Discourse in Appalachia

I think that the current discourse about Appalachia is the same as it's always been. The bottom line is, people will not change their stereotypes on Appalachian people until they have the opportunity to meet them in person and hear THEIR perspective. We were fortunate enough to have some students from the region visit our classroom and tell us their side. I think one of most interesting points that they noted was that Appalachia is a matriarchal society. If a man hits a woman, she is expected to hit him back. When we watched Justified, Mags was the head honcho of her family and community, even though she was an older woman. I find this interesting, because in typical American culture, you would associate men as the dominant leader. On a national level, I feel that Appalachia is most popular in conversations about mountaintop removal mining. When the students came in to talk to our class, they discussed how mountains were their way of finding comfort in isolation. They stressed how mountains are an important geographical aspect of their lives, it's hard to imagine people coming in and tearing them apart.

Exploratory Essay

My research paper was on incest in Appalachia. Because incest is such a common stereotype for Appalachia, I figured that there would be a vast amount of research done on the subject. However, this was not the case. I really had to look hard to find articles or research studies on inbreeding. In fact, I found so little research on the internet and in the library, that I had to use a live interview as one of my sources. My roommate's mother is an ER doctor in Chillicothe, and I spoke to her about some of the cases she has witnessed that deal with incest. After my paper, I realize that there is little factual evidence that inbreeding is more prevalent in Appalachia compared to the rest of the country. There was a time when marrying cousins was common, but that was earlier in the 1900s. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to look deeper into this topic, because this particular case was a stereotype that has been factually proven false.

Education in Appalachia

For my research essay I choose the topic of Education in Appalachia. I have learned a few things throughout the research. I started off with this assumption that the graduation rates were extremely low but it ended up being that only about 30% of students in the Appalachian region don't graduate from high school. I thought it was going to be a number in like the 60's at least. We have this assumption that Appalachians are just these hill-billy folks that don't care about anything in the world but I have also learned that the percentage of Appalachians that go to college and receive a bachelors degree is pretty decent, a lot higher that what I would have guessed. Throughout my research I have also learned a lot about Title 1 funding and what it takes to be eligible to receive the funding. But my biggest concern with all my research was not about how much money that schools are getting or where the money was going within the school but with the fact that congressmen want our students to be 100% proficient on their tests in the 2013-2014 school year. This just absolutely blows my mind. There is no way possible that is ever going to happen. There is no way that you can make every student excel and get perfect scores in every area being tested. I'm pretty sure that if some of these congressmen went back and took these test that they want us to be 100% proficient at, I guarantee they would not be 100% proficient.


My thinking on this topic has not changed significantly. I did come in thinking that the graduation rates were extremely low but I also came in knowing that the Education system in Appalachia was very poor. I as a future teacher want to help change these statistics. I want to help increase the graduation rate. I want these students to be focused on their school work and do well and school. I know for a fact my students are not going to be getting 100%'s on everything, but I do want to push them to get there, I want them to want to achieve that goal but I am not going to punish them for not and neither should the government by taking away their school's funding.

Exploratory Research Essay

For my exploratory research paper, my topic is hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.  I’ve found a lot of different sources, but the majority of them have been great YouTube videos with quality content.  Some of these videos include local news articles, TV show episodes, and informative videos from various media networks.  The videos include good interviews with people who are involved or something to do with fracking.  I’m finding good information on both sides of the topic.  Though I am strongly against fracking, I am finding a lot of good qualities about it, but my views on the topic are still not changing.  I’ve learned a lot more than I did prior to writing the paper and I hope the paper reflects the information I’ve found.  Above is a depiction of the fracking process.

A Little Family History

A story that I have always found interesting that has been passed down in my family starts with how both sides of my dad's parents came to America by illegally leaving their country.  On my father's mother's side, my great grandmother came over from Ukraine with a women from her town that she barley knew.  She was not old enough to be traveling without a parent or family member, but her family only had enough money to send her across seas.  So she had to lie about her age, she was only 12 at the time, and she made the trip with an elderly women that she pretended was her grandmother. 

