Explanatory Draft

I still have to interview people from the food co-op and a student housing co-op, so this piece will be going through significant changes. It now resembles something more like a profile piece.



Just 25 miles northeast of Kalamazoo, Circle Pines Center is a cooperative recreation and education center sitting on 300 acres of rolling hills and forests with 11 miles of trails, a spring fed lake, canoes and a sauna. The headquarters, a large civil war era farmhouse untouched by time, is in dire need of a fresh coat of white paint and new roof, some of the many repairs and improvements that co-directors Tom and Kat Vanhammen have compiled since their arrival in early February this year. From the farmhouse one can hear cars occasionally speed by on the dirt road, the sound of rubber and rock giving off a distinct sound similar to Pop Rocks. Just a couple miles down the road is Stewart Lake, consisting of year round homes and seasonal cottages. Circle Pines owns a large stretch of land on Stewart Lake consisting of tall sturdy oaks and maples bending towards the small body of water. It is a drastic contrast to the rest of the lake; houses squished together with docked boats quietly bobbing and battling for space.
The cooperative movement stretches back over 150 years with Welshman Robert Owen’s first cooperative store in New Lanark, Scotland during the mid 1800's. Later, the Rochdale Principles were set up, which remains today as the bedrock of cooperative identity and ideology. The Rochdale Principles state a cooperatives must have voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, cooperation among cooperatives, concern for community, education, training and information. The cooperative movement spread to the U.S. in response to the Great Depression and thus Circle Pines began as a place for people who were fed up with capitalism and wanted something new.
Right from its inception there was a split between Backgamm and Sonquist as to what purpose Circle Pines should serve. Fred Beshears, the son of one of the founders, recalls, “Backgramm and his followers thought he was running unopposed, but at last minute Sonquist showed up with his band of people.” Backgramm was interested in turning Circle Pines into a conference center where meetings and social events could take place. Sonquist, on the other hand, wanted it to be used as a place for children to become educated in a cooperative setting while also serving as a camp in the summer. Sonquist ended up winning the vote and transforming Circle Pines into a cooperative environment for children.
Some problems cited among co-ops is the lack of essential capital, inadequate member support, lack of wholesaler support, and resistance to consolidation. Larry, a former Circle Pines director “Back in the 60's, 70's and riding off that wave in the early 80's, member support was high. There was a collective sense of belonging and a want for change. There was not much trust in the government and many of the members were left leaning socialists, communists or anarchists.” With the current administration failing the American public in many sectors of society, that a place like Circle Pines would once again thrive. “My daughter, who used to come to Circle Pines in the summer, is now going to Las Vegas with her friends,” states member Earl Silbar. The lure of Circle Pines does not have the magic and power it used to, “In the 40's it was natural to work for your food and lodge because no one had any money to go on lavish vacations. Now people can travel to the Bahamas or Miami if they want.”
Tom and Kat VanHammen first met and developed a relationship at Circle Pines when she was a camp counselor and he was working on construction. After parting ways, 21 years later they rekindled the flame and got married. Trying to describe the lure and community that is felt at Circle Pines, “It’s a place where relationships begin and relationships end,” Larry said. “It’s a place where life transitions happen” Some fall inadvertently in love with Circle Pines, “I (made love to) my girlfriend all night long in the cottages and it was that night I fell in love with the place,” remembers Silbar.
While relationships begin and end here, most people have a hard time removing the physical structures from their memory. “It’s difficult trying to improve this place. Looking around you can see that more than half of these buildings need to be torn down,” Beshears points out. “But then I get people who come up to me and beg me not to tear down a certain cottage because it’s where they lost their virginity.” Since the late 80's attracting new members has been a dilemma, with a loss in profits accumulating each year. In order to keep a balance between pleasing members and attracting new ones, Tom and Kat have been revamping and sprucing up older facilities, while erecting new buildings.
The relationship with the surrounding community has not been a peaceful or predictable affair. Beshears remembers, “The townspeople were up in arms when we decided to allow a pagan group come here for a week. On the other we had a group of 300 people called Young Religious Unitarian Universalists and they weren’t bothered at all. What was funny about it was that the unitarian group wanted to run around nude and do drugs while the pagans had tarot cards and astrology readings.” Current director Tom VanHammen can recall, “Some people think this place is a haunted house, with kids daring each other to run up and just touch the building.” Just like the neighborhood haunted house, Earl Silbar added, “It’s like when I was a kid and my friends and I thought a witch lived next door to us. But really It was just an old lady who never came out of her house.”

