In my Writing for Civic Literacy class, students formed workgroups for their collaborative projects. Glad we waited until we'd had several class discussions and done a whole-class site visit to the foster home...which I think gave everybody more context for thinking about the actual work. Looks like we've got four workgroups.
1. Success Stories. A series of reports on folks who have aged out of the system and found success with independent living. St. Peter's wants to use these reports in their grants and as web content, to demonstrate effectiveness.
2. Legislative advocacy plan. A comprehensive report on the state of foster care in Detroit to use in Lansing to justify public support for the home.
3. Vocational plan. A comprehensive report on the Detroit job market including recommendations on the feasability of on-site vocational programming.
4. Training manuals for tutors. Instructions for their new volunteers who'll be doing direct, one-on-one instruction with the residents.
Woo! This is going to be an interesting couple of months.
x-listed in 'the rhetoric of civic engagement'
9/21/2007
9/19/2007
luna
You scored as Luna Lovegood, You are Luna Lovegood. You daydream and often seem to be drifting off into your own world. You have very strong opinions that many agree are not logical. You place a lot of faith in these beliefs. Possibly, you see more than what meets the eye. You are very accepting of others. You may have only a few close friends because you refuse to sacrifice your opinions and true self for social graces.
Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test created with QuizFarm.com |
9/18/2007
doesn't take long...
For the semester's busy-ness to kick in. Today I get a set of first drafts from the English 327 students. Then it's off to a site visit at St. Peter's Home for Boys, our community partner, with the English 364 gang. My research assistant Kathleen and I begin our qualitative interviews with the 364 students, too, and I think I've got the digital recorder we borrowed from the Civic Engagement Office figured out. Cool.
In the meantime, last night we wrote an offer on a house. Our real estate agent expects to hear something today. Cross fingers. Cross fingers. Cross fingers. The offer is notably lower than the asking price, which is notably lower than what the sellers paid three years ago. Such is the housing market in Detroit. The liberal guilt is in full effect, though, lessened slightly by the fact that 1) Nicole and I got hosed when we sold our place in Ohio a few years back, 2) the seller is probably happy to have an offer, period--given the motown economy right now--as opposed to shouldering an extra mortgage as they move out of state, and 3) the seller's new employer has hired a "transition company" to handle the transaction which means we're really buying the place from a corporation, not a person. Jeez, neither of the universities for whom I've worked ever offered to do that.
And finally, updates from my nephew, who's in his first month of school at Georgetown, enjoying dorm hijinxs and getting involved in Barack Obama's campaign, which probably excites exactly nobody in my family except for Nicole and I. We'd like to believe he chose his school because he thinks maybe his aunt and uncle are super cool because they studied with Jesuits, but it probably has more to do with how smart he is and a love of politics. Go Steve...go Hoyas.
In the meantime, last night we wrote an offer on a house. Our real estate agent expects to hear something today. Cross fingers. Cross fingers. Cross fingers. The offer is notably lower than the asking price, which is notably lower than what the sellers paid three years ago. Such is the housing market in Detroit. The liberal guilt is in full effect, though, lessened slightly by the fact that 1) Nicole and I got hosed when we sold our place in Ohio a few years back, 2) the seller is probably happy to have an offer, period--given the motown economy right now--as opposed to shouldering an extra mortgage as they move out of state, and 3) the seller's new employer has hired a "transition company" to handle the transaction which means we're really buying the place from a corporation, not a person. Jeez, neither of the universities for whom I've worked ever offered to do that.
And finally, updates from my nephew, who's in his first month of school at Georgetown, enjoying dorm hijinxs and getting involved in Barack Obama's campaign, which probably excites exactly nobody in my family except for Nicole and I. We'd like to believe he chose his school because he thinks maybe his aunt and uncle are super cool because they studied with Jesuits, but it probably has more to do with how smart he is and a love of politics. Go Steve...go Hoyas.
9/13/2007
blatant
What are blogs if they aren't a little (or a lot) self-indulgent?
Ch-ch-ch-check it out: Donahue and Moon's Local Histories: Reading the Archives of Composition is finally out. I love the premise of this book: developing counter-narratives to the familiar Harvard and Michigan stories that purport to reveal the origins of composition in the U.S. The counter-narratives take readers to historically black colleges and two-year colleges and other sites that historicize the discipline in new ways.
