May
22
A Class on Blogs- A Blog on Class
May 22, 2008 | | Leave a Comment
First: A big thank you all for participating and contributing to this class. It has been a real pleasure to teach you. It is not in every course that you get to discuss ‘Tree Man’ and ‘Gossip.com’ in the same class. I hope you enjoyed the variety as much as I did.
Second:
Here is the criteria you need to follow in writing your final blog for this class. Even though the points below are bulleted, you need to write in prose format. Part of how you will be evaluated will be on the quality of writing, which we have emphasized. Also, be aware that as I speak with other educators about this course I may share our collection of blogs as either a model or in soliciting critique.
Required parts of the last blog (the structure is suggested implicitly):
What was your expectation of this class when coming in? What value do you expect to gain?
How did what we do differ from your expectation? What value did you gain?
Explain the style of writing we worked on throughout the semester. Referring to a specific post from your blog (by title and date) that you feel best exemplifies the standard and format with which we worked, discuss how that piece of writing exemplifies that standard. Be specific when articulating how the topic connects to you personally, how it has broader appeal, and how it meets the standard of writing and audience appeal we have established.
Lastly, discuss this class specifically as an elective for senior spring. Would you recommend it? Why? Be specific. Bear in mind that we are trying to design a course that withstands the pressure of senior malaise (not succumb to it) and meet a standard of rigor while offering content that has inherent interest and value. Given that improvements can we make as to organization, content, etc.?
Third:
This blog must be posted no later than 1pm, Tuesday, May 27, 2008. If you experience a technical difficulty that prevents you from posting you must deliver a hard copy to me at no later than 1:30pm on the same day in Lyndon South. Failure to meet this deadline will result in a ‘0′ being awarded for the exam portion of your grade. I know none of you would dream of missing the deadline, but such conditions should be articulated. Good luck and I look forward to enjoying your blogs.
May
16
This just in . . .
May 16, 2008 | | 4 Comments
Here are some links to stories that relate to things we have discussed.
This story, about a 49 year-old mother who has been arrested and charged in contributing to the suicide of a teen in Missouri, relates to our discussions of the power and responsibility inherent in the Net, the vulnerability created by using a tool you may not be skilled in using (our analogy of driving a car without the skill to do so), and the increase in accountability incurred by action on the Net. Many talking points here.
MySpace Bullying has no age limit.
AND
So our dock isn’t covered with water . . . yet.
May
16
The democratizing effect of modern technology.
May 16, 2008 | | 7 Comments
Nothing can stop it - the blog?
Thoughts on the ever-mutating Web life form
We read this op/ed that appeared in the Boston Globe, and we highlighted phrases that caught our attention. Here are our number one picks from those spotlights.
“. . . democratizing effect of modern technology.”
“Blogs are wildly imperfect, and therein lies their beauty, because they are wildly authentic . . . ”
“But mostly they wander, searching for a ” ‘new way to dream.’ ”
“. . . by 2011, 80 percent of Internet users will maintain an avatar in a virtual world.”
“There are approximately 100 million blogs. Of that number 15 million are active.”
“They are irreducible egos containing multitudes.”
“The combined annual revenue from virtual worlds is projected to hit $19.3 billion within two years.”
“. . . There are more residents of the South Korean games Lineage and Lineage ll than there are residents of Ireland.”
“. . . they now have as much claim to our attention as television’s talking heads.”
“This postmodern ‘global village, populated by millions,’ is often distinctly introverted.”
“. . . one of the true beauties and powers of blogs is to give voice to people who are not heard.”
“Through the late 1990s, blogging was a fringe sport, the realm of self-proclaimed geeks and malcontents.”
May
12
Guest Blog- Seeing is Believing
May 12, 2008 | | 6 Comments
I enjoyed Mr. Johnson’s chapel talk very much, but I thought it appropriate to post here because it raises some issues we’ve discussed in class. Also, because it is written for a different venue, it is interesting to compare with our writing and other writing we’ve seen on the web.
After you read Mr. Johnson’s speech, listen to this one that also contains the phrase, “seeing is believing.”
This is a new era, a new age! Gone are the days of “Hurry, hurry step right up. You gotta see it to believe it.” Nowadays, seeing is no longer believing, and I blame the media for this shift in the mindset of the masses. We have been relentlessly bombarded with scripted reality shows, made up statistics, scientific “discoveries”, retouched pictures, and slanted images to the point that we have become jaded; “Believe nothing you see and question everything” is the new mantra. Everyone is a skeptic these days; visual proof simply is not enough to convince people that what they see is real. But who’s really the mastermind behind this assault? David Copperfield, master illusionist. I used to think that David Copperfield was the Devil. What other explanation can one offer as to how he is able to do the things that he does? I mean, for real, this joker vanished the Statue of Liberty, walked through the Great Wall of China, survived a plunge over Niagara Falls, levitated across the Grand Canyon, and hung ten stories from burning ropes above a bed of flaming spikes, the escape that not even Houdini would attempt. C’mon! Are you serious? It’s no wonder that we can dismiss inexplicable events as impossible. People have become so disillusioned by illusions, so trained to look for the hidden wires, hydraulic lifts, and trap doors that they no longer trust their eyes. We have been led to believe that there are no mysteries, no true magic, no miracles. Well, I have seen some incomprehensible things in my brief time on this planet and it is because of those experiences that I adhere to the age-old adage, “seeing is believing.”
