A Marginalized Demographic

At home, once I've finished up "productive computer time" on tasks such as homework, the obligatory check in with social sites, and a few minutes in the "Free" section of Craigslist looking for cool stuff to make my girlfriend roll her eyes, it's time for Aimless Surfing. For me, this usually starts at www.cracked.com, though be warned some of the content is Not Safe For Work.

Hosting a range of lists, forums, and other assorted online tomfoolery, what keeps me returning is the articles. These can be on anything from new movies, disturbing internet trends, behavior trends, or news in the scientific community. Not every article is a winner, but it definitely bats over .500.

In what found to be an excellent piece of writing, one of the regular contributors posted an article titled "The 4 Types of People on Welfare Nobody Talks About". In it, the author uses a number of personal experiences and external statistics to describe how while the discussion around the role government should play in providing a safety net is in full swing, there are a number of people that are affected by this that often get lost in the rhetoric. These groups aren't making the headlines, but they are a large part of what will drive opinions on the subject...publicly or not.

After the Cracked overview is done, it's on to technology. Though it's part of my day job, keeping up to speed on new equipment is a great way for me to kill a few hours. A hot topic of conversation in the gaming world these days is the recently-unveiled Xbox One, Microsoft's next generation game/entertainment console. While a new console is big news by itself, what's been released about its usability is generating even more conversation.

A recent Forbes article gathered a number of the complaints into a single location, but the list seems pretty draconian. You need to be online on a regular basis. Games will be registered to your account. The used games market will likely be greatly curtailed for Xbox One games, if it even exists at all. While these may not be deal breakers for the majority of gamers who just "have to have" the next cool toy, there are a lot of people who can't afford paying new prices, in addition to being linked to a hgh-speed connection on a regular basis.

It's starting to sound a lot like the welfare debate.

Both the federal government and Microsoft are theoretically beholden to the people they work for; be the constituents or customers. However, with these situations (and in many others, it seems), both groups seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that a large number of the people they purport to represent have fallen by the wayside of their current strategy...and that seems okay.

Ignoring the social stigma of children on welfare, or the potential impacts to the $2 billion used game industry might seem like the costs of doing business. However, these seemingly ancillary groups have a much broader, long-term impact on their respective debates than the debate moderators seem to realize. As frustration or outrage over these slights (real or perceived) continues to mount, time will tell whether those moderators will find their current practices sustainable for the long term.

Blog Topic #2

Analyzing "The Case Against Homeschooling"

               Analytic Blog Post

The blog post that I am criticizing was actually removed by the author due to backlash some time ago, but still exists through re-posts on multiple sites.  The link to this post directs to an apology note that the author wrote after they removed the original piece of writing.  It is a personal opinion blog written by someone named Jesse, who is apparently a teacher.  This author gives his reasons why parents who homeschool their children are making a mistake.  As someone who was homeschooled all through school, I see many holes in this argument.  It comes off as being written by someone uneducated, which is ironic since it's coming from a teacher.  With each of the claims that Jesse made I will interject with my personal thoughts on the comments.  My responses to each of the 10 claims is italicized for easy reading.

The Case Against Homeschooling By JESSE SCACCIA  (posted on http://teacherrevised.org/2009/05/30/the-case-against-homeschooling/)

Homeschooling: great for self-aggrandizing, society-phobic mother…… but not quite so good for the kid. Here are my top ten reasons why homeschooling parents are doing the wrong thing:

10. “You were totally home schooled” is an insult college kids use when mocking the geeky kid in the dorm (whether or not the offender was home schooled or not). And… say what you will… but it doesn’t feel nice to be considered an outsider, a natural outcropping of being homeschooled.

If you pick the right friends in college, you won't be around people immature enough to mock you for your school background.  The author says that it doesn't feel nice to be an outsider.  Isn't that something that happens everywhere?!  There are cliques, there are people left out of groups, there are minorities.  Everyone feels left out at some point of their life.

9. Call me old-fashioned, but a students’ classroom shouldn’t also be where they eat Fruit Loops and meat loaf (not at the same time I hope). It also shouldn’t be where the family gathers to watch American Idol or to play Wii. Students–from little ones to teens–deserve a learning-focused place to study. In modern society, we call them schools.

