of the most horrific periods in recorded history to change the way the world thinks?  Maybe there is no single path to salvation…

Have it your way!

My entire perception of the alarm clock itself has changed quite a bit during the writing process.  The bottom line is that the alarm clock is a very personal thing.  Every individual has their own routine in the morning which is started by waking up to their alarm clock.  Some people need to lay in bed for a half hour before facing the world, while others are able to hop out of bed pumped up and ready for another day.  Because of this vast difference in users’ needs, I have decided to make my new and improved alarm clock completely customizable. The personalization factor will be included in every single aspect of my alarm clock from face plates and blinking LED lights to a vibrating bracelet synchronized with whatever type of sound/music the user decides upon.  The alarm clock is a very important machine in anybody’s life.  How you wake up usually has a great impact on how you approach each and every day.  My ultimate goal is to allow owners of my alarm clock to create a personalized and comfortable environment to wake up into, so their mornings are as stress-free as possible.  I’m confident that a better alarm clock will improve many people’s lives and be a successful product for many years to come.