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Rothbury Festival

After technical and logistical problems, I’m finally able to bring you an update on the Rothbury Festival. Arriving Thursday morning, a constant, steady stream of concert-goers entered the sprawling, wooded Double JJ Ranch where nearly 80 bands will perform through Sunday. Talked to Kyle Gass from Tenacious D and spoke with Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass immediately after he left the stage Thursday night. Greensky officially opened the festival and the crowd, waiting around the huge campgrounds all day, ate up their first taste of live music.

The 30-50 thousand estimated attendees is well under estimated as the festival is turning into a mass of humanity. Brightly colored people cover the ground and tents of every shape, size and color has turned the grounds into a sea of brightly colored hues.

Despite mounted police patrolling the grounds (all very cool and hardly noticeable as they look right in place travelling the wooded, picturesque grounds) and news helicopters buzzing the skies, the atmosphere is extremely laid-back, friendly and anxious for four days of live music.  

Zappa Plays Zappa was extremely impressive and today’s lineup features Snoop Dogg, WideSpread Panic and Primus as must-sees. I’ll keep you updated as often as possible as the festival continues. TN

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Rothbury Updates

I’ll be heading up to the Rothbury Festival Thursday morning for a weekend of diverse and eclectic music. During my four-plus days at the Double JJ Ranch, I’ll try to keep you as updated as possible on festival goings-on including performances, crowd festivities, artist interviews, etc. Be sure to check out KalamazooWeekly.com next week for dozens of photos from the weekend and I’ll have a complete wrap-up of the event in next week’s Kalamazoo Weekly Newspaper. If I don’t see you at the show, I hope to hear from you on my blog. Until Thursday, rock on Brothers and Sisters, TN

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More = Less?

If I eat less I’ll lose weight.  Everyone knows that if you want to lose weight that’s what you need to do.  And of course exercise regularly.  Unfortunately for most of us (myself included) it never works out that way.  You start off right and skip breakfast before you shove off to work.  Grab a salad for lunch, and by the time you get to Dinner you are so hungry you eat way beyond the points for the day, or calories.  In all actuality the best way to change your diet is by eating more often.  When you get hungry your body expects food.  When it doesn’t get anything it goes into hibernation mode and and starts producing fat.  Just like bears in the fall who eat a ton so they can sleep through the winter.  If you eat often and in smaller doses your body doesn’t see the need to store fat so it burns what you feed it knowing there will be a steady supply.  It will actually speed up your metabolism and cause you to lose fat because your body has no need for it. 

                I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but by doing this small change in the way you eat you will have vast results.  It can also be hard to know what to eat during the day.  When you head to the office, or worksite for the day make sure you pack snacks with you.  Start with simple things like a banana, or an apple.  Maybe a breakfast bar for after lunch.  If you HAVE to eat chips, get the baked ones.  Get the lemonade at the sub shop instead of the pop.  Don’t try to do it all at once either.  One change a day can do a world of difference. 

                So to review:

-Eat more often

-pack those HEALTHY snacks

-and don’t try to do it all at once

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Cheers to a Responsible Legislature Keeping the Drinking Age At 21.

Recently, there has been discussion about lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. Looking back, when I was 18 years old, my friends and I were very irresponsible and in no way can I imagine us ever drinking at a bar, legally that is. I feel that we need to keep the drinking age right where it is due to personal experience and research by various reputable governmental organizations.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), research shows that people are most likely to drink the heaviest in their late teens and early twenties.

Now, if research shows that kids drink more in their late teens and early twenties, why should we allow them to drink legally? In my years before becoming a writer, I was a waitress at a local bar and I cannot imagine having to wait on a bunch of drunk 18-year- olds. I guess I would compare it to to being a waitress at one of the fraternity parties that I used to attend. No thanks!

Also, if kids are able to drink legally at a bar, it would bring about new liabilities for area bars. Sure, there would be positives and negatives: more drinkers equals more business and less stress about losing a liquor license due to underage drinking. However, it would also open a whole new can of worms. Kids who are just starting to drink do not know their limits yet and will tend to drink too much because they do not know what their bodies can tolerate. So, not only will bars be more at risk of overserving the young drinkers, they also are risking a lawsuit for letting the kids drive home after drinking.