Final piece idea

I'm thinking about doing my final piece on Circle Pines, a non-profit cooperative recreational area and nature preserve located in Barry County, just 40 minutes southeast of Kalamazoo. My family and a handful of others are a part of Detroit Area Cooperative Camping Association (DACCA) which consists of two cottages located on Circle Pines land. Circle Pines is going through major renovations partly due to a new director. Hosting events like Spanish immersion weekend and spring work week this following weekend and next week, I should be able to talk to some people about the new changes, their experiences at Circle Pines. I have contacts with many members of Circle Pines, and just spoke with the new director last weekend about the new changes including a revamped their library, new housing being built, and cleaning out abandoned buildings surrounding the area for future use.
I'm interested in primarily canvasing Circle Pines, but after reading A Tank of Gas A World of Trouble, I want to expand the story to include many cooperatives, including history, personal accounts and where the future may lay. My father is the general manager of Cooperatives Services, high rise apartments for low income senior citizens, with one building, Washington Square, located Kalamazoo. Obviously this is an issue of being to close to a contact, but he would be able to provide me with lots of knowledge on cooperatives and many contacts. I'm still in the process of formulating what I want to do with the piece, where I believe I would want it published etc.

A Tank of Gas a World of Trouble

Normally I would say four chapters for a story like A Tank of Gas a World of Trouble would be too much. Too many redundant characters, too many restatements, just too much in general. But as the story chugged along, each character provided another layer into this seemingly bottomless reservoir. From the employees at South Elgin, the West African villagers, and Yousif's family to political advisers, oil analysts and social activists, writer Paul Salopek's skill for getting to the core of the issue is amazing.
Not only does he cover all angle of the issue, I was left stunned by the way of he could draw out so much information and emotion from his characters. Obviously something he has acquired from the many years of experience, the way he was able to place just the right quote into the story and never once make it seemed forced or unnecessary made it seem like this story was scripted before he even wrote.
Salopek's lede, although a lengthy one that runs hand in hand with such a lengthy story, put the thumb on the problem so to speak. Using carefully placed sentences, Salopek introduces the story, and begins presenting it before we are even aware of it. He identifies the looming problem, "This bonanza would be sucked dry by customers in 24 hours, a small, stark example of the nation's awesome petroleum appetite at a time when the planet appears to be lurching into an energy crunch of historic proportions." But he also invites the reader to take a step back, and look analytically at the problem, "Yet to truly grasp the scope of the crisis looming before them, Americans must retrace their seemingly ordinary tankful of gasoline back to its shadowy sources."
His story read like movie, shifting from one scene to another, never staying more than a couple of paragraphs on a single character. For how much it jumped around I was expecting to forget some of the characters, but I was able to identify who he was talking about within the first sentence. The shifting around of characters and ideas was a structure that kept my interest throughout. For example when he finished discussing about Vargo, Salopek brought her back in the consecutive chapters, relating her story to others around the globe, tying them together wonderfully.

The Boy of Summer

The Boy of Summer by Jason Gay initially reminded me of Little Big League, a movie about a kid named Billy Heywood who inherits the Minnesota Twins and appoints himself general manager. But after reading the article, the boy of summer, Jake Floyd, worked for is spot and is a tenacious fighter who's age soon becomes a trivial fact compared to the job he has done. A brilliant introduction gets the reader right into the story with a specific detail about one of Jake's habits. In the opening paragraphs the writer establishes both sides to Jake that become the central theme of the piece; the fact that he is both an eighth grader and a general manager to a minor league baseball team.
Interwoven with comments by those who are around him, including his mother, interns, employer, and even a scout that was scoping him out to be a general manager for a farm team of the Yankees. What I would have liked to read about was some comments by the baseball players or perhaps a friend of his. Given that this piece was more focused on his baseball career, then player quotes seem more reasonable.
I thought the way Gay was able to intersperse information on previous young general managers and key sport executives was done well. I have to look out for this in my writing, as the tedious details that make up the piece need to be spread evenly with interesting quotes and background information. Another problem I have is with conclusions, and this one seemed to round out the piece nicely, referencing back to one of Jake's habits of eating nachos when he believes his team has the game in the bag.

