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SPRING 2011 FEBRUARY 18

NINE LIVES #1 ............ 2 STUDENT POETRY ....... 3 CANADA A SHORT STORY ......... 4

GARDENING IS GROWING .................... 5

HONORS APPAREL CHALLENGE ................ 5 THE PROPOSAL MOVIE REVIEW ............ 6 Infinite

Wisdom Honors Program Sponsors

Community Gardening Day

The Honors program, in col-laboration with Manna Gardens, is putting on Pensacola’s first annual Community Gardening Day from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Bayview Senior Center on March 12. The pur-pose of Community Gardening Day is to gather people currently involved in community gardens around the Pen-sacola area (for instance in local schools, churches, hospitals, and food pantries) to facilitate the exchange of gardening knowledge and resources. The event also aims to attract people who know nothing about gardening and teach them everything from how to garden to how to get involved in community gardening. Community Gardening Day arose largely from a realization by stu-

dents in Dr. Greg Tomso’s Politics of Food seminar that locally grown, nu-tritious food is extremely valuable for individuals and community. The event is especially designed to encourage

the proliferation of community gar-dens in the Pensacola area. Community Gardening Day will feature keynote addresses from leaders in the Atlanta Urban Garden-ing Program, including an address from the President of the American

Upcoming Events

Sunday, February 27: Ronald McDonald House @ 2:00 p.m. Saturday, March 5: Habitat for Humanity @ 7:30 a.m. Sunday, March 6: Creekside Senior Village @ 2:00 p.m. Monday, March 21: Trial Schedule Workshop Honors Council meetings every Thursday @ 6 p.m.

by Kate Day

Community Gardening Day will be held on Saturday, March 12

from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bayview Senior

Center

Community Gardening Association, Bobby Wilson. There will also be work-shops by local gardening experts designed to teach gardening basics to those with little or no gardening experi-ence. The event will close with a Community Roundtable Discussion which will open the floor for people to discuss how the community can work together to support new and existing gardening initiatives in Pensacola and surrounding areas. If you are interested in attend-ing Community Gardening Day, please call Manna Foods at (850) 432-2053 to purchase tickets. Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for general admission. There are also plenty of volunteer opportunities available for this event. If you are interested in volunteering with us, please email me at kah35@students.uwf.edu for more information or to sign up.

University of West FloridaUniversity of West Florida

Honors NewsletterHonors Newsletter

Edited by Lauren Sutton

2.1 IN THIS ISSUE

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Follow DL’s kitties as they journey through ancient Greece to rescue their furry family and win the heart of the one they love. It was a hot, sticky day. All of the other cats had found cool spots around the house. Cheeto chose the living room. He didn’t usually watch television, but the heat made him lazy. He had spent most of the morning in DL’s chair napping and watching a green ball volley across a short net. He wondered where Crissy was. The last time he’d seen her was the night before when they took their midnight stroll through the neighborhood. She’d seemed attentive, interested even, but perhaps she was only being polite. “Hey Cheeto!” He rolled his eyes. Sassy was always interrupting his thoughts. Of all the cats, Cheeto found that she was the most annoying. “Have you seen Crissy?” she asked. He sighed. “No. She’s probably somewhere with Bogus.” As far as Cheeto was concerned, Bogus was the only thing standing between him and Crissy. Sure, he was more charming and perceptive than Cheeto could ever be, but other than that, he had little to offer her. Cheeto knew he would make a better mate than Bogus. If only Crissy would give him a chance... “Nope,” said Sassy. “He hasn’t seen her either.” Cheeto wanted to ignore her, but the revelation that Crissy might be missing held his attention. She wasn’t like the other cats, she never ventured too far from the house. “But she’s not the only one missing,” Sassy contin-ued. “I can’t find Mufasa or Little One or Bomber Momer either.” Cheeto shrugged. “I don’t know. Give them some time. They always come back.” And at that he closed his eyes and curled even tighter, hoping to discourage any further conversation. Eventually Sassy left and Cheeto drifted off to sleep. A tentative nudge woke Cheeto from his nap. This time it was Bogus. “You seen the others?” he said.

Cheeto stretched and rose from the chair, realizing he wouldn’t be able to sleep any longer.