Ha!  I can't think of a place less conducive to learning than a traditional classroom.  I attended a small Lutheran school for just a couple months this during middle school, and found that the surrounding was incredibly distracting.  Instead of focusing on my studies, I was listening to the teacher talk to other students, watching outbursts from the more attention-craving kids, and making small talk with my buddies.  The experience of studying at home is so much more relaxing.  You can chose the setting that works best for your personality and control the amount of stimulation around you.

8. Homeschooling is selfish. According to this article in USA Today, students who get homeschooled are increasingly from wealthy and well-educated families. To take these (I’m assuming) high achieving students out of our schools is a disservice to our less fortunate public school kids. Poorer students with less literate parents are more reliant on peer support and motivation, and they  greatly benefit from the focus and commitment of their richer and higher achieving classmates.

Everyone has their reasons to homeschool.  Maybe some would be considered selfish.  In my case, the major factor was my dad's career.  As a military and airline pilot, my dad was gone for days, weeks, even months at a time.  It was important for my family's relationship to be able to spend quality time with my dad when he was actually home.  If I was in school during traditional hours, I may have never seen him.  

I'm glad that in this comment, the author did recognize that homeschooled students are often higher achieving.  Who wouldn't want that for their kid??

7. God hates homeschooling. The study, done by the National Center for Education Statistics, notes that the most common reason parents gave as the most important was a desire to provide religious or moral instruction. To the homeschooling Believers out there, didn’t God say “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”? Didn’t he command, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me”? From my side, to take your faithful children out of schools is to miss an opportunity to spread the grace, power and beauty of the Lord to the common people. (Personally I’m agnostic, but I’m just saying…)

This statement literally made me laugh out loud.  The author tried to look credible by citing a source, but I'm pretty sure that the source would not back up the claim that God hates homeschooling.  Yes, a lot of people do choose homeschooling for religious reasons.  This was not the case with my family, but I do understand how more conservative families would want more control over what kinds of influences their children are exposed to.

6. Homeschooling parent/teachers are arrogant to the point of lunacy. For real! My qualifications to teach English include a double major in English and education, two master’s degrees (education and journalism), a student teaching semester and multiple internship terms, real world experience as a writer, and years in the classroom dealing with different learning styles. So, first of all, homeschooling parent, you think you can teach English as well as me? Well, maybe you can. I’ll give you that. But there’s no way that you can teach English as well as me, and biology as well as a trained professional, and history… and Spanish… and art… and counsel for college as well as a school’s guidance counselor… and… and…

Saying that homeschool parents are arrogant really offends me.  I believe that just because a person is well-educated doesn't mean that they are capable of teaching others.  I have had my share of college instructors who were lousy teachers.  My parents both have college degrees and a wealth of worldly knowledge and experiences.  Besides, homeschool parents acknowledge that they aren't the best at everything.  That's what parent co-ops and community members are for--filling in the gaps.

5. As a teacher, homeschooling kind of ticks me off. (That’s good enough for #5.)

Funny... I've had many teachers in my life as friends, members of community organizations, and coworkers at part time jobs.  All of them have shown nothing but respect for me and the choices my family made. Also, that is a weak statement to make for this argument.

4. Homeschooling could breed intolerance, and maybe even racism. Unless the student is being homeschooled at the  MTV Real World house, there’s probably only one race/sexuality/background in the room. How can a young person learn to appreciate other cultures if he or she doesn’t live among them?

Oh geez, this is when I want to start ranting.  Tell me how sitting in a room full of kids your own age all day, every day, exposes you to a cultured world.  Growing up, I traveled extensively and interacted with of all ages, and in different countries.  I spent time with families in Switzerland and Germany, went out to dinner with my dad and his military coworkers at the Air Force base, and went with my mom to all of her community and volunteer activities.  I learned how to talk to adults and answer questions about myself without my parents prompting me.

