Blog Topic Monday!

Respond with a story, an essay, a cartoon, or a work of art. If we can post it on the blog, we will try.
This Monday's topic is Healthcare.
This country? Others? What's wrong? What's right? You decide.

Please email submissions to prismmu@gmail.com by Friday, and look for blog posts starting on Saturday.

Blog Submissions

In addition to the magazine, published once a semester, once a week we will be posting a topic of thought and discussion to write about for publication on the blog. Ideally these will be short responses, but we will not turn anything away for length. If it's wildly inappropriate with no redeeming social value, we may be forced to reject your submission, and we do reserve final say over what is posted here, however, we hope that it will be a rare occasion when something does not get published in this space.
Topics will be posted here and listserved to the English listserv every Monday. Entries will be due by 5pm on Friday, and entries will be posted by noon on Monday. These entries will not go into the magazine, however, you may submit them to the blog and the magazine (where they would go through the regular editing process).
We will also accept for the blog relevant art work, political cartoons, or anything else that we can post on a blog (if you think of it, email me at prismmu@gmail.com, and I will try to find a way).
Happy writing!

Staff Bios-- Kali

Kali Amos

My majors include English Literature and Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. I plan on applying for Teach for America. I am going to graduate school and will possibly go on to get my Ph. D. I am still deciding whether I want to teach at the high school or college level.

Besides PRiSM, I am also involved in the Art Museum Student Organization, Sigma Tau Delta, and the Association for Women Students. You can also find me serving up unfathomable amounts of bacon to the masses at Alexander Dining Hall.

Best things about Miami: hazelnut cocoa in the vending machine at Bachelor, the comfy chairs in front of the large windows at Wertz library, all of the Russian program professors/classes, and getting lost in the nature trails behind East Quad.

Best things about Oxford: the fact that you can walk from one end to the other in about twenty minutes, the Kulfi (and pretty much everything else) at Rohan India, Kofenya, Kona Bistro on my birthday, The Bird House Antique Store, watching movies in the tiny theaters of the Princess...

I don't really have a favorite genre-I am willing to try anything that wasn't mass produced to the point where merchandise became involved...although I do have a very strange fondness for dystopian novels.

Barbara Kingsolver, Jack Kerouac, Leslie Mormon Silko, James Baldwin, Ray Bradbury, Aldous Huxley, Emily Dickinson, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Svetlana Vasilenko, Anna Akhmatova, Franz Kafka, Margaret Atwood, and yes sometimes even Ayn Rand.

I think that spelling favorite the British way should be allowed only when one says it aloud with a halfway decent fake British accent.

The main thing that I look for in good writing is that feeling you get when you have finished the very last word and you can set the piece down and just say to yourself "Oh". I consider something good if it lingers in my thoughts after I have put the book down. That is what good literature is--it is something that takes hold of you and refuses to let go no matter how hard you try. It becomes a part of you and it changes the way you think, even if the change is so small that you fail to recognize it.

I love to use ellipses…but have a very violent relationship with commas (I am a big contender for allowing thoughts to wander). Despite my wandering thoughts I am a very organized person as can be seen by the fact that I have a separate container for my socks within my dresser drawer. I have a permanent attachment to my iPod, and am a firm believer that hot chocolate can cure all ailments.

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."
-Francis Bacon

Staff Bios-- Kaitlyn

Name: Kaitlyn Rowsey

Major and/or career goals?: English Creative Writing Major, Political Science Minor

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM? Miami Misfitz

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community? That everyone is so friendly and always so willing to lend a helping hand. Our community is so close that it doesn't even come close to comparing to any other campus I've visited. The friend I've made and the relationships I've established are life-long and I wouldn't change going here for anything.

Favourite genre? Mystery/Thriller

Favourite author? James Patterson and Lev Grossman

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way? sometimes... more so by the spelling of colour.

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)? Intriguing material... compelling language... a sense of mystery.

