Researching Local Publics

Ever since I started living at the U of A, I have heard so much about the local newspaper, the Daily Wildcat. But I must admit, I am not much of a newspaper reader, and I'm not sure why. So I decided to give it a shot and see which issues seem compelling enough for students to write about in the student paper.

1. Buying Essays: Plagiarism or opportunity?

Everyone has heard of the websites where, in a crunch for time, you can actually buy someone else's essay. The question posed here is, do any students use these essays for anything other than cheating? Some claim they are potentially used by students to simply look at a quality sample. Others say that that's ridiculous: "Who would only look at an essay after they just bought it? ... You buy an essay for one reason, to turn it in."

There is an emphasis on the viewpoint of international students on the issue. Though it makes sense that international students have a tougher time in college, especially on writing assignments (usually being not entirely fluent in the English language), making them more or less an ideal demographic for this service, many of them oppose the idea strongly. They'd rather work toward their scholastic goals and become better writers, rather than cheating. That emphasizes the point that, despite all the distractions of college life, we really are all here for one central purpose: to learn and to better specialize our skills.

2. The Pentagon officially repeals "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

I was a little surprised to find this issue in the Daily Wildcat, then realized it actually was relevant, considering the extensive ROTC program we have at the university. One aspect of the repeal that i didn't understand at first was the fact the Pentagon delayed so long in actually putting the repeal into practice. From this article, however, I found out that since Obama approved it in December of last year, the Pentagon actually spent a lot of the time in between training over 2 million soldiers regarding conduct. I think this repeal is necessary for the gay rights issues in the country at this point, and I'm glad that progress is being made.

3. Clubs around campus collecting recyclable refuse from football games.

If anyone has been in the Arizona Stadium after a game has ended, it is ridiculous how much disgusting litter is simply left by the game patrons. Nachos, popcorn bags, drink cups, paper pamphlets, candy wrappers, and unfortunately much more, is just left around to become a depressing eyesore. To my surprise, and happiness, many clubs around campus have collaborated to pick up this trash after the games (it takes about an hour) and recycle the recyclables. This is probably the most productive activity I've ever heard of to occur after a football game.... kidding of course! (or am I?)

4. AZ Assurance Program expecting a drop in numbers.

The UA's Arizona Assurance Program, a financial aid program that assists student's tuition, books, and housing fees if their family makes less than $42,400 per year, is expecting a decrease in numbers in the next three years. This is primarily because of the new GPA requirement. Now, the required GPA is a 3.0, as compared to the previous 2.0. I think this is disappointing, but if it is reserved for only the most hardworking students, then it is also more fair in a way. For students who try their best both in high school and in college, there might even be more money to go around, so that students who have EFCs of 0 (like me) wouldn't have to take out loans to pay their basic fees of books, tuition, and room & board.

5. Banned book debate, theatrical performance

On Tuesday afternoon, there was a banned book reading at the UA Mall, called the “ReadOUT, ACTout” performance. It was an interesting performance to see (I was walking by and wondered what it was about), and I heard them read and act out a book about the true story of a same-sex par of penguins raising an egg together. The article in the Daily Wildcat is basically about people giving positive reviews on the performance, and I'm glad it appears to have been received well.

Project 1 Proposal

To be completely honest, my first moments brainstorming about "Project 1" were full of stress. I was worried about transportation (as I do everything on foot or by bus), making the time in my busy schedule to head over there, scrounging up the money to eat somewhere I couldn't pay with my Cat Card, and whether I'd even be able to come up with an idea of where to go. I don't particularly like many of the places here on campus, and I didn't want to settle with writing a paper on a food space that would bore me to death or that has awful food.. That would be more than lame.

And then it hit me.

Cheba Hut! It's one of my favorite places to eat EVER, and it's not even very far. I'd just walk the opposite direction after band rehearsal on McKale Field, head on over to Campbell and 6th, and have what they call the "Majic Mushroom" sandwich: a portabella mushroom toasted sub with teriyaki sauce, pineapples, green bell peppers, and pepperjack cheese. (I'd add avocado, of course, because everything is better with avocado.) And while I'm eating, perhaps I'll pay closer attention to the decorations than I have before, and take notes regarding anything that catches my newly acquired critical eye.