3. And don’t give me this “they still participate in activities with public school kids” garbage. Socialization in our grand multi-cultural experiment we call America is a process that takes more than an hour a day, a few times a week. Homeschooling, undoubtedly, leaves the child unprepared socially.

One hour a day, a few times a week?  Not even close.  I had a jam-packed schedule that included activities like art classes, music lessons, orchestra concerts, play practices, volunteering, playtime with friends, paid jobs (starting at age 13), and countless more "socialization" experiences.  To say that homeschooling leaves a child unprepared is a gross generalization.  Yes, there are some families who spend most of their time at home and do not expose their children to a wide variety of interactions, but that has to do more with the family dynamics and less with the kind of schooling they've chosen.

2. Homeschooling parents are arrogant, Part 2. According to Henry Cate, who runs the Why Homeschool blog, many highly educated, high-income parents are “probably people who are a little bit more comfortable in taking risks” in choosing a college or line of work. “The attributes that facilitate that might also facilitate them being more comfortable with home-schooling.” More comfortable taking risks with their child’s education? Gamble on, I don’t know, the Superbowl, not your child’s future.

Okay, I'll try to ignore the fact that the author uses arrogance as two of their 10 reasons.  That's cheating isn't it?  I can't for the life of me figure out how this statement (referencing a homeschool blog) even factors into this person's argument.  It's just stating the fact that homeschool parents may have more education, income, and comfort in taking risks.  Uhh, okay...  How does this this equate to arrogance?

1.  And finally… have you met someone homeschooled? Not to hate, but they do tend to be pretty geeky***.

*** Please see the comments for thoughts on the word ‘geeky.’ But, in general, to be geeky connotes a certain inability to integrate and communicate in diverse social situations. Which, I would argue, is a likely result of being educated in an environment without peers. It’s hard to get by in such a diverse world as ours! And the more people you can hang out with the more likely you are to succeed, both in work life and real life.

Wow. This person is a teacher, and the best they can come up with is "homeschoolers are pretty geeky"? I sure hope they never have to teach debate or persuasion in their classroom. There are tons of "geeky" kids in public school. Isn't that what science clubs and Mathletes prove? Okay now I'm the one who's generalizing...but you get my point. I've never felt like a geek in my life, but I've certainly felt like I have a broader, more rounded education than that of some of my peers.

These responses are just tidbits from the insight you would gain from me if you ask me how I feel about having been homeschooled. Hopefully my analyzation wasn't too speculative and I was actually able to convince you that I have solid knowledge on the topic.

Stop Wikileaks

About WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organisation. Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth. We are a young organisation that has grown very quickly, relying on a network of dedicated volunteers around the globe. Since 2007, when the organisation was officially launched, WikiLeaks has worked to report on and publish important information. We also develop and adapt technologies to support these activities. (www.wikileaks.com)

Why stop WikiLeaks?

There are many good reasons for stopping an organization like wikileaks.  Now before you turn away and think that all I want to do is limit the amount of information that the American public sees, that is just not the case.  I want to focus on why I think wikileaks should be shut down to three key areas:  Safety, Civilian Knowledge, and Julian Assange is a Ass Hat.

Safety

Safety is a key component to our military.  The Armed Forces spend billions of dollars researching better and more efficient ways to keep our troops healthy and safe.  When documents are exposed that tell of certain actions that a solider, platoon, or company has done it puts all of those individuals at risk, either from retaliation by host nation individuals or extreme scrutiny from people in our own country.  As you all may know, I served in the military during the time of the Iraq War and Afghanistan War.  Anytime you are in combat you are asked to report your actions and the actions of the other individuals involved in the conflict.  This usually takes the form of some sort of extremely long document that gets securely filled away under the "secret" category and sometimes in may get filled under "top secret".  When someone leaks this information to the press or social media, that individual is directly leading to a potential personnel safety issue.  Capt. Morrow the prosecutor in the  most recent wikileaks case against PVT. Manning said it the best when he said "This is a case about a soldier who systematically harvested hundreds of thousands of classified documents and dumped them onto the Internet, into the hands of the enemy — material he knew, based on his training, would put the lives of fellow soldiers at risk,” (New York Times) Document security is as important to the military as personnel security.  