According to the NIAAA, in 2005, approximately 40 percent of traffic fatalities in the United States were alcohol related. Researchers found that in 2001–2002, 23.4 million, or 11.3 percent, of American adults ages 18 and older reported one or more behaviors associated with drinking-and-driving.

So, statistics show that most kids drink more when they are under 21 and there is a substantial percentage that are already getting into trouble for drinking and driving. Why then do we want to make it legal for them to drink? It just doesn’t make any sense.

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Publishing names and photos of drunk soldiers?

When 4,000 troops returned from Iraq in November, the number of drunk-driving offenses ballooned at Fort Drum in upstate New York. While acknowledging that stress from the deployment might be a contributing factor, the base commander ordered the post newspaper to publish the names and pictures of the arrested soldiers in an effort to shame troops into changing their dangerous habits. What do you think about this effort by the general to curb alcohol abuse?

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Lowering the drinking age?

Some states are considering lowering the drinking age. What do you think about this?

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All For The Love Of Shock Value

The other day, I was looking through our local paper and I came upon an ad that showed a disturbing picture of a little girl.

The ad, which was by The Smile Train of Washington, D.C., showed a little girl with a cleft lip and palate. The ad read “ Imagine Living Your Entire Life Looking Like This Because You Could Never Afford $250 For Surgery.”

So basically the ad was a form of exploitation of this little girl’s situation. Why do advertisers have to stoop to such low levels and show shocking pictures while trying to guilt people into giving to their organization?

I understand that advertisers are using the pictures as a form of shock value, but there are many other forms of advertising that could be used to get their point across. Why use a heartbreaking picture of a girl who obviously had no control over her situation?

I also feel the same about the disturbing ads on television that show little children in foreign countries that are suffering from horrendous medical conditions. I understand that these children are suffering, but why do organizations have to exploit these children for the sake of donations?

Also, what is the guarantee that a donation is actually going to reach the children? I’m not saying that people should not give to these organizations, but I’m simply saying that they need to find a more tactful ways of advertising. When I see a shocking picture, I’m more apt to turn the page rather than read the advertisement to find out what the organization is about.

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Maya has moved to our new and improved website!

Because the Kalamazoo Weekly Newspaper wants to give you as much up-to-date news as possible, my column will no longer be available in the print edition of our newspaper. However, I will be writing a weekly blog that will hopefully reach more readers. I encourage you to leave comments whenever possible, regardless of whether you agree with me or not!

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Poll about recession

Do you think major media is excelling the threat of a recession because they talk about it too much?

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WMU Campus Security

With recent incidents on college campuses, including natural disasters and shooting rampages, campus officials across the nation have had their hands full implementing new security measures while maintaining and improving those that already existed.

Western Michigan University has been following a national paradigm shift in security since the shootings at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999 and a Hollywood, CA bank robbery on Feb. 28th, 2007 where officers were outarmed, said Lt. Brian Crandall of Western Michigan University’s Department of Public Safety.

However, since the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA on April 17th, 2007 that killed 33 people, campuses across the nation, including Western Michigan University, have upgraded various tactics and emergency responses.

One of these upgrades included WMU sending their officers through active shooter training which trains them to go to the source of the shooting to prevent additional fatalities.
Initially, officers were required to wait 30 minutes to an hour for a SWAT team to mobilize before attempting to apprehend a shooter. This training now allows a first responder to attempt to neutralize the perpetrator to prevent more injuries or deaths from occurring, said Crandall.

Also, officers are now trained to use patrol rifles that they carry with them in their patrol cars. In addition, university officers and emergency first responders also have completed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) training.

Western Michigan University also has an emergency response plan that is always being updated. In the middle of March, the emergency management administration team will be presenting proposals for different emergency response methods to WMU’s senior leadership team, said Cam Vossen, emergency management administrator at Western Michigan University.

Although she wouldn’t go into detail about what methods they will be proposing, Vossen did say there is a pro and a con to each of them. After the proposals, the senior leadership team will decide on which methods to use and when they will implement them, she said.

“I think it’s one of those things we need to consider mechanically both high tech and low tech so there’s not any redundancy. There’s not going to be any one solution fits all,” Vossen said.

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