Tuavday Aprl 12 2011 We": VLADA GAISINA oplnlon@technewsllt com Fruitful trip inspires love letter to Granada, Spain By Elizabefll Carson TECHNEWS WRITER Whon l think ofoanada, l romombor or angos orangos on tho troos lining tho roads, scab torod in tho parks, floating in tho fountains, nponing in tho oarly morning light Granada, Spam is bost known for tho Alhambra, an in crodiblo Moorishpalaco fromtho ch contury, but oyon my bost momorios ofthat citadol on a hill oyorlooking tho city aro through tho loayos ofan orangotroo l arriyod at tho Granada bus stop at four in tho morning oarly in Docombor, aftor an llr hour trip from oyiodo on tho north coast of Spam ltwas along wookond in tho countryto colobrato Constitution Day and lmmaculato Concoption Public transportation wouldnt start circulatr ing until 700 a m, so l grabbod an osprosso with stoamod milk at tho cafotoria andwaitod l caught tho first city bus in tho silllrdark momr ing and startod towards my hostol l had to swtch to a smallorbus to got into tho Albaldn quartor, climbing through tho winding stroots oftho old Moorish noighborhood A tho was (:0 World Hontagosito rthcplau l wouldbo slooping for tho noxt night lt was still disk whon l walkod through tho ompty stroots to tho Malcuto Backpackcxs Hostol, bm it was closod until nino l bogan oicploring tho silont and somowhat oorio, but also poacoful, roads ltwas thon that l roalizod that most oftho troos had orangos growing on thom, oyon in Docombor l couldnt romombor tho last timo l had soon an orango troo, but it cortainly wasn’t in chicago l camo to a small park whoro l was inspirod to bogin photographing tho orangos in oyory possiblo location and in all stagos oflifo lt was thoro,pooring through tho lushloayos at a hldr don fruit with my camora, that l caught my first glimpso oftho Alhambra, illuminatod from bcr hind by tho rising sun Tho sunriso in Granada was gradual, and l folt no rush Looking om oyor tho city at thotight stroots andclosolyprossodbuildings sproadout bolow thopalaco, l saw tho inflionco ofthour sands ofyoars of difforont ciyilizations As my gazotrayolod northward,l imaginod tho rost of Spam with its miraculously intact Ros man ruins, Stonohongo in England loft from tho Bronzo Ago, and cayo paintings in Franco from 17,000 yoars ago Europo is anciont, and tho soams aro bursting with history But as l folt onthat hill, oyorlooking Granada in tho oarly morning sunlight, that’s no rush mum byElizdblfll Carson to cram it all in lfl hadtriodto soo oyorybit of tho Europoanpast in nyo months, l wouldhayo missod tho orangos and tho sunriso and tho cultural oicchango You should attompt to soo as much as you can, butbo caroful notto oyorlook tho dotails in tho shooryolumo ofworthy dcstlr nations othorwiso,you might miss your own unforgottablo yiow oftho Alhambra through tho orango loayos Vis-a-vis: Organizing like women By Vlada Gaisina OPINION EDITOR Aftor Scott Walkcx’s oncrman crusado against organizod labor, “union" has onco again bcn como a buzz word lt sooms that anything togothor with tho word “union" is polarizing civil unions, labor unions, actiyistunions most ofwhich olicit a nogatiyo roadion from tho individualist Right Comparod with tho ‘605 and 705,111: culturo ofuniting for a causo is slowly withoring away, now aidod by political offort Eyon in light of tho protosts against Walkcx’s logislation in Madison, tho Amorican public is losing tho ability to organizo itsolffor a common Inmar tiyo Tho Toa Party moyomont is possibly tho only good rocont oxamplo to tho contrary, at loast whon it comos to maintaining a cohosiyo public imago and tho willingnoss of difforont groups to band togothor But whoro is similar action in tho liboral camp, ospocially at a timo whon so much is at stako? Though tho wnscxr yatiyos may currontly hayo an upporhand on tho political arona, thoro is still a fair amount of dissont among tho public on tho blogs, in tho modia, on social notworking sitos, on tho stroots Unfortunatoly, thoro also sooms to bo an attitudo of bittor rosignation, consistont with thoharsh oconomictimos, paralyzing any potontial colloctiyo initiatiyo on tho Domos cratic Loft Tho disillusionmont with Prosidont Obama oxporioncod by many aftor tho oxcitomont of 2008 oloctions doos not holp oithor Porhaps, tho distraught and ciyically conscious liborals can look back a fow gonorations for lnsplnr tion, loaming from tho adiyist groups oftho hippio and disco oras Ono particularly roloyant oxamplo was tho Chicago Womcn’s Liboration Union (CWLU), formod in 1959 s tho first womon’s liborationunion in tho country At atimowhon tho Viotnam War was still raging on, abortion was illogal, wago discrimination proyalont, and womon woro still undorroprosontod in or barrodfrom cortainprofossions,thoyfacodpos litical and social climatos as adyorso