Then on my father's dad's side, my great grandfather, Giuseppe Gerbino who was from San Fratello, Sicily, Italy fled to the United States.  Giuseppe Gerbino was taking firewood from the national forest, which was against the law.  At that time if you went into a prison in Sicily you probably did not come out alive.  Luckily, his father and my great-great grandfather Salvitor Gerbino was the village blacksmith, a man of great influence in the village, and was able to get his son out of the country on a cattle boat.  Giuseppe Gerbino then arrived at age 17 with only $12 in his pocket in the United States on April 02, 1904.  He then settled in Cleveland, Ohio where he met his future wife, Bededetta Morello, who happened to also come from San Fratello, Sicily. Guiseppe opened a shoe repair shop (we still have the old register used in the shop in my basement).  Guiseppe and Bededetta had four children, one being my grandfather Joseph Gerbino.  My grandfather was the first to finish high school in his family.

Joseph married my grandmother, Helen Hladysh, who was Ukrainian, in 1942 and they had three children.  My dad was the oldest of their three children and was really pushed to succeed.  Both of his parents constantly reminded him of what his grandparents risked for their future family to come to the United States.  My dad took their family stories very seriously and  worked very hard to be the first person in his family to go to college and continued his education by going to law school.

This story is very important to my family because without our ancestors and our parents pushing us, we would not be the people we are today.  So while my mom always jokes that my dad comes from a family of liars and fugitives he always just laughs back and says "thats what makes me such a good attorney".   

Family Sailing Story of 2008

In the summer of 2008, my dad, brother, two family friends Doug and Tom, and I embarked on a 60 plus mile sail from Chicago to South Haven, MI. My father owns a sailboat, so these types of excursions are common. On a lazy August evening we departed, leaving the Chicago skyline and fireworks from Radiohead at Lollapalooza behind. Before we knew it, we’d encountered our first problem – a treacherous V-shaped storm quickly emerged from the night sky. We found ourselves in a downpour, so my dad sent everyone downstairs while he braved it out at the helm. After considering turning around and ending the trip – we decided against it, and soon enough the storm passed.

After the storm, everything seemed to be running smoothly – we had great wind pointing us right on course. My dad, my brother, Doug (my dad’s buddy) and I found ourselves engaging in great conversation until we realized that we hadn’t seen Tom in awhile. My brother poked his head into the cabin and called for Tom. No answer. Could Tom have fallen overboard without us noticing? We heavily considered this possibility, then we dispatched my brother downstairs to go look for him. After a couple minutes of searching, he found Tom asleep at the bow of the boat in the only non-visible spot in that room. We had dodged another bullet and were immediately rewarded by a cloudless, 2 AM sky filled with more stars than I’ve ever seen in my life. We were finally far away from the city lights to see a full sky of stars and it did not disappoint – I likely counted more than 200 shooting stars.

The picturesque evening ended after a couple of hours, when a fresh batch of enormous waves arrived. Of course, it was my turn to go downstairs and get some sleep. I headed to the front room, laid down, and attempt to fall asleep amidst the waves. The waves were so huge, I felt like I was being tossed up and down inside the hand of a giant. Somehow I fell asleep, but the results weren’t pretty when I woke up. I felt utterly seasick. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it. The sun had risen, so I tossed a poncho on and headed upstairs. I plopped down in the cockpit, and immediately fell asleep. I was angled in a position that blocked the huge splashes from the waves, but Doug, who was at the helm, wasn’t. So while I snoozed my way through the morning, Doug got soaked at the helm.

Finally, we arrived in South Haven, and immediately went out to breakfast. Since we’d been on a boat for twelve plus hours, we all had sea legs. Doug spilled his coffee all over himself while going for a sip, and my brother ended up running out of the café to throw up in a trash can on the street. We enjoyed the rest of the lazy day in South Haven – I proceeded to take a rough nap on the most uncomfortable spot on the boat. Soon enough, the day was over, and made plans to leave the next day. My brother and I chose to sleep in, so my dad, Doug, and Tom would depart early next morning. My brother and I were simultaneously awakened for a seven second interval around 5 AM the next morning. We heard footsteps pounding and my dad repeatedly yelling: “Doug! Doug! Doug!” Next, we heard a crashing noise and an “Aw shit!” from my dad, then we fell back asleep, with giddy, ironic smiles on our face only imagining the disaster that took place above.

