Hi all! I know the post it is not required this week but it will help me gather my thoughts. So feel free to read and then you can find my questions at the bottom.
- Society acts in an exchange: Professionals must have education and experience but then they are given prestige and honor. On the other hand, some people feel that the quest to make a job a profession is about power and glory, a very self-centered pursuit.
-Using licensing and credentialing in a profession is a way of limiting the supply/increasing the demand for professionals.
-The more we focus on becoming accredited professionals, we will begin to prescribe a specific set of ideas that must be learned, leaving no room for innovation. Also, not every consumer fits under one category, so when we limit the specifics of accreditation, we risk creating professionals who are incapable of serving customers outside the criteria.
-Most recreation students are extroverts who have previously been involved with some sort of recreation agency (Normally as a part time job).
-By focusing on education as a criteria for a professional, do we not change higher education into hire education?
Questions:
1) Do you think it is important to have a degree in Recreation/Leisure (or some similar area) to be an effective Recreation professional? Or is it just important to have a degree in any field?
2) What is your perception of the term "Professional"? Does it imply a certain amount of learning or skill or practice? Does someone who practices a profession posses the ability to do a complex task?
3)The article states that most recreation students are extroverts... how do you feel about that? Is extroversion a needed quality in our field?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
RMP 800: Reflection 11/17/09
I'd like to go back to the discussion of the term "wilderness." Dictionary.com had the term described in the following way:
"-noun
1. a wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert, uninhabited or inhabited only by wild animals; a tract of wasteland.
2. a tract of land officially designated as such and protected by the U.S. government.
3. any desolate tract, as of open sea.
4. a part of a garden set apart for plants growing with unchecked luxuriance.
5. a bewildering mass or collection."
I definitely see the Euro- Ethnocentrism in this definition but I think it does a better job of describing wilderness than the way the word is frequently used these days. I think the uncultivated and unchecked are important parts of the descriptions. I don't agree with the second definition or the idea of wasteland. It can be desolate without being wasteland. To me, "wilderness" describes places like Antarctica, Mount Everest, and the ocean floor.
Should we use "outdoors" (away from human settlement, open air) or "nature" (primitive, wild condition, an uncultivated state) instead of the term "wilderness"? I think they are both a little closer to what we mean when we say "wilderness."
The idea was thrown out that we could create a new definition for the word "wilderness" but I don't think we can do that. It would be incredibly hard to introduce a new term, especially if it is not a slang term, being used to poke fun at something. I think it would be too hard to get rid of the old definition. It would be more effective to just coin a new term than to replace the old definition.
As for my personal land use philosophy, I believe we must find a happy medium. The environment is important and we have taken way too much advantage of it in the past century, BUT we also can't survive without a little recreation. We need the interaction with nature and the time spent outdoors to be healthy human beings. Therefore, we must find a balance between using land (and water!) for health and recreation benefits and conserving land for future generations. We as Recreation professionals must take a stand and lead society to a balance.
"-noun
1. a wild and uncultivated region, as of forest or desert, uninhabited or inhabited only by wild animals; a tract of wasteland.
2. a tract of land officially designated as such and protected by the U.S. government.
3. any desolate tract, as of open sea.
4. a part of a garden set apart for plants growing with unchecked luxuriance.
5. a bewildering mass or collection."
I definitely see the Euro- Ethnocentrism in this definition but I think it does a better job of describing wilderness than the way the word is frequently used these days. I think the uncultivated and unchecked are important parts of the descriptions. I don't agree with the second definition or the idea of wasteland. It can be desolate without being wasteland. To me, "wilderness" describes places like Antarctica, Mount Everest, and the ocean floor.
Should we use "outdoors" (away from human settlement, open air) or "nature" (primitive, wild condition, an uncultivated state) instead of the term "wilderness"? I think they are both a little closer to what we mean when we say "wilderness."
The idea was thrown out that we could create a new definition for the word "wilderness" but I don't think we can do that. It would be incredibly hard to introduce a new term, especially if it is not a slang term, being used to poke fun at something. I think it would be too hard to get rid of the old definition. It would be more effective to just coin a new term than to replace the old definition.
As for my personal land use philosophy, I believe we must find a happy medium. The environment is important and we have taken way too much advantage of it in the past century, BUT we also can't survive without a little recreation. We need the interaction with nature and the time spent outdoors to be healthy human beings. Therefore, we must find a balance between using land (and water!) for health and recreation benefits and conserving land for future generations. We as Recreation professionals must take a stand and lead society to a balance.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Post It: Outdoor Recreation
Sorry for the late post, All! Being out of town and not having my laptop made it next to impossible to get this done on time.
