Week 7

I know that just conducting interviews and surveys contribute to the community because it gets people thinking about Cru, whether or not they like it or not, they are thinking about it.  If they do become interested in Cru during the interview or survey, they might decide to attend a meeting.  There is a 50/50 chance here. The person will either like or dislike the meeting. If they like it, Cru has a new member. If they don't like it, at least they tried it out. I think by conducting interviews and surveys gives back not only to Cru but to the entire campus. If students become interested in Cru, attend Cru, then tell their friends who do not attend BSU or their family members, in turn they share their faith in Christ. Sharing their faith contributes not only to the Cru subculture but the Christian culture. And if one believes in Christ, they know that they are contributing to the Lord's will and plan by fulfilling his requests to inform people of the gospel. 

In addition, conducting fieldwork allows me to gain more knowledge of Cru. If I encounter someone who has questions about Cru, I will be better equipped to answer questions because of the research I've done. Relating this to my above example, if a student attends a Cru meeting, even if they do not like it, they come out of the meeting having more knowledge of Cru and will be also be able to inform others about Cru.

Survey: What are your opinions of Cru?

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=jk3qasiks93se0k550024

Groundwork Activity

First impression: When I first went into Pruis Hall at Cru's first meeting of the 2008-2009 school year I was very nervous because I had no idea what to expect.  I went by myself because I didn't know anyone at Ball State.  When I went into auditorium there were a lot of people.  I saw seats empty and walked up to people sitting beside them and asked if they were taken, yes they were.  So I started to feel a little apprehensive about being there.  I was afraid that no one would be willing to let me sit beside them.  The next girl I asked was extremely welcoming.  She let me sit beside her, introduced me to the other girls sitting beside her and asked me where I came from, why I decided to come to Cru and what class I was.

Second: I became unexpectedly comfortable after sitting there for only five minutes.  I realized I shouldn't have judged the space because of one person.  She had friends and they already reserved seats for one another, I should have taken that into consideration instead of immediately becoming timid and judgmental.  During the meeting several students and staff members introduced themselves and shared their experiences at Cru.  I became very interested in this space because these students weren't students who had been Christians all their lives and were scared of coming to a new place (college) just like I was.  At the end of the meeting they announced that there would be bible studies in each dorm in order for newcomers to get better acquainted with the community of Cru.  I eagerly wanted to be in a bible study because of the experience I had there that night.

Third: Of course a lot of the students there had been Christians all their lives, grew up in the church, have a strong Christian family who encourages them, have been on missions trips, engaged in youth groups in high school, and have a great amount of Christian friends.  I had none of those things but I felt like my testimony (story) was very unique and the girls in my bible study wanted to hear it. Since "becoming a member" of Cru, I found that many older members of Cru are there to help, encouragement, and answer questions for newcomers of Cru. For example, bible study leaders are not freshman, staff members are graduates, not necessarily graduates from Ball State, but I've found that it is not difficult to get in contact with staff members.  They willingly give out their email addresses and cell phone numbers and will meet with you to discuss whatever questions you may have.

Week 6

“Campus Crusade for Christ International Overview.” Demossnewspond.com. 18 Feb 2009 .

This page provides a brief history and background of Campus Crusade for Christ International.  Bill Bright and his wife Jill founded CCCI, at UCLA in 1951.  The president of CCCI is Steve Douglass who was appointed by Bill Bright as his successor.  CCCI’s mission seeks “to help people truly follow Jesus Christ” (par. 5).  CCCI has ministries that reach out to students, athletes, business leaders, and pastors (par. 8).  In addition more than 25,000 staff members serve the organization in 191 countries.

I plan to use this information to show how big Campus Crusade for Christ is.  I hope providing the data from this source to my readers will demonstrate how important sharing the gospel of Christ is to this subculture.  I know that sharing the gospel is apart of their practice.

Wheeler, Jennifer. “Campus Crusade for Christ strives for respectful dialogue.” Daily Illini 17 Feb. 2009: 1-1. 18 Feb. 2009 . 

            This article is about Cru putting on meetings with other organizations such as, the Muslim Students Association, Atheists, and Freethinkers to come together and discuss their organizations ideals.  The organizations draw up five questions each to pose on one another in order to “form relationships with each other” and “learn more about each other,” as Cru member, Steve Elworth, said.  There is an understanding that “hostile situations may occur” but that is a risk they are willing to take in order to talk to one another (par. 12 & 13).

            I want to use this source in my mini-ethnography because I want to reiterate from my “Explain Your Positions, Please?” paper, that Cru welcomes all types of people.  I think this article represents the behavior of Cru members very well.

Box 18 assignment

I hope I understand this assignment right when it asks to look for a focal point of my site.

A focal point of my site would be the stage in Pruis Hall or wherever the "lesson" is conducted.  This focal point also serves as the place where the band performs.  All eyes, at one point or another, are on this focal point.  During a Cru meeting, a speaker or speakers, give a "lesson" in which everyone listens and pays attention to.  Also, during the meeting the band plays, usually at the beginning and end, and everyone has their eyes focused on the band and the screen on which the lyrics are projected.