Thanks to editors Pat and Gretchen for including me in the volume. I contribute "William Rainey Harper and the Ideology of Service at Junior Colleges," and use the story of Harper ("father of the junior college movement") to analyze how open-admissions schools use the concept of "service" rhetorically.
As the man once said, "these things take time." First composed in 2001, this essay evolved from a chapter of my dissertation. Glad the book, at long last, has made contact with daylight. Congrats to Pat and Gretchen...I know the thinking, the labor, and the patience that go into such a volume.
Ch-ch-ch-check it out: Donahue and Moon's Local Histories: Reading the Archives of Composition is finally out. I love the premise of this book: developing counter-narratives to the familiar Harvard and Michigan stories that purport to reveal the origins of composition in the U.S. The counter-narratives take readers to historically black colleges and two-year colleges and other sites that historicize the discipline in new ways.
Thanks to editors Pat and Gretchen for including me in the volume. I contribute "William Rainey Harper and the Ideology of Service at Junior Colleges," and use the story of Harper ("father of the junior college movement") to analyze how open-admissions schools use the concept of "service" rhetorically.
As the man once said, "these things take time." First composed in 2001, this essay evolved from a chapter of my dissertation. Glad the book, at long last, has made contact with daylight. Congrats to Pat and Gretchen...I know the thinking, the labor, and the patience that go into such a volume.
9/12/2007
evicted nuns
I've written before about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal--the shame of the abuse itself and the shame of the public relations (over human) concerns of church leadership, the shame of crying 'anti-Catholic' bias in the media as a way of explaining away the horrific reports. Now comes news of a group of Santa Barbara nuns being evicted by the L.A. Archdiocese which is selling their home to pay for settlements from the abuse lawsuits. Recall that those settlements involve over $600 million. Recall too that the settlements, by most accounts, happened so the archdiocese could avoid its leader, the despicable Cardinal Roger Mahony, being put under oath. How is this guy not being held in any way accountable? Not just for evicting elderly nuns (speaking of p.r. nightmares), but for his extremely well-documented, decades-long history of covering up abuse and re-assigning predators to jobs involving working with children. Another story that I'm sure right-wing apologists like the Catholic League will spin as blown out of proportion. Urghh.
new writing schedule
As I settle into the new term, I'm happy with my routine. I've made a committment to spending three hours each Monday and Wednesday writing. Not reading. Not note-taking. Not thinking things through while doing laundry. Three hours of solid writing on each of those days. Either in my office at home or at Caribou Coffee. So far I've kept up with that committment. Now I've said it on the blog, so I have to stick to it.
9/08/2007
detroit, rock city
Just when the search for a place to call home in Detroit--don't ask about the place that we loved until learning of the rat problem--was starting to slag us down, last night was a reminder of why this is a great place to live.
The Muldoons and The Dirtbombs shared a bill at a new venue called the Crofoot. The former, a family band fronted by a ten-year-old, is the rockingest punk band I've ever seen. Only in Detroit could this act be so much more than a novelty. Their guitar prowess has grown in the months since I saw them before, and both guitarists (who I think got *taller* too) engaged in some awesomely over-the-top Marty McFly theatrics. And the songs...they give The Ramones a run for their money in terms of speeding through ninety-second-long ditties with little or no breaks or banter. Their fan base seems to consist of a combination of youngish Detroit hipsters, slightly older music geeks (think the character Jack Black plays in most of his movies), Nicole and I, and their relatives. Makes for an odd crowd.
The Dirtbombs, probably one of the only local acts who wouldn't be upstaged by the Muldoons, tried on a little psychedelia. Extra feedback and fuzz, some drum solos, an extended intro or two to familiar D'bombs classics. They busted out a few new songs. If they're working on a record, sounds like it might be straight-ahead rock this time out (after a "soul" record, a "punk" record, etc.). They did a lot of their catchier stuff and had the Crofoot crowd dancing to "Underdog" and "Granny's Little Chicken." Would have liked to have heard their cover of Lou Rawls' "Natural Man," but, hey, with the size of their catalogue, you never know what they'll bust out. The show ended with drummer Ben Blackwell scaling the balcony and doing a grunge-era-worthy dive onto his set while the rest of the band looked on non-plussed.