- Our country has over 300 million acres of land in public trust available for recreation, but only 30% of shoreline is available for public use! Only about 10% of all of that space is actual wilderness (Didn't we discuss this idea of nature vs wilderness in class a few weeks ago?).
- The most popular recreation activity across all types of land is viewing nature from a vehicle. The environment is key to the experience but it is still done from the outside. This form of recreation has grown by over 400% in the past 50 years due to major increases in transportation technology.
- The National Park Service (NPS) was created to find a balance between recreation and resource management. Recently this has become an even bigger problem even though more land has been added to the national parks.
- Commercialized leisure is both a compliment to the recreation side of the debate and a huge hurdle for activists supporting conservation. Companies set up near the forests to sell cook stoves and RV equipment, etc. Boating companies set up business near lakes to repair/sell/teach consumers about boating.
- Debate: Should natural parks be run as a business? It would help with supply & demand, maintenance, crowding issues, etc. BUT they are treasures, not businesses, they are for preservation, not for profit, limitations are imposed by more fair means than by income/wealth, etc.
- There is no typical/normal recreationist/resource user. There is a broad spectrum of ways people use resources for recreation. The spectrum of users goes like this:
<------------------------------------------------------------>
Preservers Users Developers
-The 3 different areas of the spectrum mix like oil and water, which causes conflict.
-Debate: Is outdoor Recreation anti-environmental? Most recreation is exploratory, not observational, we have long term leases on public spaces like water areas, the resource has become a means to a greater end ($), etc. BUT those who know and use recreation tend to be the strongest supporters of conservation efforts, activity can be done when they are appropriate for the resource, it can be educational, its better to regulate than to close off completely, etc.
- Humans are a part of nature, not just in charge of it! If we use our resources unwisely, the carrying capacity might diminish, causing humans to become an endangered species!
- Please peruse this incredibly short article (Its only a few paragraphs!): http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/politics/stories/torontos-new-green-roof-law-a-first-for-north-america
I think this has the potential to alleviate some of the usage problems that ruin the environment. Can't we enjoy a garden on a rooftop as much as on the ground? And can't we still use these green spaces for outdoor education?
Questions:
1. Do you think that the lack of shoreline makes the beach more popular? Does it effect supply and demand? Or do we simply think of the beach as a more glamorous vacation spot because it is more glamorous than roughing it in the woods?
2. Earlier in the semester we discussed how important it is to be outside, in nature, when we discussed The Last Child in the Woods. This article suggests that people are driving to view nature but doing so from the car. Do you think this is enough, to simply view the nature from inside a car? Or is it doing more harm than good? Or is it a step in the right direction?
3. Do you have an opinion about whether national parks should be run as businesses or not? If so, does your opinion change when you start thinking about "The Grand Canyon" as opposed to thinking about "National Parks"?
- Our country has over 300 million acres of land in public trust available for recreation, but only 30% of shoreline is available for public use! Only about 10% of all of that space is actual wilderness (Didn't we discuss this idea of nature vs wilderness in class a few weeks ago?).
- The most popular recreation activity across all types of land is viewing nature from a vehicle. The environment is key to the experience but it is still done from the outside. This form of recreation has grown by over 400% in the past 50 years due to major increases in transportation technology.
- The National Park Service (NPS) was created to find a balance between recreation and resource management. Recently this has become an even bigger problem even though more land has been added to the national parks.
- Commercialized leisure is both a compliment to the recreation side of the debate and a huge hurdle for activists supporting conservation. Companies set up near the forests to sell cook stoves and RV equipment, etc. Boating companies set up business near lakes to repair/sell/teach consumers about boating.
- Debate: Should natural parks be run as a business? It would help with supply & demand, maintenance, crowding issues, etc. BUT they are treasures, not businesses, they are for preservation, not for profit, limitations are imposed by more fair means than by income/wealth, etc.
- There is no typical/normal recreationist/resource user. There is a broad spectrum of ways people use resources for recreation. The spectrum of users goes like this:
<------------------------------------------------------------>
Preservers Users Developers
-The 3 different areas of the spectrum mix like oil and water, which causes conflict.
