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Makowski, Ray

Talk With Your Hands

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College of DuPage

The Courier, VOL 42 NO 1 9-5-2008

https://dc.cod.edu/courier_slideshow/1004/thumbnail.jp

The Courier, vol 18 no 2 10-12-1984

Krebaum, Joseph

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 42 Number 2 Article 12 
Spring 5-1-2020 
Nerve Pizza 
Joseph Krebaum 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Krebaum, Joseph (2020) "Nerve Pizza," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 42 : No. 2 , Article 12. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/12 
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has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Nerve Pizza                                              Joseph Krebaum
I felt my nerves slip out of my greasy hand. 
They pulled apart and outstretched themselves
as if they were made of melted mozzarella cheese. 
I watched my own dislocation of bone, 
deterioration of muscle, snapping of tendons 
and cracking of ligaments in horror, 
as I degenerated into a heap, 
sprawling across the mental pan, 
an inconceivable oozing liquid that used to be me. 
 Then the rain started to fall. 
Light sprinkles of pepper, 
showers of rosemary and thyme, 
and dusty garlic blowing a blinding sandstorm, 
seasoning layers of meaty muscle tissue of which was to be 
baked 
into my thin flesh along with my spliced tendons 
and my severed limbs under those strings of nerves 
which will soon be tugged at, 
broken down and digested 
by some unearthly 
cannibal.         
   
You.
7
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Krebaum: Nerve Pizza
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English

Nerve Pizza

Ziemer, R. G.

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 42 Number 2 Article 26 
Spring 5-1-2020 
Trailer Park Incident 
R. G. Ziemer 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Ziemer, R. G. (2020) "Trailer Park Incident," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 42 : No. 2 , Article 26. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/26 
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Trailer Park Incident                                     R. G. Ziemer
Fading daylight
wicks from the sky,
night tar thick and sticky
between trailers where moonlight
ought to be.
A big man walks with a small dog,
footsteps crunching on the gravel road.
Shadows leap from Christmas lights
and something happens down in the dark 
some big dog tears from his owner’s leash 
or a woman feels a fist
or a man’s betrayed.
Something unexpected
Something brutal and bloody.
Shouts, accusations and curses ring out.
And a lone voice cries
“How could you?”
The dog whimpers
and the man entreats
“How could you do that?”
Panic and rush,
slapping doors 
as the neighbors descend from their decks to the road.
Car doors slam, engines roar,
headlight angels fly across the porch screens.
Deep into the night they intone through the darkness,
the pissh of a beer can,
glow of a cigarette,
murmur of voices,
all wondering
How?
How could you?
21
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Trailer Park Incident

Campbell, Timothy L.

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 42 Number 2 Article 45 
Spring 5-1-2020 
A Hunting Horn 
Timothy L. Campbell 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Campbell, Timothy L. (2020) "A Hunting Horn," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 42 : No. 2 , Article 45. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/45 
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
A Hunting Horn                             Timothy L. Campbell
  
A hunting horn,
Loud somewhere far away,
But faint here, mournful
All is dark and damp
Mossy trees, slick stones
Crumbling mushrooms
Again, but louder here: the horn
And the pulse quickens
If there was light,
The exhausted exhaust of breath
Could be seen raging
Into nothingness
But there is not.
So, in darkness,
While the path could be near,
Or far, or even underfoot,
The horn grows louder still
41
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A Hunting Horn

Houghton, Amber

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 42 Number 2 Article 56 
Spring 5-1-2020 
Serial Apologetic 
Amber Houghton 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Houghton, Amber (2020) "Serial Apologetic," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 42 : No. 2 , Article 56. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/56 
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has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Serial Apologetic                                 Amber Houghton
55
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Houghton: Serial Apologetic
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Serial Apologetic