Civilian Knowledge

There are certain things that happen and certain things that go on during a wartime event that the American public just don't need to know about.  This have been this way since the beginning of time. There are many things that this government has kept secret that no one knew existed, until they became declassified:  The Internet, The Manhattan Project, etc.  All of these projects or actions where classified for good reasons.  Another area for concern is the potential judging of individuals serving their country.   Individuals have a different mindset when they go to war, I mean how could you have the same mentality as a Sunday shopping event at the mall, and then try to win a war, it would never happen.  The only way to experience what goes on in ones head during war is to, well go to war!!  That being said the reports that are filled out by troops should be kept secret, they should not be for the greater american public.  My name and the things that I did are in some wikileaks documents.  Its scary to think about my children could be sitting in a computer lab and stubble upon some of my after action reports.  

Julian Assange is an ass hat

Julian Assange started his stellar career as a hacker at the age of 16, Assange began hacking under the name "Mendax".  He and two other hackers joined to form a group they named the International Subversives. Assange wrote down the early rules of the subculture: "Don't damage computer systems you break into (including crashing them); don't change the information in those systems (except for altering logs to cover your tracks); and share information."  

The Australian Federal Police became aware of this group and set up "Operation Weather" to investigate their hacking. In September 1991, Mendax was discovered in the act of hacking into the Melbourne master terminal of Nortel, the Canadian telecommunications company.   In response the Australian Federal Police tapped Assange's phone line and subsequently raided his Melbourne home in 1991.   He was also reported to have accessed computers belonging to an Australian university, the USAF 7th Command Group in the Pentagon and other organizations, via a modem. It took three years to bring the case to court, where he was charged with 31 counts of hacking and related crimes. Nortel said that his incursions cost it more than $100,000. Assange's lawyers represented his hacking as a victimless crime. In May 1995, he pleaded guilty to 25 charges of hacking, after six charges were dropped, and was released on bond for good conduct with a fine of $2,100. The judge said "there is just no evidence that there was anything other than sort of intelligent inquisitiveness and the pleasure of being able to — what's the expression — surf through these various computers" and stated that Assange would have gone to jail for up to 10 years if he had not had such a disrupted childhood.  (Wikipedia)

Julian Assange is a man that lives with no code of ethics or any kind of ethos.  All politics and personal view aside, he promotes a web site that "provides an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists" (wikileaks.com)  Based on the previous statement if wikileaks was such a secure webiste and organization then why do military members get caught leaking information?  Maybe there is someone inside wikileaks leaking information to the government.  

If that isn't enough for you, I could always remind you on what my mother used to say when I would tattle on some kid when I was younger.  "John, snitches get stitches"  

Guitars and Social Media

I've been playing guitar since I was about 12 years old. I've jammed with people and started about 5 bands since that time (the key word there is started; I never could light a fire under my ass to actually make something out of them), but for the most part, guitar has just been a personal passion/hobby. Beyond simply playing, I also enjoy reading up on different types of guitars and accessories and also reading what other people have done to customize their instruments. The internet has great resources for feeding this interest with forums.

Forums/message boards, such as this website, are a great way to connect instrument/music enthusiasts that want to share their knowledge or simply argue with each other. The forum is divided into specific boards that can range from basic guitar talk to building and customizing. I am not a member on this board, but I will look at it occasionally when I feel like browsing specific topics. Lately, I've decided that I want to start customizing my guitar (painting, changing electronics, etc.), so I searched Google for "how to paint a guitar". The web can be a marvelous thing. The search results brought me to this extremely helpful website, which gives a detailed step-by-step guide to custom painting a guitar. The format is a posting on a message board, which displays a very solid example of how easy it is to connect and share knowledge with others.
In order to paint a guitar, I will have to remove every accessory from the guitar including the electronics. I've never removed the electronics (e.g. pickups) from a guitar, so that required more research. For help in this situation, I turned to the web's institution of learning: YouTube.