What else do you want people to know about you? I'm a hippie at heart, I love my family and my sister and my three brothers are my best friends, I love being barefoot and love going on adventures... oh and I can ride a unicycle. It's fun, you should try it.

Any other words of wisdom? Be kinder than necessary, everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle.

Staff Bios--Lorraine

Name: Lorraine Boissoneault

Major and/or career goals? International Studies and Journalism, and I would love to be a professional explorer/writer ... but I'm not sure that's actually a job.

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM? The Chinese American Cultural Association, International Students Organization, the Howe Writing Center, the Petting Zoo Goats and whatever else I can make time in my schedule for

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community? As many have already said, I love the beauty of our campus (when it's not the middle of winter). I can find inspiration in a walk through the paths on Western and the community is still big enough that I never run out of things to do.

Favourite genre? Literary fiction, fantasy, just about anything that is well written.

Favourite author? Charles de Lint

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way? Not particularly

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)? I want to be drawn in, and I also want to have a connection with the characters. If they don't feel real, then the story isn't worth reading. I also like to see experimentation with the English language and the structure of poems or stories.

What else do you want people to know about you? I'm always up for discussions on favorite books or authors or anything that has to do with writing. Buy me a cup of Jasmine green tea, and I'll be your personal editor for a day.

Any other words of wisdom? When you think you've written something that's good, read it again and make it better. I don't believe any piece of writing is ever truly finished. It just comes to the point where you can't think of anything else to change.

Staff Bios-- Natalie

Name:
Natalie Dillon

Major and/or career goals?

Journalism and Creative Writing. I’m one of those people who wants to do everything: I see myself working for a magazine for a bit then making music then maybe ending up on Food Network or the History Channel. Wish me luck.

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM?

The Miami Quarterly, Pi Beta Phi sorority, and intramural hockey. I’ll also be working at Goggin.

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community?

Besides the community feel, I really like that it’s small enough to walk everywhere.

Favourite genre?
I like novels that have a lot of passion—stories that you can really feel. That, and magic.

Favourite author?
Coelho, Salinger, Foer, Fitzgerald.

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way?

Not if you’re British.

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)?

I like stories that really make me think in new ways. I’m also sucker for romance and tragedy.

What else do you want people to know about you?

I’ve learned it’s easier not attempt this question.

Any other words of wisdom?

All you need is love? (I just wrote that one myself.)

Staff Bios-- Kate

Name
Kate Segraves

Major and/or career goals?

English Literature and Creative Writing, I hope to one day be an English professor and maybe make enough money so that I won't need to live in a box somewhere :)

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM?

Alpha Omicron Pi and working at the Glos Center

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community?

Umm... Skip's on a Friday afternoon.

Favourite genre?
Realistic Fiction :)

Favourite author?
Milan Kundera

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way?

Nahhh.

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)?

Something that makes me think, or makes me take a step back and breathe for a minute.

What else do you want people to know about you?

I'm obsessed with water (not drinking water, bodies of water) and my friends tease me about being a hippie. Hmm.

Any other words of wisdom?

Don't step on the cracks or you'll break your mother's back.

Staff Bios-- Jessica

Name: Jessica Tedrick

Major and/or career goals? English/ Creative Writing major. I think that it would be fantastic to eventually have the patience to write books. Writing for a magazine or newspaper would be very nice also.

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM? Nothing as of this moment. Work, school and reading.

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community? How condensed it is and the almost hidden Fine Art population. the budding artists, writers, and theater students are what makes Miami pop.

Favourite genre? Have to say Young Adult here. YA books have so much more license to be creative. Other than that anything that makes me go "hmm" or has a eerie ring to it.

Favourite author? So many. Anne Rice, JK Rowling, Libba Bray, Holly Black, William Faulkner, JD Salinger, and I am sure that I have missed a ton of them.

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way? No. Isn't that the real English way to spell it since they made it up in the first place?

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)? Anything that catches my interest quickly and is original. Risk takers are a good thing also.