Malone, Fin

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 42 Number 2 Article 64 
Spring 5-1-2020 
66 
Fin Malone 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Malone, Fin (2020) "66," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 42 : No. 2 , Article 64. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/64 
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has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
66                                                                       Fin Malone
Grandma said she remembered a road, a feel, and a taste ready to unfold.
You listen, she said, they sold ‘em kicks on the Mother Road ‘til it got sick
of seein’ fellers gettin’ kicked to the curb. It was hell for them.
See, Mother was a paled face man with a gun in his hand sayin’ blackie can’t you read?
And it’s a road for those to escape from the Bowl, a sad time indeed.
They rode out West singin’ I ain’t got no home in this world anymore.
And that’s the feelin’ that you just ignore, it’s too much for you.
So, you rode the road singin’ I ain’t got no home, and in the wind I roam!
Well, that’s what I did,
and trust me, if you wish to see ghosts, come, get your fix on sixty-six.
Grandma said, the road was worn by the trucks and troops ‘til it crumbled away.
And it was there for the lost when they returned deaf from a genocidal rage,
And there when peace was outside the door, but blood was inside the walls.
It was there for the country folk, old West, mountains and city breeze.
And when you visit its grave today, it’s not a road;
it’s just people and places, all gone now.
With remnants of time and old cultural sorrow,
it’s for you when you’re lost and you’re losing every battle.
and soon you’ll be chasing nothing but your shadow.
For you, when the wind blows east, and you’re never pleased,
You’ll see silhouette hallucinations because you lost all
sense of time and space and
which way is this and where are you going?
You’re lost in the vast and you’re slowly fading to a shadow of the past and
the grave is waiting for the same thing we all are;
to be churned in the cauldron of progress;
to be made asphalt for road;
to be chopped into food for the living;
to be philosophized by the obese brains of an intellectual.
            And the same could be said for the road itself.
out in the desert, you’re there, you’re observing
and now you’ve truly faded and- you ain’t worth savin’ -and the rain starts and the road 
     melts away and it’s just you in a cave with faces in your mind and they’re gone
and you’re gone and
in the wind you roam and–
well, if you wish to see ghosts, come get your fix on sixty-six.
70
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Malone: 66
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A modern practice that has a negative impact on the environment that many take part in everyday without even knowing, is ‘factory farming’. ‘Factory farming’ is the practice of large-scale production of livestock or crops that are used to compensate for the exponentially growing population and the demand for ready-made meals at a low cost. This paper examines the reason for the transition from sustainable agriculture to factory farming, its environmental impacts, and what corporations are benefitting at the expense of the environment. Explanations are given to support the abolishment of such harmful and unethical practices like ‘factory farming’ in hopes of educating the public about the dangers of supporting the industry through buying their products

Fletcher, Gillian

College of DuPage 
DigitalCommons@COD 
Biology Student Scholarship Biology 
11-21-2020 
Factory Farming: Polluting the Environment by Supplying one 
McDonald’s at a Time 
Gillian Fletcher 
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 Part of the Biology Commons 
Gillian Fletcher  
Professor James Kerfin  
Environmental Biology  
21 November 2020 
 