Hindu Temple of Portage

I had a little difficulty removing myself from my anthropological/sociological mindset when conducting interviews and writing this piece. I came to the conclusion that it was not such a bad thing, but I really want to make it more reader friendly. I feel it's a little dry, cold and distant. I plan on conducting more interviews with some of the women and children at the temple in order to give it a rounded feel. I want to describe more of the colors and deities that remain central to the temple.

Lickel Wood

Entering through large double wooden doors of the Indo American Cultural Center and Temple (IACCT) of Portage, the delicate smell of incense and curry lingers quietly around your nose. Prayers and chants sung in Sanskrit reverberate throughout the large carpeted room, swaying seated bodies and tempting restless children to play. A room about the size of a volleyball court. About 65 or more people fill the room, with older people on a long bench along the side, knees gone weak from years of sitting cross legged. A far cry from silent pews and echoing church halls. This room is buzzing with energy, bells ringing, men on their cell phones, mothers grabbing their children with the occasional swat of authority from the grandparents. Teeming with life, on every second Sunday this Hindu temple is transformed into a nest of activity.
The room has a mix of old, young, teens, college students and fast talking business types sparing a few hours in between hospital shifts. One particularly important face in this sea of people is Pandit, the temple’s priest. He wears a long flowing salmon colored robe with a tangle of Malas, Hindu prayer beads, around his neck. Three white lines adorn his forehead, signifying his status, caste rank and duties in the Hindu society. Living in the United States for a couple of years, the temple hired Pandit from India in order to have a skilled priest in order to properly perform different ceremonies, readings and teachings.
After the service there was a large potluck in the basement with Indian food piled high in large tin trays, reminding me of a catered meal. Just as noisy and crowded, the basement is filled with sounds of clanging pots and pans in the sink, metal folding chairs scrapping against the linoleum floor and conversations between friends and family. Asking temple member Sreehari about differences between temples at home in India to the one here, he replied, “home is very different from here. At home the temple is made of stone and it is really big. The statues are 30 feet tall and to perform services the priest must go up steps and do offerings from there. Everything is open and old.” With an even split between first generation and second generation Indians, there is a lot of discussion in the temple of the differences between India and the States.
There’s also a youth group that is lightly attended by a handful of IACCT’s teenagers. On a brisk Saturday morning I met with some of the youth group members outside the temple to help with a gardening project. With rake in hand, I scratched the earth for leaves while talking to some of the kids. I asked Sacchin, A second generation 17 year old male of two Indian born parents, whether there were differences between the temple members who were born in India as opposed to being born in the States. He responded, “Not that much difference. Culture adjustments are not very different. They get accustomed to life in the U.S. quickly. But those who are fresh off the boat have big differences, like the language that they use, the tone of their voice, actions with their friends. They do different routines day to day.” But he was quick to say that, “In the temple it is easy to get along with differences. You can pray to whatever god you like at the temple.” Even though there are differences shared among members, a feeling of community and belonging is present.
Once established in the temple community, it makes it hard for members to leave. Their children, like Veejay, have established friendships through the temple, and thus the parents have become good friends. When asked whether he would move back to India if the opportunity presented itself, Veejay replied, “in a few months it will be impossible to move back with my son already building friendships and beginning to balance both cultures on top of finding a solid community base at the Kalamazoo temple.” The preservation of the roots, culture and heritage of the Hindu religion and Indian life is a concern expressed throughout the temple.
Although the temple is a space for Hindus in the surrounding the area to congregate, a lot of the members perform daily prayers in the privacy of their own home. Sacchin enjoys having an altar at home, “I Pray everyday before going to school. If I’m running out of time I’ll just pray really quickly before leaving.” Although Sacchin enjoys this convenience he quickly acknowledged, “It’s not difficult to practice religion in Kalamazoo. It’s easier with the alter and the temple. Because I worship in the same religion and share the same culture, I feel a connection.” The same way a crowd of sports fans feel a connection with each other, the Hindu temple creates this deep sustained connection that has lasting effects upon its community.
Even when members don’t go to the temple regularly, like 15 year old Shaan, steps are taken to keep the culture intact. Just like Sacchin, Shaan explains, “I don’t know what they’re saying at the services (most services are done in Sanskrit, an ancient text that today is not spoken outside of Hindu rituals and ceremonies) so I just stopped going. At first my parents were on me for it, but then after a while they gave up. Mostly because I tell them I pray at the altar at home.”
The problem of all immigrant populations is trying to continue their culture and roots that have been passed down from generation to generation. Temple board leader, Jega, echoed this sentiment when he commented on his upbringing with a guru, “Things have changed and modern world is quite different. As the times progress it is not really possible to have one particular person teach everything. In the wake of the modern times though, they have lost a bit of religion.” Religion is something that is constantly being reinvented, retooled, and reconsidered. It is the balancing of American and Indian culture that helps create a collective Hindu community at the IACCT.

