Soapbox...

I often find myself paying attention to the bumper stickers that people place on their cars. I saw one today that really frustrated me.

The car was a HUGE SUV and it had about 10 McCain or McCain/Palin stickers plastered across the back. There was also a bumper sticker that was half black with white writing and half white with black writing and said something to the effect of, "Dear God, Why is violence allowed in schools? From Concerned Student" and the other hald said, "Dear Concerned Student, Because I am not allowed in schools. From God."

Are you kidding me? I'm sure the owner of this vehicle has a very specific opinion on which version of God he/she would like to be "present" in schools, and would likely be screaming the loudest if that version of God is not the one that suits his/her beliefs. Which is EXACTLY THE REASON OUR FOUNDING FATHERS ENSURED THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE (and therefore schools). I'm sure that this parent would be the first to scream if teachers began leading students in Muslim prayer five times during the school day.

Sometimes I think that there are people in this country who forgot to pay attention in history class during elementary school. Our country was founded on the basis of freedom from religious persecution. Freedom to practice whatever religion we choose without the fear that we will be arrested, harrassed, or killed for our religious beliefs. While I absolutely admire people who have a strong faith, it absolutely frustrates me that they are so convinced that their way is the only way that they believe that we should be teaching religion in schools so that all children will be taught those same beliefs. It is pretty rediculous when you think about it.

And who is to say that bringing God into any environment will ensure that no violence will occur as the bumper sticker suggests? Plenty of people have committeed acts of violence in the name of God througout history. Isn't that essentially what religious persecution is?

Church-based schools have been created for those parents who choose to send their children to them. But again, there is "choice" there. They can choose the school which best supports their particular faith beliefs. However, I'm also a firm believer that families should do a better job of supporting the passing on of faith traditions to children. I don't know of any religious sect that does not find that family is one of the modes of practicing and passing on of faith traditions.

Day 1 in Portland

Recruitment season has begun for me! I started with an appointment with an advisor at Portland State University this morning. PSU is located right in the heart of Portland - very accessible because the Portland Streetcar actually runs right through campus. This was very convenient for me as I did not pick up my rental car until this afternoon so I had a way to get around after my appointment was over. The meeting went really well - a great way to start of recruitment this year. Better to start off on a high note.

I've been trying to work on decorating my office at work, so I decided that I would pick up a postcard from each university I visit this fall and purchase a shadow box or something like that so I can display them in my office. I also pick up pins whenever I visit universities and I plan to display them in a glass container on my desk. That project is a little more pricey than the first :) I picked up my postcard at PSU this morning, but accidentally bent it so I'll have to pick up another.

After my appointment I took the streetcar, then the MAX lightrail, then the bus to where Alice works at Tiger Tiger on Alberta Street. I was proud that I took a look at a map of the public transportation available in Portland and figured out how to get to Tiger Tiger on my own. I ran down the street to pick up some lunch for Alice, myself, and one of her co-workers from a local bakery. I had a fantastic salad with fresh greens, apples, candied walnuts, blue cheese, and a creamy viniagrette. Fantastic! Alice was not working when I was there, but was having one of her co-workers color her hair. When she was done, she took me to pick up my rental car and I headed to the University of Portland, a Holy Cross school with a gorgeous campus. I took a couple of pictures but I don't have a way to get them off my camera right now so I will have to share later.

My visit at the University of Portland went really well. I saw a couple of very interested students and was able to share some information with some advisors. I love visiting college campuses. I think that is one of the way I know that I have choosen the correct career. I love to see the layout of campuses and see the environement where students are learning - I think it tells you so much about the school and the students who choose to attend school there. The University of Portland is situated just off of a cute little neighborhood in Portland fairly close to downtown, but campus does not feel like you are in a city. The soccer teams were practicing as I was walking through campus - there women's soccer team has won several D-1 National Championships, and the campus has tons of green space. I wasn't able to pick up a postcard here because the did not sell any, but I did take some photos. My cousin, Sam, is currently work at UP as an athletic trainer for the basketball team.