-Debate: Is outdoor Recreation anti-environmental? Most recreation is exploratory, not observational, we have long term leases on public spaces like water areas, the resource has become a means to a greater end ($), etc. BUT those who know and use recreation tend to be the strongest supporters of conservation efforts, activity can be done when they are appropriate for the resource, it can be educational, its better to regulate than to close off completely, etc.
- Humans are a part of nature, not just in charge of it! If we use our resources unwisely, the carrying capacity might diminish, causing humans to become an endangered species!
- Please peruse this incredibly short article (Its only a few paragraphs!): http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/politics/stories/torontos-new-green-roof-law-a-first-for-north-america
I think this has the potential to alleviate some of the usage problems that ruin the environment. Can't we enjoy a garden on a rooftop as much as on the ground? And can't we still use these green spaces for outdoor education?
Questions:
1. Do you think that the lack of shoreline makes the beach more popular? Does it effect supply and demand? Or do we simply think of the beach as a more glamorous vacation spot because it is more glamorous than roughing it in the woods?
2. Earlier in the semester we discussed how important it is to be outside, in nature, when we discussed The Last Child in the Woods. This article suggests that people are driving to view nature but doing so from the car. Do you think this is enough, to simply view the nature from inside a car? Or is it doing more harm than good? Or is it a step in the right direction?
3. Do you have an opinion about whether national parks should be run as businesses or not? If so, does your opinion change when you start thinking about "The Grand Canyon" as opposed to thinking about "National Parks"?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Name Change
I changed the name of my blog. I liked the old name, except it made it sound like death is a good alternative. And that's not a thought I can really deal with right now. The new name comes from this song:
This is a song that I have loved for many years but seems to mean a whole lot more these days. The scene at 55 seconds is where I am at right now.
So many times in a day, people say things like "It killed me to do it" or "I just about died" etc. Every time someone brings up a word like death or dying in front of me, they hesitate briefly like they think they've said something terrible that will remind me of my brother. The thing is, Bryan's always on my mind, always a part of who I am. The grief feels like a water balloon sitting in my torso... some days it has a lot less water in it and others, it's full and heavy. Saying something about death doesn't make me suddenly remember Bryan, his death is always there in my mind. Everything I think about is in relation to Bry.
Today marked one month since he died and I can't quite comprehend that. I'm still feeling the same grief I was 4 weeks ago, and yet the days are passing, the world keeps spinning. I feel like its passing me by.
We made an object with Play-Doh in RMP 800 this week (My idea) that represented what we were feeling like at that point. The idea is that it was a form of Therapeutic Recreation (the discussion topic for that day) and that children have an easier time talking about an object than their own feelings.
I made a person, standing next to a line. On the other side of the line were a ton of smiling faces. My feeling for that moment? Apart. I feel apart. There's people keeping me company, I'm just experiencing life differently than everyone else right now.
I spent about an hour and a half at the beach today, wrapped up in my comforter. Being out there brought a little peace. I felt a little closer to God, a little less angry, and a little more confidant that we will get through this. I still miss my brother like crazy (right now I just want a hug from him), but I can be a little less angry today.
This is a song that I have loved for many years but seems to mean a whole lot more these days. The scene at 55 seconds is where I am at right now.
So many times in a day, people say things like "It killed me to do it" or "I just about died" etc. Every time someone brings up a word like death or dying in front of me, they hesitate briefly like they think they've said something terrible that will remind me of my brother. The thing is, Bryan's always on my mind, always a part of who I am. The grief feels like a water balloon sitting in my torso... some days it has a lot less water in it and others, it's full and heavy. Saying something about death doesn't make me suddenly remember Bryan, his death is always there in my mind. Everything I think about is in relation to Bry.
Today marked one month since he died and I can't quite comprehend that. I'm still feeling the same grief I was 4 weeks ago, and yet the days are passing, the world keeps spinning. I feel like its passing me by.
We made an object with Play-Doh in RMP 800 this week (My idea) that represented what we were feeling like at that point. The idea is that it was a form of Therapeutic Recreation (the discussion topic for that day) and that children have an easier time talking about an object than their own feelings.
I made a person, standing next to a line. On the other side of the line were a ton of smiling faces. My feeling for that moment? Apart. I feel apart. There's people keeping me company, I'm just experiencing life differently than everyone else right now.
I spent about an hour and a half at the beach today, wrapped up in my comforter. Being out there brought a little peace. I felt a little closer to God, a little less angry, and a little more confidant that we will get through this. I still miss my brother like crazy (right now I just want a hug from him), but I can be a little less angry today.
Monday, November 2, 2009
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