"Young, Gifted and Not Getting Into Harvard"

While perusing through the New York Times I found this little piece that looks at the difficulties high schoolers face when applying to universities and colleges. Looking no further than the title "Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard" the brutal honesty of the writer, Michael Winerip, is at first a bit jarring. Winerip is responsible for interviewing Harvard applicants, and after one such interview he says with an air of ease, "Another amazing kid who won’t get into Harvard." What I took form this piece, in light of approaching graduation, was that each person, with the proper guidance and encouragement, finds their own path to success. It's a comforting piece with rich personal insights that offers wisdom surpassing the one offered in a diploma from a prestigious institution. While under the heading, "Parenting", this piece made me reflect upon the coming years and what to do with my life. Whatever I choose to do, as long as I have a solid grasp on who I am as a person and what I want in life, the rest should come easily.

Boys Who Like Toys- profile on fanboys

I have an interest in the happenings that go on behind the screen, Boys Who Like Toys was a piece that stood out for me as something fun to read. Exploring the lives of fanboys, Rebecca Winters Keegan of Time, begins the piece with an intro that describes to the reader characteristics of a producer, director or possibly a movie star. But in one hilarious sentence she puts the reader on its head with, "Oh, and occasionally he likes to dress up as Spider-Man." Humor always breaks the ice nicely when encountering new people, and it seems to work pretty well for this piece as well.
With the subgroup of people known as fanboys, most people don't know what that even is, and Keegan is aware of this, aware of her audience, that is. The first 5 or 6 paragraphs begins by describing exactly what fanboy is, and I believe this is the best and only way to present a new topic like this. With summer coming and a whole slew of movies going to be released, this is a newsworthy topic that Keegan has picked up on. She was able to write upon something that a lot of people already write about all the time, but from a different perspective. This really helped move the piece along, allowing me to sample many different flavors throughout.
Keegan adds multiple dimensions and perspectives with quotes from many sources surrounding fanboys. Through these quotes, the reader is able to gather a fairly accurate picture, as the good and bad is revealed. One interesting way she does this is through director/actor Kevin Smith. Keegan shows that fanboys are essential in the movie business when she quotes Smith, "You create personal relationships with these people who are essentially your employers." The following paragraph shows how fanboys are not always the best when she quotes Smith as saying, "There's this perception that the geeks have inherited the earth," says Smith, "but if they had, Grindhouse would have grossed $100 million. It plays to a marginalized culture." This method shows that there is a wide spread acknowledgment of the good and bad of fanboys. It's great Keegan was able to pick up on this.
The conclusion is like Keegan's lede, the longer build up that ends in a short yet powerful conclusion. She writes, "The lads have become such objects of fascination for the industry that it has paid the group its ultimate compliment. The movie Fanboys comes out Aug. 17." This ba-da-bing ending left a good taste in my mouth, with the entire article reporting on the growing importance of fanboys in the movie industry, and ending with an ironic twist.

New favorite blog

NPR's Blog of the Nation is from one of my favorite radio shows, but in blog form. It compiles what's going on around the nation and presents it in various ways. It links to other blogs, but also provides a healthy dose of their own material. I like it for it's range in journalistic practices, from profiling, personals, features, guest speakers, and reporting on current events and happenings. One of my more recent favorites was their blog on the importance of proper journalism techniques, citizen journalism to be exact, in light of the horrendous Virginia Tech shootings. At the end of each blog they provide a chance for people to comment by posing questions, musings, or open ended statements.