In class writing: Describing a trip

October 10, 2008, I went to Lake James in Angola, Indiana with Campus Crusade for Christ.  It was our Fall Retreat and we were going to be there until Sunday afternoon, October 12th.  Out of five girls in a car only one of us, our bible study leader, had been to Lake James Christian Academy.  As we pulled into the gravel driveway I got butterflies in my stomach.  When I got out of the car I could smell lake.  Do you know what lake smells like? Fish.  It's sounds extremely unpleasant, I know, but it wasn't.  The buildings around were all fairly old.  The "sanctuary" looked like a pole bar.  If you've been to a camp before, I'm sure you can imagine what a cabin looks like, there were a few sprinkled about on the grounds.  The "main hall" was a white brick building with three stories.  We walked in and you could smell the muskiness.  Through the foyer into the main community area, the back wall was nothing but huge, pane windows, for viewing the lake.  It was gorgeous.  There was a small island in the middle of the lake.  A small two story house sat upon it, the front faced the back of the Christian Academy.  I scanned the shore line around the lake and saw so many different colors of trees.  Different shades of orange, red, green, yellow, and brown.  After scanning the perimeter, the girls headed to the "dorm" rooms in the main hall and the boys went to the cabins outside.  The rooms were dark with tattered wood bunk beds.  Again, the musky smell was evident.  Later we went outside, behind the Academy.  A fire pit surrounded with several wooden benches was the focal point behind the Academy.  The weather was just right.  Warm enough to wear flip flops but cool enough to wear a sweater.  A crisp autumn breeze blew the entire weekend.

Week 5

Part of my plan in finishing my mini-ethnography is to use research from other papers I've written for the class to aid in the writing process.  I know I need to conduct more interviews in order to get perspectives on my subculture, Cru.  I also plan to give out a few surveys and use the results from those in my writing.  I've attended every meeting Cru has had this semester and have observed while attending.  I should definitely do more in depth research rather than just observing and interviewing.  I plan on using a book I've checked-out from the library to assist in my research of the history of Cru.  I'm finding it a little difficult to find articles from databases specifically centered on Cru.  I'm hoping to obtain and find more valuable information from other sources, such as Cru's International website and Cru staff members.

I am curious about the research portfolio we are to create.  We haven't talked much about it and I would like to know if we should begin creating our portfolio's now. 

Re-writing Box 15

 

Box 15

I can see the water gently flowing over the road as my dad drives down the curvy, shaded hill.  Glimpses of sunlight peek through the treetops at the greenery on the wooded floor.  My attention is captured by a simple waterfall, not the enormous dam it is situated by.  This waterfall is tiny.  The rock formation it flows down is not even 10 feet high.  I can’t even describe its width because the small stream flows down crevices from rock to rock, not creating a single, uniform waterfall.  Water trickling into a pool below and tree branches cracking as small creatures scurry through the woods are the only sounds to be heard.

Every time I visit this waterfall I am reminded of when I was in middle school and my family would go to this waterfall with our black german shepherd, Toby.  He would walk along side the creek as my sisters and I would slide down a rock embankment that ended in a shallow pool of water.  This pool of water was adjacent to where the water flowed over the road.  The shallow pool of water and the water flowing over the road were all connected to this small but picturesque waterfall.

Dogtown and Z-Boys Documentary

I believe the documentary is both an ethnographic study and work of entertainment.  I believe that because the documentary was not a "normal," bland, documentary it was entertaining. The music, pictures, and footage of the skateboarders lent to the entertainment.

The informants were members of the skate teams, including the Zephyr Skate Team, skate champions, the Zephyr Surf Team, and founders of the Jeff Ho Surf Shop.  These informants are important because they were apart of this sport at the time, they were the ones who invented new ways of skating from surfers, making skateboards, and surf boards. The interviews were extremely important because the information comes from those who were in this subculture.

The attitude type was "We don't care what you think, we are going to do what we want to do." They all were surfers and derived most of their style from their surfing experience. They all hung out at Jeff Ho's Surf Shop, skated in pools, at playgrounds, and down steep hills together. They were careful to not let outsiders in because they didn't want their "space" to be imposed on.

Conclusions & Observations of Cru

A few general conclusions I have come to about Ball State's Cru is that it includes both males and females, all races, and other than it's staff members it consists only of Ball State students. In general, I believe that no matter what Cru I observe whether it is Michigan State's Cru or Ball State's Cru, they all strive to spread the word of God and know Jesus. Not generally speaking, every Cru all over the United States and across seas conduct themselves in different, unique ways. Weekly meetings at a smaller college or university may not be held in an auditorium as they are at Ball State. Another scenario could be that smaller Cru's may only have a vocalist and guitarist for worship, unlike Ball State's which has a band consisting of at least six students. I know demographics play a major part in influencing Cru at Ball State. Because Ball State has nearly 20,000 students it would be extremely difficult for Cru members to even try to reach half of the population with the word of God. Cru must be careful in "advertising" the word of God because of limits set on imposing on others rights.

Unlearning my Privileges (In Class 2/2/09)

·       Being able to worship the Lord freely

o    Some cannot worship a deity they want to worship because of their government.

·       Being able to go to school

o    Some cannot go to school because they have to work for their families in order to survive.

·       Being able to take out loans for school

o    Some cannot take out loans because of credit or because they simply cannot afford it.

·       Being able to choose where I want to live

o    Some are forced to live in certain places because of their government.

·       Being able to speak my opinion 

o    Some nations do not have the privilege of freedom of speech.

·       Being able to choose what kind of career I want

o    Some have to accept when job they have just to get by without regard to what they really want to do.

·       Working for at least a minimum wage

o    Some are paid bare minimum or nothing at all.

·       Working in fair conditions

o    Other countries force people to work in sweat factories, while we, in America, have mandatory breaks.