Factory Farming: Polluting the Environment by Supplying one McDonald’s at a Time  
 
 The days of small, family-owned farms that grew and produced enough meat, milk, corn, 
and other products to support local communities are long over. Instead, they have been replaced 
by large, industrial like ‘farms’ with thousands of acres of land and enormous herds of livestock. 
The yield of meat and crops that industrial farms are able to produce is far greater than the 
capabilities of production of a traditional farm, but there is an alarming reason for this difference. 
The initial creation of industrial farms was to meet the demands of fast-food restaurants, which 
have come to support and feed exponentially growing populations. The need for large quantities 
of ingredients at a low price-point all but shut out the small farms that safely and sustainably fed 
their communities for generations.  
 Industrial farms operate based on increasing their bottom line, while still managing to 
produce an unnatural yield of meat and crops to distribute across the nation. The reasons behind 
their ability to create and grow crops and meat, at a factory like speed, is due to the amount of 
chemicals used to maximize crop yields, and the combination of the use of anti-biotics and 
unnatural, but significantly more affordable conditions, for maintaining livestock. According to 
the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) “the large-scale, intensive production of crops 
and animals, often involving chemical fertilizers on crops or the routine, harmful use of 
antibiotics in animals (as a way to compensate for filthy conditions, even when the animals are 
not sick)… [industrial farming] may also involve crops that are genetically modified, heavy use 
of pesticides, and other practices that deplete the land, mistreat animals, and increase various 
forms of pollution” (NRDC). These “various forms of pollution” (NRDC) include water, air, and 
land pollution that all contribute to an unhealthy environment.  
 Industrial farming has several detrimental effects on the environment. One of the most 
harmful aspects to the environment is the use of genetically modified organisms, commonly 
referred to as GMO’s. The use of GMO’s requires chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides to 
be used to prevent crop loss and increase the longevity/survivability of the plant. When the 
selection of individual, desirable genes in a crop plant were modified and reproduced artificially 
in a lab, then later developed into millions of seeds that contain identical genetic makeups, it 
excluded the natural capabilities of a plant to survive conditions that threaten its being. “When 
herbicides are continually sprayed, there is a high selective pressure on the weed populations. 
Resistant populations arise from random mutations within individuals that happen to survive the 
herbicide treatments” (Neves et al.). Not only are new weed species arising due to the continual 
use of targeted herbicides, but the crops and food being produced and consumed are now 
exposed to chemicals that are potentially detrimental to human health.  
 Another harmful effect of industrial farming and agriculture on the environment, is the 
inhumane and unnatural environments in which livestock are kept. Industrial farms create issues 
regarding both land and water pollution. To streamline ‘care’ and manage expenses, livestock are 
often kept in large, concrete buildings with sewer like drainage systems to remove animal waste. 
These drainage systems, which remove animal waste, dispose of it into nearby, man-made pits 
[otherwise known as lagoons] in the land. Often times, the runoff leads to the pollution of water 
supplies. “… waste-containment areas often leak and, during large storms, can rupture. To 
dispose of the waste, CAFOs [concentrated animal feeding operations] spray this manure onto 
farm fields. The environmental damage from spraying and from leaking, ruptured lagoons can be 
devastating. Surface and groundwater contamination (serious threats to aquatic ecosystems) and 
excessive nitrates in drinking water (serious threats to public health) stem from CAFO pollution. 
Animal waste can also include pharmaceutical residues, heavy metals (like copper and zinc) and 
harmful bacteria, which can leach into water supplies” (“How Industrial”). The extensive 
pollution and damage to the environment alone from the contamination of water sources and 
fields created by these industrial farms furthers cause for alarm.  
 Industrial farms operate based on increasing their bottom line while meeting the demands 
of consumers to produce large quantities of meat/crops. To identify the main consumers who 
perpetuate the growth and support of these industrial farms would be to name the thousands of 
fast-food restaurants that our nation has come to rely on to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 
365 days a year, all for a low cost. Corporations such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, 
and Wendy’s are able to provide meals at incredibly low prices because of the lack of 
responsible sourcing of their ingredients such as meat, dairy, and corn. If legislation and 
guidelines were implemented in hopes of changing the current methods of industrial farming, 
such as not allowing the mass production of GMO’s or banning the use of pesticides/herbicides, 
these large and influential fast-food companies would join together to challenge it. Several 
solutions that would enable sustainable agriculture to thrive exist, but they all come with a price. 
Industrial farming has successfully eliminated virtually all the costs that sustainable agriculture 
producers incur which make their products more expensive. However, these costly practices are 
what make the crops and livestock safe for both the environment and people. For example, 
rotating the type of crop grown in a field as well as not planting fields for a year in order for the 
soil to regain nutrients, would cost industrial farms both time and money, something they avoid 
at all costs. These practices are common in sustainable and have been practiced by responsible 
farmers for hundreds of years. 
Responsible farmers and organizations understand that for food to be produced safely and 
humanely, there are certain costs that are unavoidable when seeking quality. Smaller, organic 
farms that focus on minimizing their environmental footprint, while still producing crops that can 
supply grocery stores and restaurants with quality ingredients, are key to irradicating the practice 
of industrial farming. Despite the increased costs of crops, and the subsequent increase in 
product price, the positive impact it would have on human health and the environment makes the 
costs justifiable. Although it is possible to mitigate some of the damage that industrial farming 
has done to the environment through legislation and imposing stricter rules, the most effective 
way to bring an end to industrial farms would be through a tremendous amount of consumer 
protest. The most clear and impactful way to reach the attention of the people who run these 
industrial farms is to decrease their profits. If unanimous consumer choices were made to avoid 
spending money at any restaurant that purchases from industrial farms, such as McDonald’s, a 
real impact could be made.  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Works Cited 
"How Industrial Agriculture Affects Our Water." FoodPrint, GRACE Communications 
Foundation, foodprint.org/issues/how-industrial-agriculture-affects-our-water/. Accessed 
23 Nov. 2020. 
Neves, Jessica, et al. "Environmental Impacts of GMOS." Debating Science, U Of 
MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST, 20 Apr. 2016, blogs.umass.edu/natsci397a-
eross/environmental-impact-of-gmos/. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020. 
NRDC. "Industrial Agriculture 101." Natural Resources Defense Council, 31 Jan. 2020, 
www.nrdc.org/stories/industrial-agriculture-101. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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Talk With Your Hands

The Courier, VOL 42 NO 1 9-5-2008

The Courier, vol 18 no 2 10-12-1984

Nerve Pizza

Trailer Park Incident

A Hunting Horn

Serial Apologetic

66

Factory Farming: Polluting the Environment by Supplying one McDonald’s at a Time

Remarks by COD President Dr. Brian W. Caputo

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