Response to Anti-fast food in France

Looks like everyone is posting on their own blogs, so i'll just copy and paste mine here just in case that's how it's done.

Finally the rise of healthy fast food, even if it is in France. This piece was well done and on top of that it discusses two topics I love so much, healthy food and France! I really like how Grant Rosenberg opened up the piece describing Alain Cojean, the not so typical head of a fast food chain. He doesn't waste time setting the mood and theme early on, describing both Cojean and his fast food chain as a welcome change to the established American fast food eateries.
The introduction that describes WHAT he's going to discuss is followed by a nice transition describing WHY Cojean and his newest endeavour is worth writing about. He does a great job at presenting what he believes to be the problem that Cojean is responding to; "artery-clogging dishes". As if selling the reader to the new fast-food chain, Rosenberg provides the alternative to this,"vegetable-packed toasted sandwiches, chicken curry wraps and salmon and quinoa salads".
The visuals provided for a smoother read that kept me asking for more. I was able to place myself in Paris on a warm sunny April day, imagining what the "8th and 9th Arrondissements of the French capital" looked like. I tend to enjoy articles when they are able to satisfy my senses by describing the situation, area, people, etc.

After a few reads, I noticed how well Rosenberg was able to become a restaurant critic, profiler and depict new social trends seamlessly. Rather than just focusing on one issue, diversity was another strength of Rosenberg's piece. I particularly liked how Rosenberg peaked the readers interest in the beginning with plenty of descriptions I love so much, then discusses Cojean, and provides the reader with plenty of good quotes from the man himself. Although Rosenberg moves into profiling Cojean with more detail, he does not forget to add in tid-bits of information that goes back to his style found in the beginning of the piece. One such example is, "His employees, all young and outfitted in powder blue T-shirts, are hardly the traditional French model of food industry professionals and more like a typical American chain waitstaff: enthusiastically working to put themselves through school or pay the rent while going to auditions."
Overall I think this piece was well written and payed attention to ADD readers like myself by keeping us entertained and writing fluidly. One thing I would have liked more of is the reaction of the public or workers at the chain. This could have provided much more depth and layer to the piece. I realize it was a profile piece, but I think Rosenberg could have easily spun these quotes back to Cojean. Then again, I can relate to the difficulty of trying to fit so much into such a small piece.

First workshop

I just wanted say that the first workshop was extremely helpful, as everyone in my group meshed well. Beyond giving great constructive criticism, we were able to get to the core of the essay, to the nut if you will. Getting straight to the heart of the matter allowed us to tap into the writer's core dilemma that needed to be released. I don't think I thanked my group, so thank you!

Kalamazoo blog

Urban Oasis is a blog I found while looking around for prices of home saunas. It has nothing to do with saunas, hot tubs or massages (well it does massage the mind. . . alright that was bad), but on architecture, history, preservation, planning, and urbanism. So it has nothing to do with this class per se, but it's got a good Kalamazoo section that takes a bold look at the cool stuff Kalamazoo has to offer, and some problems as well. The blogger even goes so far to predict, "Here’s a New Year’s prediction — by 2010, Kalamazoo will be a better place to live than Ann Arbor (if it’s not already)." After living here for four years and visiting Ann Arbor several times, it seems like a far stretch, but after reading his blogs the statement is a little more convincing. One problem is that the last time it was updated was last October. The rest of the blog deals mostly with Ann Arbor and University of Michigan campus. I was more interested in the Kalamazoo section.

The Lede Blog

Upon looking for blogs I came across one titled The Lede in the New York Times. I like this blog because it has a little bit of everything, from technology, Tinsletown, politics, sports, music and everything else that's hot in the media. What's different about this blog than any other newspaper front page is that it goes into depth and provides links in order for the reader to further investigate what is being discussed.

I must profess I tend to digress

I first started with the idea that I would tackle my dilemma of not keeping in touch with my relatives in France and friends from home. The beginning pretty much is the same from when I started, but then I just started to talk about when I thought this problem began. I then figured maybe I could delve more in depth with this, and also speed it up to a recent event. I had problems with starting this piece, because I always get hung up on the intro. My mother always told me to never begin with an intro, but I need to have it established before I can move on. I tried to tie it together at the end by staying away from sounding cliche or resolute. I still don't know how I'm going to condition myself to change, except by taking baby steps. What I was most frustrated with was that I felt like I had to forcefully stop my story short, making it too jagged for my comfort. I need help with a lot of things, but especially with being concise and my grammar. I look forward to the workshops in order to get some pointers or a possible rehaul.