What else do you want people to know about you? I enjoy reading (obviously), Writing (of course), and travel. I like anything spooky and go to "haunted" places any time I get the chance. My favorite place in the world so far is New Orleans. I have an obsessive love of macaroni and cheese.

Any other words of wisdom? Try to change the world if your unhappy with it but live life like you're in love with it.

Staff Bios-- Hannah

Name

Hannah Ledford

Major and/or career goals?

I would love to work for a publishing company, and I also want to get my Ph.D in literature. And maybe a best-selling novel? That would be really nice.

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM?

CAC, Circle K, Amnesty International, and I work in Advancement Services

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community?

I love walking around campus and running into people that I know. There is just something exciting about seeing my friends by accident. And it's beautiful here.
Favourite genre?
I'll pretty much read anything you put in front of me...as long as it keeps me interested, it doesn't matter.

Favourite author?
That's a hard one. I love J.D. Salinger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Jane Austen. And as far as someone contemporary, Markus Zusak is wonderful.

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way?

Not at all, especially because I was recently in London.

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)?

Well, it has to have intelligent writing and a good voice. And the best stories are the ones that never leave you. When I'm brushing my teeth and a story suddenly pops into my head that I read years ago, I know that it's had an impact on me. The same goes for a poem or any other work.

What else do you want people to know about you?

I am ridiculously obsessed with movies and pop culture. Don't hold any obscure references I will probably make to you in the future against me.

Any other words of wisdom?

Don't be afraid to put yourself into your work. In my opinion, the best pieces are those that hold a large part of the author on every page.

Staff Bios-- Andrea

Name
Andrea Wilhelm

Major and/or career goals?

English Major, music minor-> going to school to write musicals

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM?

∆O, Steel Band, Flute Lessons

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community?

I love the gentle atmosphere that gives Miami a sense of security and beauty that allows creativity to flow so much easier than a city would.

Favourite genre?
Romance, musicals, serious (thinking) books.

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way?

Eh, more annoyed by the red lines underneath the word, haha.

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)?

I look for a realness. I don't want to know I'm reading. I want to feel like I'm observing someone's life, and I want to connect to it.

Any other words of wisdom?

Not all writing has to be about the big issues. Sometimes writing about everyday life can change someone's life forever.

To apply...

To be a part of PRiSM, please email prismmu@gmail.com.
Our only requirements are open-mindedness, willingness to read and discuss, and attendence whenever possible (because life happens).
Freshman and non-english majors encouraged to join!

Staff Bios-- Erin

Name: Erin Birmingham

Major and/or career goals?- English Literature. Honestly, I would love to work in a publishing house.

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM?- I have dance parties and watch really girly movies with my friends. Other than that I am kind of a bum!

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community?- Oh, that is easy. I love that the Oxford community has the most amazing choices of food! You can get just about anythiing you want and they deliver!

Favourite genre? -Comedy and Satire

Favourite author? -Kurt Vonnegut and Jane Austen. I can't pick just one.

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way? -Yes

What do you look for in a good story (poem, essay, etc)?- I think that the best stories out there are ones that people can relate to. I know that may sound cheesy, but if you read something and cannot connect to it, it falls flat.

What else do you want people to know about you?- I love mac & cheese, and I can be slightly sarcastic.

Any other words of wisdom?- Always say please and thank you. It may be a cliche but those words can get you far

Staff Bios-- Christine

Name
Christine Montelione

Major and/or career goals?
Creative writing and exercise science

What are you involved in outside of PRiSM?
Running club, Alpha Phi Omega, IDEA, Outdoor Adventure Club

What do you think is the best thing about Miami or the Oxford Community?
Campus

Favourite genre?
Contemporary Fiction?

Favourite author?
Sarah Dessen? No clue... I'm the worst english major ever

Annoyed by spelling favourite the British way?
yes

Any other words of wisdom?
"It's all about soul" (na na na naaaaaa)