The University of Portland is definitely one of my favorite campuses so far. The most beautiful campus I have seen is Santa Clara University in California, but the University of Portland came in pretty close. I'll share photos of Santa Clara when I visit there next month.

After my visit at UP, I headed back to Nick and Alice's and met up with Alice for some shopping. She is in need of new shoes for her cousin Katie's wedding and has not been able to find any so we headed downtown to visit Macy's and a couple of other places. We did not have much luck, but did run into a completely crazy homeless guy on our way home who was standing in the middle of the street yelling at pretty much everyone. Alice and I had actually seen him earlier today when she dropped me off at PSU. He either walked or jumped on the streetcar at some point during the day because he was several miles from where we had first seen him. There are many homeless people in Portland - mostly because of the mild climate, and most of them mind their own business, sometimes taking money or food from people who walk or drive by. But there are some who are very loud and obviously disturbed. Alice and I have talked about this everytime that I am here because it is hard to see all of the homeless and not want to help each and every one of them. It is however, difficult to know how to react to the ones who are screaming at anyone and everyone in the middle of the street - especially when they are dropping the F-bomb and any number of other vile phrases incessently. I struggle internally with knowing what to do or how to react. I feel I fail miserably at being a compassionate human because it is just "easier" to walk on by.

Our trip was unsuccessful (ie, no shoes for the wedding) and after a quick trip to Whole Foods for some miso for Alice (she has a cold and wanted some miso soup), some grilled veggies for Nick, and some brown rice for me to add with the leftover Thai. Alice did find a pair of shoes at Whole Foods so the trip was not completely unsuccessful. The leftover Thai might have been better than it was the first night :)

Headache - blech!

I'm plagued by a headache tonight. I used to get migraines every once in awhile, but those stopped several years ago (thank goodness - they were a pain while I was in college), but now I get really annoying full body headaches. My head hurts, my shoulders ache, and I'm nausous. Worst of all, I'm completely out of it and get really annoyed when someone tries to talk to me or "bothers me". My poor husband - I'm not much company for him when I have a headache like this. I've taken pain killers and they don't really help - at least this time they didn't. I'll update tomorrow once I feel a little bit better.

Matt told me today that the members of Westboro Baptist Church based in Topeka, KS planned to be present at the funerals and memorial services of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. This group believes that random acts of violence, the killing of US soliders, and other events are the result of God's anger over homosexuality. I saw one of the women from the group on a television program one night (I was at the gym and that station was the only one that was on) and could hardly believe was I was listening to. It almost made me physically ill to hear this woman (I'm sure I could find her name, but I honestly don't think that she deserves the time it would take me) talk about God's anger and how he was taking it out on mankind through random acts of violence and the death of US soliders. What made me even more disgusted was the fact that this group insists on staging "protests" at the funerals of those who have died, to do nothing more than cause further hurt to the families of the victims.

They even planned to be present at the funerals of the young Amish children killed by a gunman at school last year - they wanted to hurt a group that does not even attempt to align itself with mainstream society and attempts in every way to live in seclusion within the US.

I have to admit that I JUST DON'T GET IT!

How can this group of "Christians" believe that God harbors so much hate that He would cause the death of innocent people and, furthermore, would support infliction of pain and suffering on their families in their time of greatest need?

I JUST DON'T GET IT!

Mike Gallagher is a radio show host who has agreed to give this group 3 hours of airtime in exchange for their agreement that they will not be present at any of the Virginia Tech victims funerals. He did the same when the planned to protest at the Amish school victims funerals and exchanged 1 hour of airtime for their agreement to not be present and they held up their end of the bargain. Some have critcized his actions saying that he is "giving in" but I commend him for stepping up and keeping this group of people inflicting pain on the families of the victims. I believe in freedom of religion and the freedom to believe what one wants to believe - but I absolutely do not believe in the right of a group of people to purposefully cause so much unnecessary pain for people already mourning the death of a loved one.