Personal Essay- Draft 1

Broken Promises

by
Lickel Wood

Is it shocking that as I’m sitting here I’m breaking a promise I made to my favorite aunt in France a year ago that I would call her once I landed in the U.S.? There’s also the promise I made to my host mother in India to call and write her, something I haven’t done yet. Am I a terrible person for not responding to a long lost friend’s voice mail on my phone? I received a text message on my cell phone reading, “I miss you”, dated 4/05 from Belinda, the only ex-girlfriend I still talk to. It remains unreplied.
I swear I don’t hate people. I’m not a hermit, practicing monk or a convicted felon. I’m the one who seeks out quiet corners of bars to carry out conversations with my group of friends. I’m the one who racked up an $800 phone bill talking to my high school girlfriend my freshman year of college. I’m the one who chatters away during movies because real life is much more interesting than what’s being played out on the screen.
So why is it that every time my mother asks about a friend I haven’t spoken to in a while, my stomach curdles because of the dilemma to tell the truth or lie to myself? I often end up lying to both, telling myself it’s alright, that I’ll post that letter tomorrow and give someone a call the next day.
This isn’t something that has just dawned upon me, but something that has been building up inside of me ever since my family moved away from Dearborn, Michigan when I was six years old. The U-Haul I hopped into was filled with furniture that once served as props to fantasy worlds shared by my friends and I. But as I dragged it all away I took one last look at my friends waving goodbye. Perhaps naive in my young age I thought I would be able to come back to Dearborn and pick up right where things left off, but that never happened.
Sure I’ve driven past my old stomping grounds a couple of times and briefly talked to some friends still living with their parents. Although I can’t really expect a dialogue after sixteen years of silence. Where would I even start? Do you still have your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures, did you figure out how to do a bunny hop on your BMX, or how was grade school?
It’s going to take much more than just catching up. Catching up is for friends who help each other fit together the alcohol induced pieces of memory from the crazy party the night before. No, this is more like reconstructing history, a task that would require replicating my college schedule and sitting down with a pot of coffee while “catching up” till six in the morning.
Let me take a step back. I did actually attempt to rekindle some friendships when an old friend from Dearborn, Kristina, called me up a couple of years back to invite me to her 21st birthday party at the Ford Fairlane bowling alley. I made the trek down M-39 to congratulate her and hopefully take a peek at some other long lost friends that would most certainly be attending. Entering the smoke filled bar, I was amazed at how fast I could pick out faces I last saw sixteen years ago. With everyone there, a fierce wave of nostalgia nearly knocked me off my feet while shivers ran up my spine, while I recalled the waving hands from the U-Haul’s side view mirrors as they waved me to the pool tables.
Certainly not a time for reminiscing, shots were poured and polished with what seemed like one fell swoop. Restricting myself to one shot and a beer I made my rounds, and learned one had ended up as a professional pool player who hustled games on the side, while another is a Bob Evans waitress who aspires to be a stripper to “make easy money shaking my lovely lady lumps” (I believe Black Eyed Peas was playing on the jukebox at the time), while yet another dropped out of high school and was on his second marriage seeking employment amidst a rapidly declining economy. These are kids I grew up with, the same people I spent hours with making mud pizzas with homemade tin throwing stars, a delectable yet treacherous treat for unsuspecting foes.
I can’t help but think how much of their lives I have missed. It was getting late and the smoke and reminiscing was too thick to bear anymore, so I said my goodbyes. The cold night tingled my cheeks as I drew in a deep breath of fresh air. Kristina followed me and gave me a big hug and sloppy kiss on the cheek, thanking me for coming. We must keep in contact, she said, and rattled off the hours she worked. Driving back up M-39, I realized I had not succeeded in rousing up my own interest with the Dearborn gang. What I had done was realize the importance of keeping in constant chatter with the people that have had a sustained impact upon me. Be it once a day or once a month, I don’t want to end up feeling like a foreigner to those who have helped shape who I am today.