“No, I haven’t. All I’ve seen today is tennis, Sassy, and the inside of my eyelids.” Bogus frowned. “I’m being serious, Cheeto. They’re all gone. Sassy, too.” Cheeto jumped down from his perch and joined Bogus on the floor.

“Well they couldn’t have gone too far,” he said. “It’s almost dinner time.” Indeed, both cats knew that no one would leave the property this close to feeding time, which made the group’s sudden disappearance all the more puzzling. After searching the house, and both the front and back yards, Cheeto and Bogus decided to extend their hunt to the neighbors’ yards. They spent two hours trying to find the missing kitties but found nothing, not even a whisker. They were about to return to the house when Cheeto no-ticed a strange object sitting near the edge of the pool. “What’s that?” he said, flicking his tail toward the item. “I’m not sure,” said Bogus, observing the thing in question. Attracted by curiosity, they eased toward the arti-fact. It appeared to be some sort of ancient stone. Its exte-rior had become worn and misshapen, but there was still a complete hole in the center, almost as though it could be worn on a collar. Bogus extended his paw to touch the rune. Al-though the sun had set nearly an hour ago, it was still a lit-tle warm. He reached out once again, this time to jab it. Before he could, a violent wind swirled around him and blew the stone out of his reach. He sprang to retrieve it, but an even mightier gust pushed him into the now churning waters of the pool. Cheeto watched in horror as his companion flailed helplessly at the edge of the pool. The stone was glowing now, strange letters appearing on the eroded surface. Cheeto fought the gale and to grab the stone with his teeth, determined to hold it despite its heat. He tried to bury his claws into the con-crete surrounding the pool, but it was no use. The sud-den angry storm swept him into the pool. To be continued...

Nine Lives Issue #1

by Jeanessa Gantt and Andrew Hammond

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So many brilliant ideas, and the brilliant sun,

and the feeling of being dragged by my own unwillingness

to listen--

To really listen.

I remember running, and breathing, and smiling at life,

and deciding to notice that I've been in shackles...

the codependency not leaving when you left me,

and I have been so terrified of seeing myself through any

eyes but yours.

It turns out my own eyes are much kinder.

Reclaiming my right to be complicated and beautiful,

You may not be able to swallow my choices,

but I refuse to abandon myself in this journey.

Everyone is afraid of her own limitations

which is why they rush to point

when your scars and heart show through

the glass that was so fogged with the system's breath.

I would like to think that while I have limitations,

the moment I decide they are gone,

they smile and disappear, knowing they've been blessed

with the deepest love there is.

I know that this is a time for me to learn how to be my own

best friend,

be my own foundation,

my own voice of compassion,

my own voice that says “You're enough...you're enough.”

And with this moment's clarity, and the deep gratitude that

comes with it, I know that no matter where I wander

I'll always come back to this place in my heart

that comes with me no matter who I decide to love or

where in the world I decide to be me.

Student Poetry

Enough

by Margeaux Donovan How can people willing accept jobs that require them to work in a

cubicle? I am doing so only temporarily and let me say, I would rather be

picking apples with the immigrants. I know it doesn't bother some people, but I don't see how the

blandness of the office would cease to drive the human brain into ultimate boredom and insanity.

Working this desk job I sit here in a cushioned chair for eight hours. Sure I take occasional walks around the office and chat a bit, how-ever I can't avoid ultimately having to come back to this cushioned

chair, bright fluorescent lights, and walls I could knock over with my fists – if I let my true emotions consume me.

My main thought is, "What a waste of life, just sitting here." I feel isolated, stranded, lonely, bored, and fat. How miserable this

is to me. No amount of money is worth rotting away in this cubicle for eight

hours a day, 5 days a week. Well I'm just glad there are enough people indifferent to these feel-

ings so that the office cubicle is mandatory for me to have a suc-cessful future career.

I appreciate the people that do choose to suffer alone in their cubi-cles, and I am over joyous I have my options.

Well back to my cubicle for now but never again.

The Cubicle

by Shailee Sorenson

The whole earth turns up at its sides, smiling the oceans bend with the expression, and the boarders of my state

change. I am where I've never been before, in the lip of the land

And you are so different from me, but so very warm & familiar

The shape of you, and the feeling I get that your whole life you've been just as you are now is comforting but daunting.

