Final Thoughts On Colloquium

Looking back on this semester in Colloquium, I really enjoyed taking the class.  I have to admit that in the beginning of the semester I was aware of some of the environmental issues in our society, but now I can say that I have become much more educated on the topics and have learned a great deal.  I really enjoyed getting around the Southwest Florida area for our field trips. Most of the field trips provided us a chance to get in touch with nature and spend some time out in the fresh air.  When I was younger I spent a great deal of my time outside playing in the woods and camping, however, as I’ve grown older I don’t seem to do many of the activities I used to enjoy.  That is one thing this class did show me. I have become a little out of touch with nature and haven’t done one of my favorite things to do in years, which is camping.  The one thing that I did notice in our class was how most of the students were really out of touch with nature. I remember one day when Neil suggested that we spend an hour in the woods with no cell phones.  Most of the students couldn’t stand the thought.  I am a little older than most of the students and it’s amazing to see how dependent that generation is on technology.  It made me think about my children and how important it is that I support getting them to spend time outside playing and investigating what nature has to offer. 

Although at first I dreaded doing it, the required service-learning hours I did ended up being one of my favorite activities in the class.  I helped with a dinner at Vester Marine Lab for the School Science and Mathematics Association.  It was a lot of fun down on the water and we ate the food we could.  I also helped with a field-trip to Crew Trust Preserve, which was one of my favorite field trips of the semester. I think that it should be one of the field trips for the class to take. Overall, I feel that the Colloquium class is a very beneficial class for the students to take, and for society as a whole.  Had the class not been required, I probably wouldn’t have taken it, and after taking the class I can understand the importance of taking it, and why it is a required course.

Plan B Presentation

For our class presentation on Plan B, we were responsible for covering chapter ten.  Our chapter was titled Can We Mobilize Fast Enough.  The chapter really put an urgency on the world as whole, taking responsibility for global warming and the factors associated with it.  The chapter discusses how we are marching forward to a civilizational collapse and food supply is one of the major concerns.  The thought of a civilizational collapse with food shortages is a scary one.  How is it that we are considered the most intelligent people to have ever walked the earth, yet we are now at a major breaking point globally?  What will happen if we cross that threshold and a collapse begins? 

That is what’s so scary.  Our world as a whole has never been in this type of situation and who knows how people will react, but most likely it would be ugly.  This is exactly why we need to be urgent now, and do our best to avoid such a catastrophe.  One of the ideas presented in the chapter is to lower income taxes and tax activities that contribute to global warming at a much higher rate.  The idea is to almost penalize those who participate in activities that contribute to global warming.  This would include a gasoline tax to encourage car pooling, a landfill tax to encourage recycling, and even use a cap-and-trade system where those who wish to engage in these activities are required to purchase a permit.  I believe that all of these ideas are good because they directly penalize the person or persons who choose to participate in the activities.  Those who do not engage in those activities are not penalized.  One of the final points in the chapter is that the United States should lead this charge for change and help to get rid of illiteracy, disease, poverty, and we can restore the earth’s soils forests, and fisheries.  The author makes a suggestion of shifting 13% of the world’s military budget to the Plan B budget, and that would be more than adequate to move on a path that would sustain progress.  I look at it like this, either we shift the 13% of the budget, or we collapse.  The answer seems obvious, and if we don’t do something, that world military budget is going to be worthless anyway.  We might as well adopt this plan and start moving forward before its too late. 

SW Florida Historical Museum

Last week we took a class field-trip to the Southwest Florida Museum of history in downtown Fort Myers.  The museum is housed in a circa 1924 restored train depot, and also has a replica of a pioneer “cracker” house.  The museum has numerous exhibits, including, Paleo Florida, the Calusa Indians, the Seminole Indians, Spanish explorers, and a turn of the century exhibit that included Thomas Edison.  Walking through the museum felt like we had gone back into time and there was a lot to take in.  I’m thinking about a second visit so that I can spend a little more time to absorb all of the information in each of the exhibits.  The museum also had a traveling exhibit with black and white fine art photographs from Clyde Butcher.  We only spent a few minutes at this exhibit, but I really enjoyed looking at the photographs.  That was the first time that I have ever spent any time looking at black and white photographs that were considered art.  Outside of the museum there was a replica “cracker” house. 

These homes were single room homes of the early cattleman, who were named “crackers” for the sound their whips would make when rustling cattle.  The houses had sloped roofs so that the rain would run off, a front porch, and were raised to avoid any flooding issues.  After the museum we walked around downtown and went to the Indigo Hotel.  We went to the top floor, and we were able to look all around downtown.  The view was spectacular and the most interesting part was that we could see all the trees throughout the downtown.  I could see green for as far as I could see, and they were spread out all over downtown amongst the buildings and streets.I had no idea there were that many trees in that area.  The view of the Caloosahatchee was also awesome from up on the top floor.  After the Indigo, Neil let us walk downtown a little, and we went for pizza at one of the shops. 

That was the first time I have ever walked around downtown Fort Myers, and sitting outside by the street and eating was a good time as well.  There is a lot to look at when walking around and many different shops and restaurants to stop and checkout.  This was one of my favorite field trips of the semester, and I would like to take a Saturday and go spend some time walking around, and checking out the sites.