as thoy aro nowadays forliboral thinkors Botwoontho op orations in lraq and Afghanis stan, antischoicologislation, andproposod cuts to funding childcaro and public hoalth pro grams (which would forco womon out oftho workforco), tho parallols aro uncanny Bosidostacklingayanoty oflssucsfromaboxr tion counsolingto omploymont rights to hoalth oducation, CWLU is improssiyo for how cffco tiyo its oporation was lt actod as an umbrolla organizationto unito dlffcmm fominist groups (or chaptors), and assign and monitor tasks in a structurod mannor Work groups would bo croatod to tacklo an issuo, with tho loadors roporting rogularlyto tho Stccnng Committoo, hoadod bytwo olootod wrchalxs Morooyor, tho mombors woro hold acoountablo forthoir work and rocoiyod foodback, which probably holpod wood om thoso not sumciontly committod to tho causo At its poak CWLU had about 500 diosspaying mombors , small comparod to a national organization, but sizablo for a rogions al actiyist group ln spito, orporhaps bocauso, of its small numbors, this womcn’s liboration union was omciont and prodictiyo Thoir modol was to combino oducation, soryico, and diroot adioninaroaslkopopiilarculturo, oms ploymont, and hoalthcaro As a rosult, among numcxous othcx achlcvcmcnts, CWLU won a maior soio discrimination wago caso, proyidod countloss womon with hoalthcaro counsoling, organizod softball and yolloyball toams, and spawnod a Womon’s Liboration RockBal-ld CWLU’s accomplishmonts may soom ovcxr wholming, oyonwhon considorodoyoraporiod ofB yoars that (ha/v: boon actiyo lt took groat commitmont ontho part ofthoso inyolyod, but tho boauty of tho organization’s structuro was that it allowod mombors to focus on projcas thoy woro most passionato about, making it oasiorto doyolop and maintain a strong moms borship Liborals may not agroo on priontios, courso of action, or gonoral dirootion oftho party, but proyiding a small dodicatod group with a managoablo proioct to work on can go a long way, as domonstratod by CWLU All it takos is a littlo structuro By Ariel True TECHNEWS wuirgu Tho nrst timo it hits is whon you hayo high hopos and you know no bounds By tho noxt timo, you hayo loarnod somo lifo lossons, and oyorything is black and whito Tho timo aftor that, you’ll: probably had a couplo of roality chocks, but you}: still aiming a littlo high On tho insido,you>ro unr suro ofyouranswor Thon comos tho 0011qu sion, tho comploto lack ofknowlodgo and a roalization that you know absolutoly nothing and no longorhayo a conndont rosponso Of courso, I’m talking about that agcnold quostion wo aro nrst askod whonwo axcbamn ly a toddlor “What do you want to bo whon you grow up?” Tho l>rosidont A nro nghtor An astronaut A lawyor A doctor lwant to holp pooplo l want to do this and that to mako tho world a bottorplaco what happonod to our Snycapold solyos that had such high hopos forms? Whoro did that kid go? That kid got pushod to tho way” sido andtold "no" ono too manytimos Mal/n bo your iournoy was a littlo dlffcxcnt than mino, but how many ofus still want to bo a nro nghtor or Prosidont oftho Unitod Statcs? whon did that glass coiling show up and stop us from achioying our dreams? thn I was 7,1wantcdto b: a doctor High school camo and l wantodto bo a psyV chiatrist Collogoattackod,andl roalizodthat email t "fit tot—him/ Childhood dreams open up possibilities for future mod school iust wasn’t for mo Now rm a sonior about to graduato, and onco again it is timo for that quostion “What aro you going to do aftor collogow‘ “What do you want to bo whon you grow up?" Am l supposodto know? Eyoryono asks liko l am Likol should hayo not only my Srycaxplan, but also a EDA/car planuntil tho day l rotiro l dont know about you but l Just want to liyo today l don’t want to hayo to worry about whothor or not rm going to got tho “Job of my droams," sinco l don’t oyon know what that is lwanttoliyotodayliko l might not hayo tomorrow or a noxt wook Can l try to liyo a littlo right now whilo l still hayo logs to tako mo placos, oyos to soo tho world, and oars to hoar tho sounds wo mako? Whoro did our liyos go? Om socond l’m oating a popsiclo on my front porch, and tho noict rm soarching for somo iob that lll probably not liko andwon’t got paidonoughfor Andpooplohayoto koop rominding mo l thinkthat tho simplor days whonthoro woro no glass coilings woro oasior Wo always hadboliofin oursolyos and 11ch or had wornos, unloss a crayon was missing Whon did crayons turn into lOrpagc papors on coll mgcncnuon? whon did wo stop liyo ing in tho momont and starttaking for grant od oyorything wo hayo ayailablo to us? So, my quostion to you is what aro you gen ing to do whon you roalizo wo noyor grow up? Want the rest of "T to know your opiJions/Ii/efore the ‘ _ emester is over? / wrleE FOR/'I'ECFFNEWS! k t'siilxom for more mtormaffi-n