I like to mold things...I like change when I can shape it. And in the darkness of my twenty first year in the bitterness of winter,

you are my torch. Holding you, I speak to the crowd: "MY LIFE; mine."

I have heard that in the afternoon of life, many decide suddenly to

live from the inside out. In the morning of my life, my father dedicated his

life to showing the world how sickeningly hard this is. But a minute hold-

ing his hand was a minute with God.

From the outside in, waking is stale. Heartbreak is the end. Death is wrong.

What excites me is my singing soul and how it feels to sing aloud, making up the words as I go along.

The Afternoon of My Life

by Margeaux Donovan

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Canada A Short Story

by Andrew Hammond

This is a logistical nightmare. Sure, the Canadian Civil war was over, but that didn't mean that everything was peachy keen now. Because the French-speaking side of Canada won the war, they were able to secede, like they had in-tended. English-speaking Canada, unable to cope with their war-torn nation, resorted to being annexed by the United States of America. And that's where I come in as the head of the newly created Department for the Assimilation of Distressed Nations. A mouthful, isn't it? Now, most people believe that the Frenchies won the war because they were receiving secret funding from France, but that's just outrageous in itself. To begin with, France barely has anything to gain from the newly christened Répub-lique de la Fille de France, aside from a favorite nation to trade with. My own personal belief, as well as those of in my department, is that the Mounties (our name for the English-speaking Canadians) were tired of fighting. It has been a long ten years, and Ottawa was receiving pressure from the other na-tions of the world to either end the fighting or merge with the United States. Why this verdict, you ask? Well, the global markets are heavily affected by what goes on in the developed nations of the world, namely revolutions, wars, and catastrophes. Take, for instance, the Global market circa September 2001, when the terrorist attacks on New York City occurred. The market nearly bottomed out. But I digress. The newly formed République de la Fille de France consisted of the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. The Capital of the nation was set-up in Quebec City. I'm stuck with the job of cleaning the rest of Canada up. The merger between the Mountie nation and the United States really isn't so surprising, however. They were already mostly one country when the civil war erupted anyway. Thanks to the NAFTA agreement of 1994 and the Amero-Ally Act of 2015, Canada was basically a state of the U.S. that maintained its original name. I guess that Ottawa thought it would be easier to merge with us rather than recoup their losses on their own. You must be wondering why we didn't offer our assistance to the Mounties in their war, correct? Well, we did. Wash-ington was busy helping out elsewhere as well, though. Revolutions, sparked by the successes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey, began to pop up in the former Eastern Bloc, northern Africa, and even China! Needless to say, our army was a tad busy. Anyway, the remaining five provinces retained their names when they were turned into states, while the remaining two of three territories were split into more manageable portions. Thankfully, the Alaskan State legislature decided to absorb the Yukon Territory to ease the load on my department. The United States will benefit from this in the long run, but right now, the immediate future is looking a little turbu-lent. Not only do we, the American tax payers, have to pay to repair the war-torn states of Ontario and Manitoba, but we also have to deal with ownership rights of the Hudson Bay and various border negotiations. Hopefully, when the time is right, the République de la Fille de France will become good allies with the newly enlarged United States, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

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Gardening is Growing

by Anne Swisshelm

My first experience with gardening was in the spring of 2009, when the UWF Student Community Garden Club was formed. The Garden Club first worked with Manna at the garden at the Azalea Trace Retirement Community. This is where I first learned the basics of gardens: mounding soil, planting seeds, and weeding, lots of weeding. This expo-sure sparked the enthusiasm I have today for gardening. Together with the UWF Honors Program, Manna created a position for a Garden Leader internship program. Needless to say, I immediately applied for the position. My first project was to assist Workman Middle school in writing a grant for their garden initiatives. Secondly, I joined forces with Escambia Westgate School. I raised funds to go towards the expansion of their garden. The children at Westgate are currently tending cabbage and broccoli in their handicap accessible beds. I was also relied upon to lead the garden development day at Weis Elementary. Sarah Bossa trained me in the art of tractor driving and handed me the reins on this project. To our delight, the project was a success: four beautiful raised beds filled with rich, healthy soil. In all my experience in gardening, I have been commended on my hard work, and indeed it has not been easy. I would, however, like to emphasize that gardening really is not as hard as it may seem. If it is a community project, the work load is divided amongst community members. The work is shared and lessened by the presence of the col-lective. In this exchange ideas are spread, food is cultivated, strong communities are forged, healthy living is encour-aged, and self sufficiency is instilled. In gardening, there is more to reap than a harvest of food.