Not a bad place to live in after all.
The Muldoons and The Dirtbombs shared a bill at a new venue called the Crofoot. The former, a family band fronted by a ten-year-old, is the rockingest punk band I've ever seen. Only in Detroit could this act be so much more than a novelty. Their guitar prowess has grown in the months since I saw them before, and both guitarists (who I think got *taller* too) engaged in some awesomely over-the-top Marty McFly theatrics. And the songs...they give The Ramones a run for their money in terms of speeding through ninety-second-long ditties with little or no breaks or banter. Their fan base seems to consist of a combination of youngish Detroit hipsters, slightly older music geeks (think the character Jack Black plays in most of his movies), Nicole and I, and their relatives. Makes for an odd crowd.
The Dirtbombs, probably one of the only local acts who wouldn't be upstaged by the Muldoons, tried on a little psychedelia. Extra feedback and fuzz, some drum solos, an extended intro or two to familiar D'bombs classics. They busted out a few new songs. If they're working on a record, sounds like it might be straight-ahead rock this time out (after a "soul" record, a "punk" record, etc.). They did a lot of their catchier stuff and had the Crofoot crowd dancing to "Underdog" and "Granny's Little Chicken." Would have liked to have heard their cover of Lou Rawls' "Natural Man," but, hey, with the size of their catalogue, you never know what they'll bust out. The show ended with drummer Ben Blackwell scaling the balcony and doing a grunge-era-worthy dive onto his set while the rest of the band looked on non-plussed.
Not a bad place to live in after all.
9/07/2007
what kind of civic engagement makes us happy?
Yesterday I had the first sesion of my upper-level 'Writing for Civic Literacy' class. Great group of students, all coming to the class with a good deal of experience doing various kinds of civic work. Four have spent time doing hurricane relief on the gulf coast. Several spoke of growing up "in the church," where community service was mandatory. Most involve themselves in Volunteer Dearborn activities via student life on campus. Glad that they all have frames of reference to draw on in our discussions as well as our planning for our own course projects with the foster home.
My research assistant, who's sitting in on the class and conducting the interviews for our project looking into student notions of civics and community, is an intern with a think-tank in the college of ed. and doing research on child abuse and the foster care system. So she'll provide invaluable context for our work and be another resource for student projects.
For the research, I've been looking at a lot of literature on service learning (look here for critical summaries of that literature) that tries to take the pulse of student perceptions of civic engagement. The party line seems to be that students have much affinity for volunteerism but much skepticism toward activism. Much of the literature bemoans this as a sign of apathy and disengagement from the political process. One thread I'm starting to explore is the idea that students have an affective connection to "volunteer work," which feels good and lacks the agonism and discomfort of "activist work" (something I felt while handing out peace literature at the Dream Cruise two weeks ago!). Okay, that's worth exploring. But having digested the Wingspread Statement (a manifest written by students a few years back), I'm seeing that there may be a kind of converse to this, too. Many faculty have the opposite affective desire: one that involves a bodily attraction and passion for activism. The literature reflects this, especially that which bemoans apolitical students and uses as its evidence resistance to electoral politics and attraction to 'service sans politics.'
(cross-listed on Civic Engagement blog)
My research assistant, who's sitting in on the class and conducting the interviews for our project looking into student notions of civics and community, is an intern with a think-tank in the college of ed. and doing research on child abuse and the foster care system. So she'll provide invaluable context for our work and be another resource for student projects.
For the research, I've been looking at a lot of literature on service learning (look here for critical summaries of that literature) that tries to take the pulse of student perceptions of civic engagement. The party line seems to be that students have much affinity for volunteerism but much skepticism toward activism. Much of the literature bemoans this as a sign of apathy and disengagement from the political process. One thread I'm starting to explore is the idea that students have an affective connection to "volunteer work," which feels good and lacks the agonism and discomfort of "activist work" (something I felt while handing out peace literature at the Dream Cruise two weeks ago!). Okay, that's worth exploring. But having digested the Wingspread Statement (a manifest written by students a few years back), I'm seeing that there may be a kind of converse to this, too. Many faculty have the opposite affective desire: one that involves a bodily attraction and passion for activism. The literature reflects this, especially that which bemoans apolitical students and uses as its evidence resistance to electoral politics and attraction to 'service sans politics.'
