Word of the Week #8

1. moonscape

2. The deadly wrath of Hurricane Sandy: By the numbers on theweek.com

3. But so far, the "weather event of a lifetime" has left in its wake "a dazed, inundated New York City, a waterlogged Atlantic Coast, and a moonscape of disarray and debris — from unmoored shore-town boardwalks to submerged mass-transit systems to delicate presidential politics."

4. the surface of the moon as seen or as depicted; also : a landscape resembling this surface; noun 

5. The valley resembled that of a forbidding moonscape.

Internment Memorial Vignette

The story of Japanese citizens ripped from their homes and sent to internment camps is memorialized in a bronze sculpture created by Ruth Asawa.

The sculpture is set modestly to the side on a downtown San Jose, Calif. street.

Standing roughly 5 feet high, what the sculpture lacks in size it makes up for in detail.

On one side, a series of vignettes outline the immigration to the United States by the Japanese and the struggle to conform to American customs while holding on to their own tradition.

The far panel of the depictions of daily Japanese American life show the events that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 when the president declared the citizens a threat.

Forced to give up their businesses and homes, the Japanese American citizens were allowed just two suitcases as they got on the bus and train to go to internment camps.

Asawa's bronze relief illustrates how a bustling business district, crowded with shops and busy people, was turned upside down by President Roosevelt's orders.

It testifies to the pain the citizens endured as women, men and their children were rounded up and sent to uncertainty.

Asawa captures that moment by showing the people lined up, heads hanging down.

Sale and liquidation signs hang in the shop windows in the scene and cars are strapped like mules with belongings in sacks, tied with rope.

This is the last panel of the memorial that shows the citizens in San Jose for this was the last time they would see their homes, shops and farms for years.

Word of the Week 7

1. pejorative

2. Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (2010)

3. "Each ad includes a short (and, in our view, pejorative) statement about Senator Clinton, followed by the name of the movie and the movie’s Website address. Id., at 26a–27a.."

4.  having negative connotations, especially those that belittle or disparage; adjective

5. The statements that the candidates are making to each other in the debates have become as pejorative as the negative campaign ads that fill the airwaves.

STD Story: PR report

For Immediate Release
KILL DATE: 10/12/12

Contact: Leeta-Rose Ballester

Public Information Specialist

408-555-5555 

SAN JOSE STATE WORKS TO COMBAT RISE OF STDs

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Oct. 09, 2012) - San Jose State University is launching an aggressive informational program to take on a rise in sexually transmitted diseases on campus.

A health services report shows that 50 cases of STDs have been diagnosed on campus so far this year, compared to five during all of last school year.

Ellen Jones, health service director, said the university is providing professors with an informational movie to show in class.

The school's efforts also include lectures in the dorms by health service personnel and the distribution of pamphlets about STDs.

The school is expanding STD testing hours, as well.

Students can access free, confidential testing on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Jones said it seems that students find it "easier to have sex with people than to talk about having sex."

She also said that some of the students did not know the names of their partners. 

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STD Story: Hard News

Cases of sexually transmitted diseases are rising on campus, according to a report from the San Jose State University health service department.

Fifty cases of STDs have been diagnosed on campus this school year so far, compared to five reported during last year's entirety.

The report estimates the number of cases could reach 100 by the end of the school year.

This means a projected 1900 percent increase between this school year and last.

Ellen Jones, health service director, said it seems students have an easier time having sex than talking to each other about sex.

"There are some students on this campus who didn't even know the name of their sexual partners," Jones said.

The school is launching an informational program about STDs and their symptoms, according to Jones.

The program includes lectures in the dorms given by health service personnel, a movie that professors can show in class and the distribution of STD fact pamphlets.

San Jose State is expanding its hours for free, confidential STD testing.

The testing center will be open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The diseases outlined in the report include Chlamydia, genital herpes, body lice and venereal diseases.

Word of the Week #6

1. hustings

2. Martin Bashir's Top Lines on MSNBC.com

3. Biden buries himself on the hustings.

4. an election platform, a physical platform for debate or a local court; noun 

5. The candidates will engage in their first debate from the hustings.

Word of the Week #5

1. siwash

2. a blog post on raisingjane.org

3. "Siwashing is the only way to travel in the hills, but I began to realize that it automatically involves a contest in toughness."

4.  to camp the way the Indians do—with nothing; verb
    
or as a noun it has many meanings:

a)  A heavy knitted sweater, originally created by the Cowichan people of British Columbia, that’s decked out with fish, deer, bears, and other natural decor

 

b) A derogatory racial description of a Native American from the Pacific Northwest 

c) A brisk Pacific wind that blows up out-of-the-blue

d) A mythical giant of Chilko Lake in British Columbia who was said to track and haunt those who sinned against the spirit of the land

5. We had to do a bit of unplanned siwashing  when we went to Big Basin because we forgot most of our supplies.

Mystery Character

The crinkles at the corners of my eyes are telling of soulfulness. 

I gave up law and became the character of lawlessness.

My "bad boy" ways make the fellas jealous while my sensitive side makes the ladies swoon.

There are rumors that the fellas may have swooned as well.

I keep a comb in my jeans at the ready.

My face is wreathed by the smoke from the cigarette that dangles from my lips. 

I am teenage angst personified yet I seem wise beyond my years.

My iconic legacy was created in a short time but lives forever on a highway sign.

I lived life full throttle.

Of all my reckless behavior, it was a little bastard that would be my end.

Although my name is attributed to only three major films, I managed to be nominated for two Oscars and win the Golden Globe award after I died.

I was too fast to live, but too young to die.