Spiders on Drugs and Trent Loos

For those of you that know who Trent Loos is, you're probably wondering how he is in the same title as "Spiders on Drugs". Well, Loos is on campus today and as he is a popular hero of agriculture, I am very glad that he was brought onto campus today to balance the arrival of Michael Pollan. I for one am going to see Pollan, but only because I've seen Loos before. Loos is an inspiring man with critical thinking and debating skills, but sometimes I need a change of climate to increase my debating ability, so I will probably not see Loos today unless I am lucky enough to get out of class early.

Which leads me to my post title. Currently we are discussing intoxication and drug overdose in class and so we started today with the "Spiders on Drugs" Youtube clip. If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest it. Check it out through this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

To link the two together... HSUS recently released another video depicting animal cruelty to chickens on a farm in Iowa. I'm not going to challenge the fact that this happens. Instead, I call on farmers in the entire US to accept the fact that this cruelty happens and to stop it in their own industries. It is not any more acceptable for an animal to be abused than it is for you to winter dump your whole lagoon on ice. Whether or not we like for these regulations to be imposed on us, the only thing that attacking these videos is doing is drawing more attention to the shameful videos themselves. This isn't to say that we should all be spying on each other to make sure that nobody is abusing animals, but I do think that we should all do a better job to take enjoyment in the better care of our animals and to proudly share it with those around us.

For example, check out the Proud to Dairy website. Or visit it through facebook. I met a journalist for Proud to Dairy this week in California, and it was inspiring to me that this man had taken on the cause of agriculture without having any agricultural experience before in his life. I don't remember his name right now, but he should be commended.

Donation!

Dear Amanda, I absolutely love you. And your donation to my Relay Walk made my morning. It's so nice to know that somebody read everything, and my club is really happy to have more money donated on our behalf. MSU has now raised $80,000 dollars for Relay for Life and it is because of people like you. You're my favorite. :)

Back from California

So I'm back from California, and I think I can term the trip a success. We didn't win, but we did have a great team bonding experience and met great people who we will have the opportunity to interact with in the future in our careers. That's what's most important, right? Still, I would really like to have won.

In other news, I am now 4 weeks from graduation. I have limited exams left and it's relieving to think that I'm nearing the end. I've been kind enough to book myself with other non-academic things to replace it, but the change is still welcome.

Also, I have gained a lot of respect for Taylor Swift today, thanks to Kevin Messing's facebook posting. Check out the link: http://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/401599/thug-story.jhtml

Cowlumbus?

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/09/i-70-travelers-nearly-have-a-cow.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101&title=I-70+travelers+nearly+have+a+cow

Amanda sent that link to me, absolutely great. :)

Sigh of relief

My biochemistry grade is in today. Don't go expecting me to save the world with my knowledge of basic life functions and processes, but I did get a 52.5 out of 100. Laughing? I wasn't. The class average is a 59, after he gave 5 gimme points for questions that he wrote incorrectly without complete answer options. And consider that this was right after Easter. The class average has been consistently below a 60. That means he has to curve, right? Anyhow, my overall grade in the class is now up to a 51.96, which is just 1.97 about failing. I'm walking the tightrope, but so far haven't fallen off.