I remember playing hide and seek one night, back in the Stone Age circa 1982, with my siblings. I was 8; my brother, Khary, was 2 and my sister, Tasha, was 3. I was it. I counted to 20 and then the hunt was on. I easily found my sister; she was hiding in my mother’s bedroom, but for the life of me, I could not find my brother. I searched high and low, but to no avail. I recall thinking to myself, “Dang. This kid is good!” However, after about 5 minutes of fruitless hardcore searching I became worried. In my mounting angst I declared, “Game over. Come out, come out wherever you are.” But my brother did not respond. So I really started to get freaked out. I went to my mother and asked her if she had seen my brother, but she hadn’t. I started to panic. He’s small. He could be trapped in a cabinet or under a bed (never mind the fact that I had already searched under all the beds and in the cabinets). Oh, My God. What am I going to tell my mom? I’m the one who suggested we play this game and I lost the kid. In the midst of my turmoil, I heard a knock at the door. “Who could be knocking on the door at this hour?” I went to the door and asked, “Who is it?” No answer. I asked again, and being a kid, I opened the door without waiting for a response. I will never forget what I saw when I opened the door should I live to be 103. My brother was standing at the door profusely bleeding from his head and face. I struggled to put the pieces of this puzzle together. How did my brother wind up outside of the house, bleeding, and hurt? Images become blurred now; I know my mother came to see what I was carrying on about (because I let loose a blood curdling howl), but I don’t remember her calling 911 or the paramedics coming to the house to get my brother. I just remember him standing in the doorway. Little. Fragile. Clinging to life. So what happened? How did my brother wind up knocking on our door? Apparently, he decided to hide in my bedroom window on the sill during our game; however, I guess he pressed up against the screen a little too hard and the screen gave way. We lived on the third floor. Think about this: my brother was two, had just fallen three stories to the ground below, yet he was able to get up, walk around the building in the dark, climb three flights of stairs, and knock on the correct door all in, what I can only imagine, a dazed condition. I am still amazed to this day by this near tragedy, but what’s even more remarkable, more awesome, is that Khary was out of the hospital in under a week; the only injuries he sustained were a broken jaw and a concussion. The doctors say he was lucky. I say, “We witnessed a miracle.”
The phone rang one night; it was the year 2000 and fairly late in the evening; whenever my phone rings after a certain hour, I become a bit nervous. It was my mother, and she had bad news. She informed me that my father was in the hospital because he had suffered a severe stroke. Although I hadn’t seen or spoken to my father in many moons, I was devastated by this announcement. He’s only 47, how is this possible? Is my father really going to die? C’mon, it can’t be that bad can it? After I pulled myself together, if only for a moment, I drove over with Mrs. J to my mom’s house to pick my mother and brothers. All five of us piled in my little black car and traveled up to Bronx Lebanon Hospital to do as the doctors advised, say goodbye. The first thing I noticed when I entered my father’s room was how swollen his head was. It was unbelievable. The second thing I noticed was how still he was. I thought to myself, “this cannot be the way it ends. I refuse to say goodbye.” So when it was my turn to have a moment alone with him, I held his hand and I told simply told him to fight. I don’t know if my father heard me in his comatose state, but I had to believe that my words would somehow get through to him. It was touch and go for a while, but my father survived; he is currently on the mend. His speech and mobility have improved tremendously, he is even able to live on his own. However, the fact that he is alive is not the true miracle. The miracle has been the rebuilding of our relationship. By the time my father suffered his stroke, I had reached a point in my life where I didn’t call him to shoot the breeze, or seek his counsel when it came to life and marital issues. I never invited him to come visit my wife and me in our home. We rarely spoke. I didn’t need him at all. But I was wrong. In hindsight I recognize that I needed him then as I need him now. Since then, he and I have built a new relationship, albeit an unconventional one, but a relationship nonetheless. Even more noteworthy, he has been able to strengthen his bond with my sisters and one of my brothers. It is through my father and brother’s experiences that I have been able to make a profound discovery. I have seen the hand of God.