(cross-listed on Civic Engagement blog)
9/05/2007
long days
Like many, this week is back-to-school week for me. New classes, new preps, new students, new schedule. One of the great things about the academic life has to be the newness of a new term. Keeps things from getting boring. I've always gotten a two-day teaching schedule at UMD (this term I'm a Tuesday/Thursday guy), another perk, but one that results in long days.
Yesterday: no exception. Early lunch--UM-Dearborn's pattened box lunches--at a "freshpersons meet the faculty" event. Followed by robing and procession across campus for freshpersons convocation. Convocation's an odd throw-back of a ceremony where we teachers suit up in the robes and what-not. Faculty who are Michigan graduates recognize one another's hoods and give each other huzzahs. I think I'm the only person at my school whose doctorate is from U of Arizona, so I miss out on the "here here"s, but I take part each year nonetheless. At convocation, new students (fitiacs as well as transfers) here from the chancellor, the dean of admissions, and the president of the student body. A little bit of rah rah, a lot of welcome to higher ed, and always some interesting data on the new class. For example, this year we've got 915 first-years and 750 transfer students, which represents pretty agressive growth. Anyhow an ice cream social follows convocation.
And then some blessed downtime, during which I worked on an RSA conference proposal in my office. Early evening meeting-dinner with new students in our masters in liberal studies program. I teach in the program and serve on the program's advisory board, so this is another "must attend." About eleven hours on campus--I need to build my stamina for the long days.
Yesterday: no exception. Early lunch--UM-Dearborn's pattened box lunches--at a "freshpersons meet the faculty" event. Followed by robing and procession across campus for freshpersons convocation. Convocation's an odd throw-back of a ceremony where we teachers suit up in the robes and what-not. Faculty who are Michigan graduates recognize one another's hoods and give each other huzzahs. I think I'm the only person at my school whose doctorate is from U of Arizona, so I miss out on the "here here"s, but I take part each year nonetheless. At convocation, new students (fitiacs as well as transfers) here from the chancellor, the dean of admissions, and the president of the student body. A little bit of rah rah, a lot of welcome to higher ed, and always some interesting data on the new class. For example, this year we've got 915 first-years and 750 transfer students, which represents pretty agressive growth. Anyhow an ice cream social follows convocation.
And then some blessed downtime, during which I worked on an RSA conference proposal in my office. Early evening meeting-dinner with new students in our masters in liberal studies program. I teach in the program and serve on the program's advisory board, so this is another "must attend." About eleven hours on campus--I need to build my stamina for the long days.
9/04/2007
diction
Why does it bug me that the popular press is using words like "fallout" to describe responses to Appalachian State beating the University of Michigan? For heaven's sake it's a football game. I think the word "upset" is justified, but unless you 1) might lose your coaching job over the game's results, or 2) just lost a boatload of money of the game, I hardly think you are experiencing "fallout." Of course I obsess over plenty of pop culture events, so 'judge not...' definitely applies here.
8/20/2007
Pepper Salad
Last weekend my dad hooked me up with 1) a peck basket full of peppers from his garden, and 2) the greatest recipe ever. You can use any combination of sweet and hot Italian peppers. I made a batch with half hot and half sweet. Came out very tasty and definitely not to hot--the marinating pretty much neutralizes the heat. Okay, here's the recipe:
-Cut a basket of peppers into 1/4" rings
-Cover rings with half vinegar and half water and let stand for 3 days
-Drain well
-Add 2 T. dried parsley, 2 T dried oregano, 1 T black pepper, and about a head of chopped, fresh garlic
-Add 2 cans of black olives and 2 small jars of green olives
-Cover with olive oil and store in the refrigerator...if the peppers are covered with the oil, they'll keep pretty much indefinitely
Delicious as a side with sandwiches, pasta, or any Italian food. I've got a big jar in my fridge. Here's the batch I made:
In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, my dad got the recipe from a guy at his church who looks EXACTLY like Ernest Borgnine.