Email uwfgarden@gmail.com for more information on the Community Garden Club or visit the website at uwf.edu/uwfgarden.

Who can represent the UWF Honors Program the best?? This challenge is to take a picture of yourself best repre-senting Honors. At the end of the challenge we will be picking one classy character to be the 2011 face of the UWF Honors Program. Rules:

Picture must be uploaded by Thursday, February 24

to the event page on Facebook or emailed to Shailee Sorenson at sms68@students.uwf.edu for privacy Honors logo must be in the picture (anything applies for this whether on clothing, as a picture graphic, or written on your face) ROCK IT! Be creative, funny, sexy, cute, whatever but stay tasteful and classy. And have fun!

Honors Apparel

Challenge!

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In Anne Fletcher’s The Proposal, Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds star in a film about a hard-nosed CEO that is involved in a marriage scheme to avoid deportation. Margaret Tate, played by Sandra Bullock, learns that if she will soon lose her job if she does not gain American citizenship. As an answer to these prob-lems, she seeks out her employee Andrew Paxton, played by Ryan Reynolds. Andrew has worked for three years as Margaret’s personal assistant and has received almost no recognition for his efforts. Margaret forces Andrew into a high stakes business agreement that involves the couple getting married over the next few days. In return for his hand in marriage, Margaret will give Andrew a promotion and promises to also publish his text that he has been working on for quite some time. Andrew knows that the failure to secure Margaret as the head of the company would result in almost certain job loss; all his hard work would have been in vain. Marga-ret uses this fact as additional leverage as she seeks to convince Andrew to progress with the marriage. How-ever, as they initiate the process, Margaret and Andrew must deal with a government official that has been informed of their scheme by Margaret’s former, angered employee. The official informs the pair that he will administer a cross-examination test to determine if their marriage is for fraudulent reasons, which forces Mar-garet and Andrew to learn detailed information about each other. Thanks to all the years spent trying to curry Margaret’s favor, Andrew already knows most of the facts about her, so the burden is almost completely placed on Margaret. Their adventure begins as Margaret joins Andrew on his plane ride back home to Alaska for his grand-mother’s ninetieth birthday celebration. The rugged Alaskan environment contrasts sharply with the hustle and bustle of the New York setting that Margaret grew so warmly accustomed to during her career. The coun-try challenges her personality along with her character. She is afraid to even get into the boat that will trans-port her to Andrew’s house. “I am not getting in that boat!”(The Proposal). Andrew’s family also portrays something that Margaret is unfamiliar with: love. During her stay, Margaret is awed at the love and adoration that is displayed by Andrew’s family. Though they have their problems, they are a unit that sticks together, and it makes her very aware of the love and belonging that she never had. Also, Margaret grows on Andrew the whole time she is there. Towards the end of her stay Andrew lets her know what he thinks of her. “You are a very, very beautiful woman”(The Proposal). Just as they are to be married, Margaret feels a great sense of conviction about her corrupt plan. She does not want to break up the family that has shown her so much warmth, so she confesses her plot to everyone at the wedding. Margaret then returns to New York and begins packing for her deportation to Toronto. Margaret is obviously upset, and no one is even willing to help their crabby boss prepare for her journey to Canada. An-drew eventually walks in the office and tells her that it would be easy for her to leave, but he wants her to stay so he can be with her. Ironically, the only way she can stay is if they get married. The movie is concluded and brought to a nice, happy completion by some simple words from Andrew. “Margaret, will you marry me? Be-cause I would like to date you”(The Proposal).

Works Cited The Proposal. Dir. Anne Fletcher. Perf. Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds. Touchstone Pictures, 2009. DVD.

The Proposal Movie Review

by Luke Killam

Spoiler Alert! Don’t read on if you haven’t seen The Proposal and don’t want it spoiled for you!