I searched YouTube for instructions on how to change guitar pickups and it brought me to this tutorial. This tutorial is great because it gave easy to understand instructions while presenting a close-up video of the entire process. The video also led me to realize that there is yet another point that I needed guidance on; this job will require a soldering iron...I've never used a soldering iron...YouTube! I typed in "how to solder" and sure enough it gave me this tutorial on basic soldering. Once again, the tutorial is easy to understand and presents a great close-up video of the procedure. I have a feeling that YouTube is going to replace school some day.

The point of all this: social media, such as internet forums and YouTube, are great resources to for those interested in learning more about specific topics; in this case, guitar. I have enough information to at least start my project, and I hope to get it moving as quickly as possible.

The picture above shows my brother (plaid shirt) and myself recording a song at a studio in Minneapolis a couple years ago. A friend of mine was going to school for music production and we got to help him record his final project.

This picture is just me sitting at the mixing board in the studio. It looks like I'm doing something, but in reality I was just zoning out on the monitor.

Students Can Afford To Lose Interest..

I graduated high school in 2008 ready to see what the world had to offer. In a society where getting a secondary education is the norm, I of course decided to follow that path, so I packed my things and headed to college. Unsure of many things, like what I wanted to pursue, and why I was going in the first place, I found myself looking for answers. Two years into my education I discovered many things  1) college is harder that they make it seem in the movies, and 2) tequila does NOT mix well with wine... and although these were somewhat "valuable" lessons, I was still trying to answer to questions that I started with. I couldn't risk being the girl who, "took a break", but never actually went back, so I continued on my journey hoping that I would eventually stumble into a career path that made me happy. Here I am five years later on the track to becoming a public relations practitioner. I'm thankful (and surprised) that I've made it this far, but I just can't help but feel weighted down by what my education has left me with. My five years of "discovery" have left me with a substantial amount of: yup you guessed it, student loans. Like many other Americans, upon my graduation from college I wont only be receiving a diploma, but also a big fat IOU from the Federal Government.

The reason I bring this up is because of the recent controversy with the student loan reform. Student loan interest rates are currently at 3.4 percent, and if the senate doesn't come up with a solution by July 1st, these rates could double! With a college education already costing most Americans at least $40,000, I just cant imagine that the government would try to get even more money out of people who are simply trying to receive an education so that they can (hopefully) get a decent job upon graduation. If you couldn't tell by now I am obviously against the rate increase, and I am hoping that the senate can figure out a solution to this issue. There are many proposals in place, one of which put the issue into deferment for the next year and keep rates at what they are, and Obama's plan is roughly based off of an income-based repayment plan with 20 year loan forgiveness, and keeping rates close to what they are at. This currently seems to be the best option for us, however I still find it astonishing that corporate banks pay an interest rate of .75 percent on their debt, yet students are paying nine times that. The system seems a bit skewed.  I mean in a society that practically forces you to obtain higher education in order to get a job, they are going to nickel and dime you while you do it, it just doesn't seem right. The government makes 51 Billion dollars off of student loan debt each year, THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!! Why should the government be making money off of college students going to school?? We're the ones putting in all of the hard work, while the government just sits back and collects. Typical.  I'm sure I'm not the only student who is angered by this, so If you also feel the same way visit this website to sign the petition and stop the government from deferring this issue another year. We need answers, and we shouldn't have to wait any longer.

Here are some other links that provide great information on the topic
John Tierney
Boston Magazine

Broad Brush: Selected

Hello all-

The rubric for Blog Post #1 suggests that we as a class are a "reading public" of sorts; an otherwise random collection of readers, save for the fact that we share a commonality. The easy answer to this is that we all have a vested interest in attending, and therefore ideally passing, this class.

While some of our class discussions have yielded some common viewpoints on certain issues we've discussed, there is enough diversity in our class from a gender, race, age (and likely professional, educational, and life experience background) stance to invalidate any suggestion that we all share some common trait that would show up on a standard census. (Unless some of you have had some remarkable plastic surgery that hasn't been shared with the group.)

In fact, even the most basic thread that links us (all attending this class) is not solely indicative of anything beyond our status over the next few weeks. This may be the last class before graduation for some, or the last semester or year before graduation for others. A guaranteed base market analysis could ostensibly be whittled down to "we all are looking to leverage social media in a meaningful 'A-grade conducive' manner".