It's uncanny. He has looked like Ernest Borgnine, circa Airwolf, for as long as I can recall. He doesn't age. And he provides us with delicious recipes. So he's got that going for him.
-Cut a basket of peppers into 1/4" rings
-Cover rings with half vinegar and half water and let stand for 3 days
-Drain well
-Add 2 T. dried parsley, 2 T dried oregano, 1 T black pepper, and about a head of chopped, fresh garlic
-Add 2 cans of black olives and 2 small jars of green olives
-Cover with olive oil and store in the refrigerator...if the peppers are covered with the oil, they'll keep pretty much indefinitely
Delicious as a side with sandwiches, pasta, or any Italian food. I've got a big jar in my fridge. Here's the batch I made:
In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, my dad got the recipe from a guy at his church who looks EXACTLY like Ernest Borgnine.
It's uncanny. He has looked like Ernest Borgnine, circa Airwolf, for as long as I can recall. He doesn't age. And he provides us with delicious recipes. So he's got that going for him.
8/17/2007
miscelaneous Friday
Been busy the past few days and haven't made much time to write. In preparation for this fall's service learning partnership--which involves working with kids--I had to get a TB test and criminal background clearance. Both involved going to two separate public service offices and then returning two days later for results.
Had a working lunch the other day (Annan in Dearborn...delicious!) with two of my comp. colleagues at UMD and made plans for simultaneously piloting both new (less draconian...yes!) placement procedures and more student choice for fulfilling the fy comp requirement. We're thinking of a version of directed self-placement as well as some thematic offerings of our writing classes. Not so much topics-based as much as special interest sections which students could elect. Some digital media sections. Some service learning sections (I'll work with these). And so on. Moving toward more choice and agency for students as well as the faculty who staff our courses.
Still reading like crazy for the civic engagement research I'm launching in the fall. Updates to the other blog soon. Good lunch yesterday with Dugdale (hey, Tim, glad you're staying in the motor city)...Toast in Ferndale, for a most excellent omelette. Superbad comes out today--another offering from the always funny Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow, of Freaks and Geeks fame. Must find a chance to check it out this weekend.
Had a working lunch the other day (Annan in Dearborn...delicious!) with two of my comp. colleagues at UMD and made plans for simultaneously piloting both new (less draconian...yes!) placement procedures and more student choice for fulfilling the fy comp requirement. We're thinking of a version of directed self-placement as well as some thematic offerings of our writing classes. Not so much topics-based as much as special interest sections which students could elect. Some digital media sections. Some service learning sections (I'll work with these). And so on. Moving toward more choice and agency for students as well as the faculty who staff our courses.
Still reading like crazy for the civic engagement research I'm launching in the fall. Updates to the other blog soon. Good lunch yesterday with Dugdale (hey, Tim, glad you're staying in the motor city)...Toast in Ferndale, for a most excellent omelette. Superbad comes out today--another offering from the always funny Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow, of Freaks and Geeks fame. Must find a chance to check it out this weekend.
dream cruise
For those of you who don't live in Detroit, this weekend is the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise, an annual nuisance that crowds the main north-south drag with literally millions and millions of people admiring classic cars. Gas stations inflate their prices. Folks plan entire vacations around "the cruise." Today on a local radio show, callers were *showing off* about how lousy the mileage is on their muscle cars: "I get eight miles per gallon in my 'cuda." Excluding bars, local businesses on Woodward hate the cruise. You can't make left turns, parking lots are shut down (landowners rent out their lots to people who pay big bucks to breathe the fumes, I mean get good views of the cruise), and it takes an hour to drive a mile up the road...do the math, horrid for business.
I had lunch with a colleague yesterday (Toast in Ferndale...delicious!), who said, Bill you study working-class culture, this should be a great opportunity for you. Not so much. I can't get past the nuisance factor. The car becomes another consumer good that obscures class difference. The middle-management engineer comfortably affords the classic car. The line worker struggles to afford the same car, buys it soon after taking the assembly job, and scratches plans to go to school in a few years because of payments on said car. But, in the end, they've both got the car and they're out on Woodward showing it off.
The bottom line, I suppose, is that old cars don't interest me, but, hey, they give others pleasure, so have it! The fumes, the waste of gas, the fact that the oil companies must love this event, the near impossibility of getting from point A to point B...I'll admit that this weekend brings out my inner grump.