I (clearly) love telling this story because it’s a decently adventurous family tale, with plenty of humor sprinkled in. Sailing is a great recreational activity that annually takes place every summer, in our family. A great part about sailing is the hilarious memories that are made on the boat. Our boat will likely (hopefully) be passed down through generations of our family, and stories like these are just as important as the story itself.  

Keep Calm and Pass this Down

                   When thinking of a story that will be passed down to my children one memorable day comes to mind. It was June 30, 1995 and I was spending the week at my Aunts because my parents were in Las Vegas. My cousin Grace and I just finished an afternoon brunch followed by a nap. We decided to go outside and run around to get some fresh air. While we were picking flowers I noticed a dog guarded by a fence next door. Being the avid dog lover that I am, I decided to go over to the fence and say hi. As I approached the fence, I noticed a chocolate lab was standing there with playful eyes. Being a four year old, my first thought was to try and pet the dog. I stuck my finger through the fence and OUCH! The chocolate lab bit off the tip of my left index finger!
                    I immediately screamed and by the look on my cousins face I could tell that something was terribly wrong. My cousin immediately ran inside to get my Aunt. My Aunt called the ambulance and got me a towel to wrap my finger in until the paramedics came. I was in shock and could not believe that a dog just bit the tip of my finger off. The ambulance came and rushed me to the nearest hospital.            The doctors rushed me into surgery, where they operated on me for 6 hours. After surgery the doctors told me that the tip of my finger could not be replaced and that I would have to live with half of my index finger gone. To this day, it still amazes me when I tell people that I have half a finger. Most people do not believe me until I show them that half of my finger is actually gone. In the future I hope to pass this vivid story down to my children and grandchildren.

                    This story is valuable to me for many reasons. First, I am left handed and had to learn how to write with half a finger. I am used to it now but it was a struggle early on in my life. Also, the accident occurred during the summer which led my parents holding me back in school to deal with the injury. This story will be valuable to others because it shows a tragedy that I had to overcome early on in my life. Although a dog bit me, I still love them to this day and have a black lab at my home.

 (My dog Willow at home)

History of Ohio University

Cutler Hall

The topic  for this post was defiantly the hardest for me to come up with thus far. Athens and Ohio University has so much history located all around it. But I think that some of the most important history is Ohio University in general. Ohio University became the first public college in the northwest territory in 1804. It was founded by a man named  Manasseh Cutler (hence Cutler Hall, which is the oldest building on campus). The University didn't open for its first classes until 1808. One of the first students to graduate form OU was Thomas Ewing and he went on to become a senator as well as a cabinet member/adviser for a few different U.S. presidents. Graduating around the same time as Ewing was John Templeton who because the first African American to graduate from Ohio University and the fourth African American to graduate from any college in the nation! Templeton-Blackburn Auditorium is actually named after the first male and female African American graduates from the University.(After doing research on the auditorium, there are a lot of famous people/musicians that have come speak/play here!). On the Ohio Alumni website ( http://www.ohioalumni.org/notable-alumni) you can find a whole list of different people who graduated from OU and went on to do big things with their life.

Thomas Ewing

Ohio University has so much history to it not only within it's physical culture but also within its people that have passed through here.

Pass it on down

It was an average day,  I was enjoying my life as a 5 year old. It was Wednesday and Wednesday meant that it was time for swimming lessons at the YMCA. Im the youngest in the family and the only boy. I have three older sisters and everyone Wednesday the four of us and my mother would go up to the YMCA for swimming lessons. However, this YMCA trip would be one like no other. Being only 5 years old I would get changed with my mother and sisters in the women's locker room for I was to young to be alone. After finishing up a great session of swimming we all returned to the locker room to get changed and gather are belongings. My sister Cheryl tapped me on the shoulder and said "hey steven can you grab my shoes out of my locker." Being the great brother that I am I got up and reached into her locker to grab her shoes. To my surprise when I tried to pull the shoes out I couldn't get out! My head was stuck! The screaming and yelling began and my whole family was tugging on me trying to get me out from the lockers tight hold. It wouldn't budge they couldn't get me out. Ladies roaming around the locker room came running to help this poor screaming boy who was stuck in the locker. I had all the ladies in the locker room trying to yank me out. Nothing was working. Eventually they had to call 911 and get a medical team there to help me get out. When they got there they too couldn't get me out, it seemed like I might be stuck in there forever. They finally resorted to ripping the lockers apart to help gain and opening so my head could slide out. I still have slight memories of that day I was stuck in that mean locker. To this day there is still a scar on the top of my head from that locker in the womens room. Now that is a story I can see myself passing down to my children!

