Best of Blog!!

For the best of blog, I'd choose Greg's Quag-Miers blog. Not only was it the funniest blog I've read in the class but it also was a great proposal for his final paper. It got the job done and made the class laugh...a lot. So that's my nomination for best of blog.

Benji, the Harvey.

Ben Harvey receives my nomination for the most comprehensive blogger. When I needed to read the summary for an assignment I hadn't bothered to read in order to be able to bullshit my own response, Ben Harvey was my go-to guy.

best of blog

Content wise I definetly think that "Quag-Miers" was the most enjoyable to read. However during the school year the titles were very amusing. Here are some titles that I particularly enjoyed. "Mmmmm....Angus", "Burger King Response", "Han, Solo", "Hay Said...What did you just say???", and "<3 OmG pAsSpOrT pHoToZ lOl! <3 "

Bestest of Blog

Here is my nomination for best of blog. It was by far my favorite. I liked it because it was funny, and also got the job done for that day.

Quag-Miers.

I should get bonus points for that title.


For my final paper, I intend to compare how two newspapers from the same city framed a recent news story, the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. The two papers I chose were the Washington Times (generally regarded as a more conservative publication), and the Washington Post (generally regarded as a more liberal publication). My research also extends to statements made by the administration pertaining to the Miers nomination (specifically statements from the President himself), and background information about Miers as found on Wikipedia.org. By evaluating how this issue was framed, I seek to understand the intention of each publication in its slant, and whether or not such allegations are entirely true.

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution

SURPRISE!

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Happy now Greg?

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I actually have something done today. I went out and found some sources and I even have a rough draft. Now that I've shocked you all my paper will be following the recently revisited discussion of Intelligent Design Theory and Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The first part of my paper will be an objective look at the arguments of each side. The second part will be me putting forth my own thoughts and opinions after I have done the research required to make an informed decision.

The Internet and the Public Sphere/Cyberdemocracy

Cyber democracy is the move into a digital democracy, in which politcal debates, conventions, and voting will occur online. The goal of this is to bring back power to the people and to form a true "participatory democracy", in which many feel our nation should be based on. The world wide web will then become our newly claimed public sphere. The ideal public sphere and cyber democracy would open up communication amongst the electorate about important issues in the U.S., while allowing a debate forum to begin in an effort to form a consensus about how to solve the problems. Many problems surface when the internet becomes the public sphere.

The economically disadvantaged are left out of the democratic process because they cannot afford internet services. Many minority groups are inclded in those that lack a great socioeconomic status, therefore their thoughts are also neglected in this process. Only 30,000,000 out of almost 300,000,000 people in the United States are online, which counts for only about 10% of the population that can vote. Many people would have to be able to gain access to the web in order to participate in the debate forums, in which do not necessarily work anyhow.

Many of the debates rarely come to a common public opinion, which is the purpose of the debate rooms. The only commonalities occur seem to happen after the members of the chats separate into their respective groups. Quickly the participants form into sects after figuring out what beliefs they have in common. Of course there are the people that sign onto a debate forum, but never really participate and maybe utter a sentence or two, here and there. However, when a politician is identified in the debate forum, the debaters automatically flock to his debate room and hang on to every word that he says. A participatory democracy is supposed to put the formulation of important issues that need to be addressed into the hands of the electorate, but these debate forums only give the government and politicians another pathway to influence more possible voters.

Another problem surrounding a cyber democracy is the growing possibility for corruption of the government. Online conversations are very difficult to monitor, and the federal government will grow nervous about what is being said in these debates and chats on the web. One way they may try to solve the problem would be to create and provide software that gives access to the wealth of information about politics that allows the people to form their opinions. The problem with this is that it is too easy and too tempting to not create biased opinions throughout the materials present in the software. Media's influence will still be there, even though the move to the internet as our public sphere is trying to avoid media bias and conglomerates. On the other hand, the government could begin to figure out ways to control the debate forums, and to monitor conversations of the citizens. With the possibility of anarchists uniting and the open invitations to criminals who will steal identities, or use fake ones to con people, the federal government will be called upon to regulate the internet, which would be a very difficult task. This, however, will lead to violations of our freedom of speech, and an even larger uproar will occur.