My Dream Cruise involvement? Tomorrow morning, I'll be joining folks from several local peace groups handing out literature advertising a 'Beat Joe Knollenberg' rally coming up at the end of August. The rally is part of a push by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq to target hawkish members of congress (like my own Rep., the aforementioned Knollenberg) for defeat in November. Get involved, peeps.
I had lunch with a colleague yesterday (Toast in Ferndale...delicious!), who said, Bill you study working-class culture, this should be a great opportunity for you. Not so much. I can't get past the nuisance factor. The car becomes another consumer good that obscures class difference. The middle-management engineer comfortably affords the classic car. The line worker struggles to afford the same car, buys it soon after taking the assembly job, and scratches plans to go to school in a few years because of payments on said car. But, in the end, they've both got the car and they're out on Woodward showing it off.
The bottom line, I suppose, is that old cars don't interest me, but, hey, they give others pleasure, so have it! The fumes, the waste of gas, the fact that the oil companies must love this event, the near impossibility of getting from point A to point B...I'll admit that this weekend brings out my inner grump.
My Dream Cruise involvement? Tomorrow morning, I'll be joining folks from several local peace groups handing out literature advertising a 'Beat Joe Knollenberg' rally coming up at the end of August. The rally is part of a push by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq to target hawkish members of congress (like my own Rep., the aforementioned Knollenberg) for defeat in November. Get involved, peeps.
8/13/2007
maybe I was falling in love
So Nicole and I have found three very different houses that we like, one of which needs a great deal of work. The fixer upper has huge rooms downstairs, including a sunroom, all with hardwood floors. Colonial brick. Nice fireplace. Plenty of room to spread out. A good place to write. On the other hand, the place needs a new furnace, new windows, updated electric service, and other significant improvements. We were happy that the place had its ups and its down, as one of our goals was NOT to fall in love with a house and thus get sucked into paying more than we should. Just found out the fixer upper has sold. Probably a good thing, as the price, though low, wasn't low enough, given the problems. Kind of a bummer, though, as the place had loads of character and loads of potential.
8/07/2007
remembering composition
The new issue of JAC contains Halbritter and Taylor's video-essay 'Remembering Composition' on DVD. Apparently, copyright issues delayed its release. Cool piece for pushing at the boundaries of what our scholarship in the field of composition studies might look like. The piece makes a case for the role of new media in writing courses. In part, the it's a documentary, with folks in the field talking about their teaching. In part, it's a rock and roll song, written and performed by the "authors" of the piece (plays over the end credits). In part, a collage of voices. In part, a show-and-tell of interesting student work.
The 'talking head' portion of Remembering Composition seems to me to be the weak link. For a piece that pushes and challenges so successfully and provocatively, hearing soundbites--some of which are somewhat basic ('we need to teach writing technologies')--just seemed like business-as-usual. The student work on the other hand, consisting of documentaries made, I think, by students of Todd Taylor, really demonstrated cool possibilities. And the extended commentary from Halbritter (about midway through the film) nicely and reflexively stated how new media work blurs the editor-author role. And elsewhere, several of the voices make the case for more production of rhetoric--as opposed to getting stuck in the analysis/consumption rut. The latter stands out as one of the piece's motiffs/arguments.
I'm surprised nobody's talking about this piece: the blogosphere, the wpa listserv, etc. Maybe the folks who are interested in these issues already knew about the project and its content, and others are somewhat indifferent. Hope that's not the case.
The 'talking head' portion of Remembering Composition seems to me to be the weak link. For a piece that pushes and challenges so successfully and provocatively, hearing soundbites--some of which are somewhat basic ('we need to teach writing technologies')--just seemed like business-as-usual. The student work on the other hand, consisting of documentaries made, I think, by students of Todd Taylor, really demonstrated cool possibilities. And the extended commentary from Halbritter (about midway through the film) nicely and reflexively stated how new media work blurs the editor-author role. And elsewhere, several of the voices make the case for more production of rhetoric--as opposed to getting stuck in the analysis/consumption rut. The latter stands out as one of the piece's motiffs/arguments.