Bill McCartney, founder of the Promise Keepers men’s ministry and former University of Colorado football coach, writes, “It boggles my mind that someone can see life breathed into a baby, watch grass die and then come to life again, see leaves fall and watch the rebirth of a tree, or gaze on any of the majestic splendor that is this earth and not be overpowered by the presence of an Almighty God.” I agree with Bill 100%. Every day I am overpowered by the Lord’s presence. I believe in God. I don’t believe in Him because all my life I have been told that there is a God. I didn’t need the preacher man’s sermons to enlighten me and expose me to His presence. I don’t believe because I grew up attending church. I don’t believe because I went to Vacation Bible School as a youngster just about every summer I can remember. I don’t believe in God because the Bible says I should. No, folks, I believe in God because I have seen His works, benefited from His grace, and been nurtured by His love. There is evidence of His existence all around us. When I look at all of you here, I see His handiwork. Believe it or not, God has revealed His presence to each and every person seated in this chapel. You don’t believe me? You woke up this morning. You live and breathe. You have food to eat, clothes on your backs, and roofs over your heads. But of course the cynic says, “I accomplished all these things on my own. These things are the fruits of my labor.” The cynic would rather come up with logical theories and scientific explanations for events and phenomena because he is uncomfortable with the notion that there is a higher power out there, in here, everywhere. Folks, I’ve seen a little boy survive and a dead relationship come back to life; however, I bet you that same cynic would see my miracles as extremely outstanding or unusual events or accomplishments as opposed to how I view them. Miracles are extraordinary events that manifest divine intervention. Unlike the magic of Mr. Copperfield, if that’s really his name, these events are not the products of some conjurer’s sleight of hand. These two episodes are testaments of God’s work. This morning I challenge everyone here to open his or her eyes, and allow him or herself to view the wonders and miracles of the Lord because “seeing is truly believing.”
May
6
What are you going to do with the Globe in your hands?
May 6, 2008 | Tagged community, control, environment, global, individual, internet, responsibility, youth | 11 Comments
“Many have asked, “Why is it important to involve young people in decision-making?”
National governments fail when their citizens no longer respond to them. Engaging people, as citizens, is a challenge all over the world.” Youth in Global Decision Making
Our review of topics and thinking these last couple of days demonstrated the connectivity inherent to many of the items we see covered in public media forums. While much of it is packaged to have the ‘wow’ effect, the substantive stuff reverberates with similar themes of how the big stuff I see effects me and how the little stuff I do relates to the big stuff.
For example, discussions about politics would be nothing more than a caste war if most of us did not have at least some concern for the community as a whole, if we were not willing to sacrifice some of our own well-being for someone else. If it were just about me, I would not support anyone who is running for president because none of them have just my well-being in mind.
The Internet came up a lot these past two days, as did the environment, and in many ways these two topics are very much alike. They both get discussed as global issues having dramatic effect on individuals around the world. There is a sense of chaos about both of them and yet we also talk about enacting some control over them.
How can you have a tool for free speech as powerful as the Internet and still avoid wasting energy on the nonsense? This morning I reviewed 2000 bogus emails in my mail filter and found one email that I actually should have received. The fact that I need that email and others like it means that I need to take a stroll every other day through what used to be restricted to back alley red light districts: purveyors of all kinds of anatomical enhancements, cheap drugs (ironically these drugs are legally sold and transported over borders), and invitations that are just inappropriate to send someone you don’t know. It used to be you could avoid this part of town but now it arrives everyday in my Inbox. How does limiting the time of my shower everyday going to save Africa from drought? I love water, and I do not want to worry about whether it will make me sick. My chest tightens when I see mothers and babies caught in war zones or natural disasters unable to access clean water and nutritious food. I don’t focus on how blessed I am. I focus on how helpless and pained they must feel listening to their children suffer for lack of basic sustenance. I want to help them.
There is a powerful dynamic tension in our times. It could easily overwhelm us and it will if we, as individuals, do not get skilled at striking a balance for ourselves and for our communities. Individual behavior on the Internet is much, much louder than it is anywhere else. Everyone’s attitude toward energy efficiency is likewise getting louder because it isn’t enough to rely on the oddball hippies down the street to do all the recycling in our community. No one has the luxury anymore of not educating himself and making a decision. Failure in that regard contributes to failure for everyone. If we do not organize our energy consumption and waste management as communities, if each person does not buy in, then we will not accomplish much.
In a sense, the environment, where an individual’s conservation by itself has little effect, is an inverse of the Internet, where an individual can be as loud as she wants to be with little personal consequence (campus gossip sites). On the internet we have a powerful tool where an individual can do a lot of damage (i.e. pro-anorexia sites) and with the environment we have a huge problem where even a loud effort may not solve much (ask Juneau, Alaska residents). Yet, together they seem to be the dynamic foci of our time.
The answer, I think, lies in this tension, somehow.