The ideals of the cyber democracy and creating a public sphere on the internet are with good intention, but they are unrealistic and, in the end, impractical. The many problems that will occur outweigh the good that will come out of it. Technology such as the internet creates for a vast amount of opportunities, but to revolutionize our entire democratic system according to the internet and online access is not safe or secure for many different reasons.

Abstract Revision...yeah, it's really late...

Culture and identity with a certain group of people is the main theme for my paper. I find the thought of language use in culture, and the idea that people can identify with certains areas through language, fascinating. So, to begin with, I was inspired to do this paper by the article "Arts of the Contact Zone" by Mary Louise Pratt. Throughout my paper I refer to her writings, and also other authors who have written about the importance of lanuage as well. I found that many traditions and national patriotism stems from a sense of unity through a common language. Language helps one person relate to and share their ideas and thoughts and feelings with someone else. Underestimated is the fact that people rely on this common bond to get through life because without the ability to express ourselves in one way or another, human life would either be a horrible experience or completely nonexistent. It all goes to show that everyone should take pride in not only their culture, but the language and communication that allows us to identify with that specific culture and nationality.

Propsal

The language and content of children’s books controls the minds of children and influence the way they think and view the world. I have several topics including children's books and the development of language in minority students, and censorship. My paper will focus on how language and content in children's books influence children, and the world.

Cultural Choice (aka really late abstract)

This paper, "Cultural Choice" discusses the effects different cultures have on each other. Different cultures impact each other through different ways. Cultures clash through miliraty occupation, immigration, and sharing cultures peacefully. This paper also discusses the concept of cultural choice, being able to choose one's own cultural practices. Cultural choice is shown as a viable option for all people becuase it enriches peoples's lives and creates a more accepting atmosphere where cultures other than the dominant culture are accepted. This paper uses several examples from around the world including the Incan culture being influenced by the Spanish, the Korean culture being influenced by Japan, and the different cultures that make up the United States's cultural mix.

Public Libraries: Their History and Existence in the Public Sphere

Public Libraries, as we know them, are a very recent invention. So, how has this history impacted the position of the public library in today's society? What is the role of the public library in providing free access to everyone to knowledge? I am writing this paper for two key reasons. As a student in Library Science, I am intrigued by the history of public libraries. Also, I am incited by the attack that has been begun on the public libraries to become another privatized public space.

So, through this paper, I am hoping to find my thoughts on those two topics. I have looked at the works of Fred Lerner, and hope to continue and compliment his work by adding a new dimension to his thoughts. I also hope to reflect on how libraries have entered his computer age, and how they will continue to thrive, if they continue to thrive. I also wish to take a look at the work of Dr. Ann Curry, who has written about the use of the public libraries, and the ways that they can facilitate public discourse. I see literacy as a key to democracy, and libraries as a pathway toward that literacy.

I hope to look not only at the history of public libraries in the United States, but to also look at their development in the developing world. I want to pursue the history of the Carnegie Library, both domestically and internationally, and hope to reason if they are, and how they are continuing to serve their purpose.

Finally, I plan to talk briefly about questions dealing with censorship. Where, as a librarian, do you draw the line between information that benefits the public, and the information that harms. It is a tricky balancing act, and one that has inspired much debate over the years.

Starting Foreign Language Young

Since I was interested in Pratt’s “speech community” that she described as being an essential part of the contact zone, I decided to use language as a basis of my final paper. Since I am an elementary education major, the issue of foreign languages in the elementary schools seemed to jump out at me. Foreign language has been an increasing and prominent element of schooling for students of all ages.

There is an elementary school in Washington D.C. called the J.F. Oyster Bilingual Elementary School. At this school, both the English and Spanish speaking children within the next few years will become bilingual. Parents have camped out in Washington D.C. to reserve a spot for their child in this prestigious school. They claim it to be culturally, economically, and racially diverse. This school has become very popular, influencing many public schools to take part in foreign language immersion programs.

Although, the idea of foreign language being pushed into the elementary schedules is a positive long-range goal, it also is very tough to follow through with. With the amount of time given in the school day and all of the requirements that school districts and teachers have within their curriculum, it is hard for me to see how foreign language can be brought into the public school so forcefully at this point.