I'm surprised nobody's talking about this piece: the blogosphere, the wpa listserv, etc. Maybe the folks who are interested in these issues already knew about the project and its content, and others are somewhat indifferent. Hope that's not the case.
8/06/2007
oak ridge
Two friends were arrested this weekend in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Thanks for the dedication to peace work, Bill and Billie! Here's the story:
OAK RIDGE — Five protesters were arrested today on charges of obstructing a
roadway at the entrance to the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant.Four of the protesters chained themselves with a bicycle chain to a barricade in front of the plant and may face additional charges, according to Oak Ridge Police Capt. Alan Massengill. Those arrested were:
--Mary Dennis Lentsch, 70, of Oak Ridge.
--Elizabeth Velkey Brockman, 44, of Durham, N.C.
--Mary Ellen Gondeck, 66, of Detroit.
--William Hickey, 62, of Detroit.
--Billie Hickey, 58, of Detroit.They were taken into custody by Oak Ridge City Police and were to be processed this afternoon. The five were among a couple hundred peace activists gathered to protest the continued production of nuclear weapons in Oak Ridge, one of the nation’s original atomic cities.
They began their day in the city’s Bissell Park, watching puppet shows, listening to music and hearing speeches about the evils of nuclear weapons. Shortly after 1 p.m. the demonstrators began walking toward the Y-12 complex a couple of miles away,
where they staged a demonstration.Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, was upset with the arrangement at Y-12, where authorities had restricted the protest area to a small space near the plant’s entrance sign. Hutchison said a federal spokesman at Y-12 misled organizers about the arrangement.
The acts of “civil disobedience” at the Y-12 entrance were expected. The Peace Alliance has organized protests at the Y-12 plant for nearly 20 years. The events today and early next week will commemorate the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Y-12 enriched the uranium used in the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
More details as they develop online and in Sunday’s News Sentinel.
8/02/2007
alarming numbers
Numbers usually seem like abstractions to me. I don't think I'm alone in feeling like that. But this story gave me a jolt:
Every damned dollar that the government spends to buy a computer for a school must be accounted for with ridiculous tests and assessments. I'd like to see a similar test for every dollar and every bomb we give to the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
But changes happens more slowly in this troubled region. We're spreading democracy and that takes time.
Okay, fine, but if you're going to make that argument so vehemently with regard to the middle east, at least consider listening to similar arguments made by educators.
The Bush administration will announce next week a series of arms deals worth at least $20 billion to Saudi Arabia and five other oil-rich Persian Gulf states.These are new deals. Not conintuations of already-existing expenditures. This on top of new military packages for Egypt ($13 billion) and Israel ($30 billion). That's all military spending. None of that money's going for humanitarian work, or any other kind of work for that matter. How many more bombs will these billions and billions of dollars inject into the middle east? Where are the arguments against throwing money at problems? Why is that argument only invoked with regard to education spending, and never with regard to military spending?
Every damned dollar that the government spends to buy a computer for a school must be accounted for with ridiculous tests and assessments. I'd like to see a similar test for every dollar and every bomb we give to the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
But changes happens more slowly in this troubled region. We're spreading democracy and that takes time.
Okay, fine, but if you're going to make that argument so vehemently with regard to the middle east, at least consider listening to similar arguments made by educators.
welcome Paint Valley community!
Recently Ray Malone, one of the musicians at the Paint Valley Jamboree, left me a comment on this blog. Ray mentioned he's going to tape up backstage at the Jamboree my post about the performance. Excellent. Maybe some of the Paint Valley folks will see the post and wander by the blog...if any of you out there are part of the Jamboree community, I just wanted to say welcome. Keep reading and keep rocking.
Congratulations
Talk about a well-deserved award. Jay Dolmage is the co-winner of the first annual Theresa Enos award for best Rhetoric Review essay of the year. Jay's article on the Greek figure Hephaestus (see issue 25.2 if you haven't yet read it) was such a smart and interesting piece of work. Rare that an article says something new about a specific area *and* has wide implications, but this research does just that. An important piece for people in disability studies and bodily rhetorics, but ALSO interesting and useful for anybody interested in history and identity politics. Jay was a student in the first grad class I taught at Miami (research methods in comp) and taught me a whole lot! A hearty congrats, man.
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