Athens Farmer's Market history

A Farmer's Market is a fantastic way to bring a community together. I've been to several Farmer's Market events in my hometown of Louisville, KY, and a few in other cities that I've visited on vacation. I think that they're a great excuse to meet the people who live in the area and see what kind of agriculture thrives in that particular city. The Athens Farmer's Market started in 1972 and is still growing in 2012. Athen's county is not necessarily prime-farming territory; the land is hilly, and the soil is worn due to extraction of timber and coal. However, common fruits and vegetables (and some that are more unique) can still be grown seasonally.
The Farmer's Market started with vendors selling produce in metered areas of downtown Athens. Because this created conflict with popular Athen's street vendors, the Market was moved to East State Street (by the city park, near the tennis courts) where it has stayed permanently. Each vendor was intially charged $3 a day, or $25 a season. Now, vendors are charged $80 per stall, $130 for 1.5 stalls, or $200 for two stalls. Needless to say, the Market's attendance has skyrocketed since the 1970s.
The Athen's Farmer's Market is a good way for Ohio University students to stay in touch with the Athens community outside of OU. It is brimming with community issues, live music, and delcious fruits, vegetables, and crafts from the area. I look forward to attending the Farmer's Market repeatedly during my time at OU.

Passing Down Through Generations

     When my father was a young boy, my grandfather took him to see President Dwight D. Eisenhower (the president at the time). Being young and short, my grandfather hoisted my dad onto his shoulders to see over the crowd. They had gotten there early enough to ensure that my dad got a close view of the president. After his speech, President Eisenhower reached out with stretched arms and shook my fathers hand.
     That memory stuck with my dad forever, and he wanted me to endure that same experience. So, when I was young, about 6 at the time, my father took me to see President Bill Clinton in Columbus. We, like he had with his father, got there early enough so I could get a close view. He hoisted me onto his shoulders, and as President Clinton's speech ended, I reached out just enough to shake his hand. This is something I want to pass down; Not just the story, but the experience of being so young and small, and shaking hands with the leader of the country. 

The Ridges: Athens History

I've always thought The Ridges were an important part of Athens' history. Besides piquing the interest of many of those curious about the supposed hauntings that take place there, The Ridges have a fascinating story behind them that I was able to dig up at forgottenoh.com.
Some of the stories from The Ridges are really interesting to look back on. One I was able to find was about how the center often performed lobotomies and killed a whole bunch of people. Often, patients would reach through the bars of their rooms and carve anonymous words on window sills - apparently one, still there, reads "I was never crazy." That's reassuring. (Pardon my sarcasm.)
I think that The Ridges are an important part of Athens' history because they had such an impact on the town itself. Among other affects, when the hospital closed, the homeless rate skyrocketed because they simply let the patients go. This is an important part of Athens' history because the thinking back then equated to this hospital is so different from how we would deal with mental illness today that it's important to learn from our past.

Pass Dis Down

One story I would like to have passed down is the story of how my family ended up in the United States. In the summer of 1999, my dad was transferred to work in Ohio. After selling our house to my aunt and uncle and months of packing we finally were on to america. After a 8 hour flight we landed on July 3rd on a humid, 100 degree heat. The day before there had been a tornado in Cincinnati, which frightened the crap out of me. I had no idea why my parents had decided to move us to a tornado prone area. Around 1890 my family from Lithuania (eastern europe) decided to move to America. However after being on a boat for so long, when the boat docked in England, my lithuanian family decided england was good enough, why keep going. And from then on my family was english. We were suppose to only stay for 3 years, then it changed to 7, then we got green cards, and then social security. I am still not a citizen, and I have lived here for 13 years now. I dont see myself leaving anytime soon, so down the line, I would like my future family to know how we ended up in this country.