I assume this focus extends to our instructor as well, unless teaching us all how to use social media incorrectly is part of some psychology thesis we'll learn about the hard way.

While it may sound crass (hopefully most, if not all of us are here for something more than a good grade), the only likely assured link lies in we all have an interest in passing this class.While the obvious approach would be simply to post a link to a handy resource for many college students, this link (hopefully) does not address each of our individual motivations to pass this class.

Whether you are signed up for MDST 485 as part of a curriculum, are interested in learning more about social media, have an elective to fill, or just need a court-friendly alibi for Tuesday and Thursday nights, these all (with the exception of the latter) tie into a want or need to complete a college degree. Without getting into the weeds as to why (better job, more money, you lost a bet), it does beg the question of whether this goal is worth it.

For that, I leave you with a recent article that discusses in more detail just what this multi-year, multi-thousand investment most, if not all, of us have embarked upon. You've either asked the questions this article poses and are confident in your ability to process the information, or have just assumed college was a logical progression and may benefit from an outside perspective.

In either case, click the link. The Internet needs to get paid.

Blog Topic #1

Flamenco! Olé!

I found Flamenco about 8 years ago. I was looking for a new way to get a good cardio workout and thought some form of dance would be fun.

 I originally thought that Belly Dancing would be fun, until I thought of the costumes that go along with belly dancing and I knew I couldn't wear anything like that and dance in it.

I was already doing aerobic dance at the gym but wanted to learn something new yet low impact, i.e. no jumping around. I had received a brochure about Belly Dancing and the other option they chose was Flamenco. I remembered that I had met a lady that had been doing flamenco and she loved it. I looked up flamenco schools in the Twin Cities and came up with Zorongo Flamenco. I started classes and became a lover of the art of Flamenco, Spanish Guitar and the lifestyle of the Spanish Gypsies that created the dance.

Flamenco comes from the timeframe of 1492 Spain when King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella decreed that everyone in Spain should convert to Catholicism. Those who did not convert were sentenced to death by fire. This decree brought three groups together, Gypsies, Muslims and Jews. From these groups the art of Flamenco was invented as an expression of their oppression and persecution. For more information on the history of Flamenco click here.

For me, the beauty of the music, the singing and the dance coming together to tell a story was just what I was looking for to challenge me physically as well as mentally. I would be exercising my mind and body and becoming a part of a beautiful community. I signed up and began dancing.

I can only give my perspective of the dance of Flamenco as a Flamenca. Overall the dance is empowering. The music is dynamic and the singing is emotional and haunting but the dance is the visual to the story. You, the dancer, are literally showing the emotion, the passion and the sensuality of the story being played and sung. It is the dancer’s job to emphasize the words and the sound by showing the emotion, to capture your attention and bring you into the story.

Flamenco for men is dynamic and explosive. The movement is sharp, concise and demanding. The men are dark, brooding and exude machismo. Flamenco for women is sensuous, fluid and engaging. The movements are captivating and passionate. The footwork for both men and women is fast and sharp; the punctuation for the words pouring out of their movements. The men and women don’t always dance together. As a matter of fact the dances are mostly men or women; the only Flamenco dance that men and women do together is called Sevillanas. It is a dance that can be done with all women or men and women.

When I danced I found an inner confidence in my femininity. The physical structure of flamenco engages muscles in your back, arms, stomach, legs and feet. You even exercise your hands and wrists. When you learn the muscle placement for flamenco you walk taller, your stride is graceful and you presence has energy and confidence. You learn your body and how to engage it in conversation; to open it up to your audience and how to close it down. You learn to portray a message with the flick of your wrist or the tilt of your chin.  I haven’t danced for a long time but I still carry those lessons with me.

I danced Flamenco for 3 years before I put it on hold to focus on my schooling. What I found was that the more I learned the more I wanted to do and I didn’t want to do my homework. As I get closer and closer to my graduation date I am looking forward to putting my shoes and skirt back on to dance my heart out.