I think Cheba Hut would be an excellent candidate for this assignment, not only because the atmosphere is unique compared to anywhere else I've eaten, but because it conveniently fits the criteria of the assignment: it's easiest to write an effective analysis of a food space that has some sort of underlying message or agenda besides "we cook food and sell it to you." Cheba Hut is an establishment chock full of silly pot-themed puns, but it has also become a politically active franchise, and this aspect will serve to turn "Project 1" (which I feared would be a chore) into an adventure!

Stay tuned...

Chili Garlic Sauce and Its Humble Beginnings

While moving into a dorm on campus a few short weeks ago, one of my main worries (as I'm positive I'm not alone in this) was food. I sometimes dreaded college, wondering how I was going to keep up my usual habits of cooking my own food without my own kitchen, very limited access to any grocery stores to purchase ingredients, and laughably few dollars with which to buy food, leaving that second item pretty much pointless.

And here I am, a college student who is currently much more active now than I had been over my two month summer vacation, and I'm living off of pretzels, bagels, and granola bars. Knowing these aren't particularly healthy eating habits, I've been stressing even more over food. That aside, my sister and I moved into our dorm, having to take several trips because my brother's car is tiny. During our first trip, we struggled to find parking, and therefore were held up longer than we thought. My brother then was late to work, so we ended up taking that one trip for the day and slept there with whatever we had brought in our rush to get out the door that morning (groggy from little sleep and exhaustion from five days of brutal band camp, and looking forward to two more days after moving in). To my surprise and amusement toward my fairly well-planned, health-conscious sister, when we finally got around to unpacking our belongings very late that night (as band camp didn't get out until about 11pm), I found out we had packed no bedding, hardly any clothes, and, as I was looking and praying to find food in some boxes, I found nothing except a small, half-eaten box of granola bars and a small bottle of Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce.

I'm hardly a big fan of spicy foods, but when I first tried this Chili Garlic Sauce sometime last year, I pretty much fell in love. During my senior year in high school, I'd put it on sandwiches, tortillas, and in lasagna. It hurts like hell if I eat too much of it, and I think I literally burned my tongue with it a few times. (I'm not sure if that's a testament to the intensity of the hot sauce, or to how much of a pansy I am..) But regardless, it's delicious. And since it's a big part of my diet these days (though from a health standpoint that's very unfortunate), I decided to do a bit of research on this sauce.

All of the information I've gathered came from one of two sources: the Huy Fong Foods company page, and Wikipedia. I decided the former had too much of a biased proponent stance on the quality of the product (but why shouldn't it? It's smart marketing, after all), so I looked up "Huy Fong Foods" on Wikipedia for a history of the company; one that wasn't trying to persuade me to buy anything.

Huy Fong Foods, though it is one of the largest businesses in the Asian hot sauce market, began rather small-scale in Los Angeles' Chinatown under the direction of David Tran, a Chinese farmer from Vietnam who fled to the US after the Vietnam War. He was born in the year of the Rooster, which is apparently the reason for the rooster on the logo. The Huy Fong Foods company is now in Rosemead, California, where family of the founder now manage the company. The chili garlic sauce itself is calorie-free but very high in sodium (the exact opposite of food that any kind of athlete should be consuming! grr..). But it's delicious. That's my excuse.

                                                                          ...Awesome.

I think the most interesting aspect about this company is that they do not professionally advertise their products. Instead of advertisements, they rely on word of mouth to advertise their sauces. For this reason, on their website they sell a "sampler pack" of Chili Garlic, Sambal Oelek, and Sriracha (their most famous and best selling variety) sauces for relatively cheap price of $7.00. I thought this was an odd way of doing things, but it has obviously worked as an advertising strategy. That leads me to believe that, despite America's eating habits steadily growing less focused on nutritional value and more on greasy fast food, quality really does matter (at least to fans of Huy Fong products, that is).