Chicago Symphony Orchestra Musicians on Strike

Yesterday, on Saturday September 22nd, members from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra reportedly went on strike less than two hours before a performance. The reason for the strike was a new three year contract which involved changes in salary and health benefits. With the contract that had just ended, the average salary of a CSO musician was around $197,000 per year. Many symphony-goers were disappointed that the concert was cancelled because there was no prior warning of the strike. According to THIS article, when the ticket holders showed up, the musicians were standing outside the symphony center on Michigan Avenue with picket signs. About 3000 people were planning on attending this concert.

Although the circumstances were completely different, the Symphony's strike reminded me of the CPS teachers' strike. Just like the Symphony's ticket holders that were left without a performance to watch, thousands of students and parents were affected by the CPS strike. When my American Studies class saw the play "Jitney" in the Court Theater in Chicago, there were some CPS students who were out of school while their teachers were on strike. I thought it was interesting to think about the audience members' different reasons for attending the play. We were there to make connections to our class, while they were there because they did not have class. It is not just the strikers who are affected. In the struggle for better pay and benefits, I think it is important to remember that there are always people left hanging--those who depend on the workers.

An American Dad

...and dad?

When it comes to parenting, it seems like more emphasis is always put on the mother. In the Olympics, after almost every commercial or interview, you hear: "P &G: Proud sponsor of moms." This is only one example out of many. Maybe it has something to do with a woman physically carrying a child during pregnancy. But what about dad? According to a recent New York Times article, dads do in fact play a major role in the health of an unborn child. Using mice (unfortunately) as test subjects, certain experiments were conducted to see the effect of a male's lifestyle on the health of its newborn. "Male rats that are starved before they're mated produce offspring with less blood sugar and altered levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (which helps babies develop)." The connection also exists with age. "Children of men over 50 were 2.2 times more likely to have autism than children of 29 year olds." Factors like health and age do affect a males sperm cells, which ultimately affect the child. Although dads do not physically carry their children, they obviously do play a very large role in their development.

Why is it then, that dads do not get as much general attention as moms? After asking my dad this same question, he responded simply: "I think it's because kids tend to spend more time with their moms." And why is that? Because although the fight for total equality is happening in America, gender roles still exist today. Traditionally, women were expected to stay home and cook, clean, and care for the kids. Since the men were supposed to be out working all day, moms got the attention for raising children. Although many, many women work today, there are still more stay-home moms than dads. According to this ABC news source, in 2008 the ratio was 38 stay at home moms per 1 dad. However, the point of this article is that the ratio of dads who stay home to care for kids is growing. I think this, among other things, is evidence that in America, gender roles are slowly equalizing.

America: Work vs. Health?

About a week ago, my Spanish teacher was talking about how after eating lunch, people in Spain take the siesta. A siesta is a midday nap or resting period. In Spain, people usually work from 9-2, then go home, eat lunch with the family, and take a nap. During this time, the entire country is asleep--stores are closed, nobody is on the streets. They then return to work at about 5 until 8. According to the CIA World Factbook, Spain has the 15th highest life expectancy (81 years) in the world. However, productivity in Spain is significantly lower than America's and the other European nations.

In contrast, typical American working hours are from 9-5 with about a half-hour or 45 minutes for a lunch break. Unlike Spain, the USA has a very high productivity, but the life expectancy is lower. I think there is a direct correlation between working hours, productivity and health/life expectancy. This just goes to show how unalike Spain's and America's value systems are. Do Americans value work and money over personal health? Personally, I think more time should be spent on reducing stress and overall health, but would that cause the country's productivity to lower?

Typical rush hour traffic in Chicago

America and the Wilderness

Today, I went hiking with my dad in Wisconsin. Hiking is one of my favorite activities because I love the feeling of being surrounded by nature. However, today during the long drive to Wisconsin, I noticed something I hadn't thought about before. Much of the drive to Kettle Moraine was characterized by fields of monotonous farmland, dotted with cattle and the occasional house.

The drive to Kettle Moraine

The next thing that irked me was the fact that once we had started our 9.5 mile hike, there were a few times when (even when I thought we were well into the woods) cars on the road were still audible. I wondered, how close to the road are we? Even the purity of the woods had been exploited by humans. While we were hiking, once in a while I would notice that the pine trees were arranged in orderly rows. Since trees don't grow in such straight lines, they had to have been planted by humans. In fact, companies use this forest to plant pine trees for lumber. 

While I did really enjoy today's hike, I couldn't help but be reminded of Chris McCandless from Into the Wild and how he intended on being "lost in the wild(163). It is very ironic because he ended up being so close to human civilization in Alaska. As Krakauer describes, "Less than thirty miles to the east is a major thoroughfare, the George Parks Highway. Just sixteen miles to the south, beyond an escarpment of the outer range, hundreds of thousands of tourists rumble daily into Denali Park over a road patrolled by the National Park Service" (165). While I do respect McCandless's intentions of being at one with nature, I think it is sad that he was not able to fulfill his goal of being fully submerged in the wild, away from civilization.With over 22 million acres of natural prairie diminished in Illinois alone ("Praries of the Midwest") and satellite GPS programming to tell us where we are at all times, I wonder: in this day and age in America, is it really still possible to get "lost in the wild?" Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Sources:
Into the Wild by John Krakauer

"Praries of the Midwest": http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/missriver/Education/Prairies%20of%20the%20Midwest.pdf