Apr
29
The Earth is too big for us to change
April 29, 2008 | | 10 Comments
We had a lively discussion today in response to the “We Missed Earth Day” post, specifically the article entitled, “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” Some folks said that the cynical idea purporting that individual action is of no consequence because of its scale in the great scheme of planetary gargantua has no merit because of the well established tradition of individual catalysts sparking massive change in recorded human history (i.e. Alexander the Great, Columbus, Martin Luther King, not to mention Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, Mohammed, Chingis Khan, etc.). Good point, Tory.
We had folks brandishing “give me a break” rapiers at the whole idea of human induced climate change. And we had a strong voice promoting the idea that we probably are contributing to climate change and that we as individuals should adopt a lifestyle that better promotes efficiency and conservation.
We also watched a movie from the March 11 post entitled, “What’s up with this guy?” The speaker, Johnq5, presents an argument for why we should act now whether or not we know that climate change is happening and whether or not we know it is happening because of us. There was good discussion following that video. In the link below, that guy outlines some of the points we brought up. He also tells you where you can go to see his answers. Check it out and respond.
One thing I want you to notice is his appeal for civility. In our discussions of the rioting after sporting events we talked about he absence of law or consequence breeding a “do anything” battle cry among people; thus cars get overturned and destroyed because the Red Sox won the World Series. Similarly, we talked about the increase in nasty conversation on the internet because of the anonymity of posting, or the relative distance between the speaker (of nasty things) and the target. One big thrust of our class is to adopt more responsibility for how we conduct our contributions to public conversation. Sure we can say nasty things to people we don’t know and get away with it. But that takes no talent whatsoever, makes no contribution, and does nothing to make our case. Articulating yourself well so that people can respond to you in a way that moves the conversation forward is how we make public conversation worthwhile. Otherwise it’s just white noise.
Apr
22
We missed Earth Day!
April 22, 2008 | | 10 Comments
Plant a tree. Plant lots.
Here are some features from one of our common sources. Please take a survey of these and other articles and register your input.
Jimmy Carter still making contributions.
It’s Not Easy Being Green
A Champion, not a chick
Blogging is taking over the world (that’s why it’s important to do well).
Apr
20
Brief thoughts on a fine person, and a difficult loss
April 20, 2008 | | 10 Comments
Today we lost a truly wonderful person from Tabor. Patty Gomes, who used to work in the dining hall, passed away after a recent heart transplant. I don’t know how old she was (although I think she would have told if I’d asked). I do know she had several children and grandchildren.
Patty was always great fun to joke with at meal time or good for a chat about nearly anything. She was witty, helpful, and even if she wasn’t feeling cheery herself she helped to look on the bright side of any day. Patty was always down to earth. She took an interest in people and she expressed genuine care even in the most ordinary of interactions. As good as a chat with Patty made me feel, I often noticed her having similar conversations with many of our community; many students, many adults, and many faculty children. This is where Patty really wedged a place in my heart. She welcomed and watched my children grow from the time they were born. She engaged them with the same interested, caring conversation with which she engaged everyone. She made them feel good every time she spoke with them. She helped them when they needed it and looked after them when they’d escaped their parents’ view. She did this for everyone.
Beyond the dining hall, I did not know Patty Gomes at all and yet I feel a real sense of loss tonight. Patty got sick just before I left for Australia last year and for that year she was one of the quiet comforts of home to which I was looking forward. I did not realize how much I had been looking forward to her return until I got this news tonight. I realized I, quite foolishly, have been waiting for her to come back to the DH. I had taken her for granted, and I’m regretting that now. I didn’t see her when she came to Asian dinner this year. I regret that, too.
Patty made things around her a little better, regardless of what was going on at any given moment. That’s a lot to ask of anyone, but no one had to ask Patty. That’s just the way she was.
Apr
16
Yankees/Sox, OMG! and miscellaneous other stuff.
April 16, 2008 | | 7 Comments
Here we go again. For an update on the Sox jersey in Yankee concrete, see Tory’s blog. I was all for establishing a metaphorical Sox graveyard in Yankee stadium. We should always find new and exciting ways to sustain great traditions.
This post will be updated throughout the rest of the week.
Articles of interest:
Precocious Youth
McEnroe Overruled
How is Africa relevant to me?
The Log Blog
Apr
14
Things we did. Things we should do. Things we will do.
April 14, 2008 | | 6 Comments
Today we looked at the teaser for a lecture that is creating a lot of buzz. The link to the teaser is below. We’ll watch the lecture tomorrow. Here is the link to the WSJ article (thanks Anne).
Demons are ice skating and Mr. McEnroe is offering extra credit.
Last week, many of you handed work in late and some missed credit for other reasons. Ironically, the blogs overall showed a significant improvement. Anyone with a minimum of 6 websites of personal interest in his/her blog roll by Tuesday morning is eligible for 20 recovery points.