Throughout this paper, I will be supporting the importance of foreign language in a child’s education and how some elementary schools go through this of including foreign language. However, I will also be questioning the possibility of it while still being able to further the children’s education with the necessary curriculum already set up.

?

I know that we had talked about putting something on the blog for today, but I don't remember exactly what it was. So, I figured I'd lay out what I have finally decided to do my final project on. Ever since Katie decided that she would be doing children's literature, I decided that there was still a realm of the library that I could use to write my paper on. I have decided that I'm going to base my paper around the public library as a pulic space. I will probably do some research on the history of the public library, which I have a book on, and then talk about some modern issues involved with the use of the public library. What is considered public? What should go on the shelves? And what is the future of this public space? I think that this willl be an interesting topic, and is definitely one that I'm interested in. I have also found some resources that give insight into how some other places around the world use their public libraries. I found an article about Latin American public libraries and plan to use them as a basis for comparison with the public libraries that we use in the United States. So, yes, I changed my topic once again, but this time I think it is where it will stay.

Leavin' unexpectedly early for Turkey Break!

Just lettin' you know that I won't be in class on Monday. Anything extremely important I'll be missing? Sorry if this ends up causing some sort of inconvenience or annoyance. Have a good one, everyone.

when can i get this paper to you?

ATTN: Dr. Mahoney

The past few days have been insnaely hectic. I've gotten about four hours of total sleep and could just not handle going to class today. I was considering coming so i could hand in my paper, but I didn't want to just sleep in class, because that's what would've happened. I have my paper done, but i need a time and place where i can drop it off.

I'm sorry about this, and I'm getting myself back on track.

I hope I didn't miss too much.

A penny's worth of thoughts

ok. so i was working my way through finding sources. i had decided that i wanted to do something with public space, so i started with that as a search topic, and quickly realized that i needed to be much more specific than that. so, i tried looking up some stuff on sauer and the biologicaly distint borders, but the info out there was a little shoddy, so i changed my focus again. i then considered doing research on the internet as a public space, the limits it has received and the ways that it is being used, but once again came up a little dry for hard articles on it. then, i thought about maybe doing advertisement as public space, and how advertisement is used through clothing and billboards. I haven't gotten around to doing a whole lot of research on that one yet, though i kind of like it as an idea. so, if any of you all have any ideas on what you think would be a good topic, or have any resources relating to any of these topics that i could borrow, that would be wonderful. thank you all for your input and i will see you in class.

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I think I might be a little late for class tomorrow.

Madd Late

The composition, simply titled Democratic Culture, is an essay explaining the forces at play in the current state of a 'democratic' society. It is deeply focused on the role media plays in politics and how it influences the publics vote. There is use of Mary Louise Pratt's assumption's of an egalitarian democratic society, shows how the development to technology aids in the media's influence in politics and the effects of Conglomerate systems influence on the media corporations it supports in relation to political ideologies. The essay also discusses the exposure of political influence in the media, along with propagandized campaigning. Ian Angus' definition of democracy is used to prove that the American system falls short of a true democracy.

This abstract is pretty basic but give me break. I had to write two papers today.

Immigration and "Americanization": Language as a Contact Zone

This work is an attempt to reason through the history behind modern language use and how it affects immigrants to the United States. It begins by looking at a few of the turning points in history that have led to the standardization of English as the language most used for education. It then follows to talk about a few of the other shortcomings of the current language system practiced by the dominant culture. Also, the paper takes a look at how language can be seen as a contact zone, or a meeting place of cultures. Finally, it takes a look at a few possibilities for change and improvement of the dominant culture, to more fully accept new cultures into its own.

A related essay can be found here.

Untitled as of yet

America is without doubt one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. In a sense, we are the United Nations. People feel safe coming to the US; we promise freedom, opportunity, and the American dream. However, it seems that many different issues arise out of the diversity that exists in this country. Issues such as language, racism, patriotism, ethnocentrism (of so-called “white America”), and cultural differences all lead to many minorities crying “foul!” Is America really the land of promise? Or is it just a big, fat lie?

This paper is my attempt to sort through the realities and the fallacies of the some of these issues, examining different works which attempt to present a realm of victimization. Are immigrants victimized in American society? Or is it all just a big scheme to attain sympathy and the upper hand in a somewhat challenging corporate society?