This is truly something special. Watching this rally reinvigorated my appreciation for America and has even satiated some of my anger toward opposing groups simply by reminding me of all these other Americans out there who feel the same way.
God bless these good people.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/live-blog-rally-to-restore-sanity-andor-fear/?hp
Of course, I must say, it is rather silly that Fox News has decided to focus on the fact that this rally was, in fact, political. Of course it was Foxy. This isn't news to anyone else.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
I have a book contract, baby! October 11th, 2011, I'm comin' for yah!
Mid-Semester Updates
Well, hello again! Time for the mid-semester report card:
I just took the GRE this past weekend and scored a 640 on the Verbal (91st percentile, baby!) and a sad little 550 on the math (but who cares when you’re going into history?), so I’m a very happy camper on that front. I’ve also just been invited to co-facilitate one of the new freshman Paideia Conversation cohorts with Dr. Melissa Brynes in the history department, which is exciting for teaching-experience purposes as well as just sounding like great fun :]
I’ve also just been informed that my book contract with McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers is in the mail to me now so I should have it in my hands within the next day or so :D And while this news makes me ecstatic, it also scares me because that’s another 100 pages tacked onto my schedule of things-to-do. It’s a good thing I enjoy it, right? I do worry sometimes that I’ve really bitten off more than I can chew this semester, I’ve been much more stressed than I normally am, but I think a lot of that has to do with the giant question mark that is graduate school. I very much love plans and schedules, even if they are vague ones, so this not knowing is really putting me uncomfortably on the edge of my seat. Of course, the emails I’ve been getting back from professors at graduate schools have been nothing but positive, so I am on an upswing of confidence currently.
But the book contract is a big boon and branch of my Paideia research project/American Studies capstone/American Studies Honor Thesis. For the thesis-thesis itself, the Paideia project, I’m turning in thirty pages of edited material a month to Dr. Bednar for his feedback before deciding which sections to send to my other committee members. I’m currently preparing the second set of thirty pages, and it’s time consuming, but highly enjoyable. It’s relaxing to work on something I have so much control over. Other people have eating disorders, I write books. It makes sense to me :]
Anyhoo, I’ve also decided to use parts of this thesis for my graduate school writing sample – and you wouldn’t believe how often Paideia has come up in my Statements of Purpose for graduate schools! This really is a gold mine of education and confidence-building exercises, I think. So, thank you, Paideia!
Beyond this, I would like to also say just how much I’ve enjoyed the class readings and discussions so far. From Kandinsky to how our language forms our perspectives on the world (those articles are still blowing my mind) to introverts taking back the floor – it’s been an extremely diverse and yet well blended semester, I think, so far. Especially the language and introvert/extrovert discussions, I found, went exceptionally well together. I would like more discussion in class about our research projects though, just to see what exactly people are thinking about, what questions have most arrested their interests, etc. I’m very excited to introduce my reading material in November though I still haven’t decided between another article over the Beats or an article over Native American studies.
But these readings so far have really pleased me and appealed to my sense of liberal arts & what Paideia (I believe) is supposed to be about. These readings, though easily connected to each other, are coming from very different perspectives and have yielded some very interesting conversations. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of introverts giving thought to how they feel – honestly, that’s not a bad thing or a insult, it’s just that that’s amazing to me. I feel that my tolerance and excitement for the differences of our world has been greatly expanded already this semester, causing me to rethink certain relationships and ideas and how I read and understand the works and ideas of people from other hemispheres and personality types.
I think it could be cool to speak more about any connections between these readings though – I’d be interested to see what connections people see or thought about between these articles and the German Art article, for instance. But I think we’re doing some very good work so far; I’m proud of us.
Till we meet again
I just took the GRE this past weekend and scored a 640 on the Verbal (91st percentile, baby!) and a sad little 550 on the math (but who cares when you’re going into history?), so I’m a very happy camper on that front. I’ve also just been invited to co-facilitate one of the new freshman Paideia Conversation cohorts with Dr. Melissa Brynes in the history department, which is exciting for teaching-experience purposes as well as just sounding like great fun :]
I’ve also just been informed that my book contract with McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers is in the mail to me now so I should have it in my hands within the next day or so :D And while this news makes me ecstatic, it also scares me because that’s another 100 pages tacked onto my schedule of things-to-do. It’s a good thing I enjoy it, right? I do worry sometimes that I’ve really bitten off more than I can chew this semester, I’ve been much more stressed than I normally am, but I think a lot of that has to do with the giant question mark that is graduate school. I very much love plans and schedules, even if they are vague ones, so this not knowing is really putting me uncomfortably on the edge of my seat. Of course, the emails I’ve been getting back from professors at graduate schools have been nothing but positive, so I am on an upswing of confidence currently.
But the book contract is a big boon and branch of my Paideia research project/American Studies capstone/American Studies Honor Thesis. For the thesis-thesis itself, the Paideia project, I’m turning in thirty pages of edited material a month to Dr. Bednar for his feedback before deciding which sections to send to my other committee members. I’m currently preparing the second set of thirty pages, and it’s time consuming, but highly enjoyable. It’s relaxing to work on something I have so much control over. Other people have eating disorders, I write books. It makes sense to me :]
Anyhoo, I’ve also decided to use parts of this thesis for my graduate school writing sample – and you wouldn’t believe how often Paideia has come up in my Statements of Purpose for graduate schools! This really is a gold mine of education and confidence-building exercises, I think. So, thank you, Paideia!
Beyond this, I would like to also say just how much I’ve enjoyed the class readings and discussions so far. From Kandinsky to how our language forms our perspectives on the world (those articles are still blowing my mind) to introverts taking back the floor – it’s been an extremely diverse and yet well blended semester, I think, so far. Especially the language and introvert/extrovert discussions, I found, went exceptionally well together. I would like more discussion in class about our research projects though, just to see what exactly people are thinking about, what questions have most arrested their interests, etc. I’m very excited to introduce my reading material in November though I still haven’t decided between another article over the Beats or an article over Native American studies.
But these readings so far have really pleased me and appealed to my sense of liberal arts & what Paideia (I believe) is supposed to be about. These readings, though easily connected to each other, are coming from very different perspectives and have yielded some very interesting conversations. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of introverts giving thought to how they feel – honestly, that’s not a bad thing or a insult, it’s just that that’s amazing to me. I feel that my tolerance and excitement for the differences of our world has been greatly expanded already this semester, causing me to rethink certain relationships and ideas and how I read and understand the works and ideas of people from other hemispheres and personality types.
I think it could be cool to speak more about any connections between these readings though – I’d be interested to see what connections people see or thought about between these articles and the German Art article, for instance. But I think we’re doing some very good work so far; I’m proud of us.
Till we meet again
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Off Campus Event: Healthcare Conferences -- Oh, November November
GO OBAMACARE! Or, as it's actually called, GO PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT! I still believe in you!
Well, stepping into the Austin Doubletree hotel for the Healthcare Conference was pretty intimidating. I had to skip Thursday and Friday classes to be there and while that was a disappointment, it was more than worth it. I’m in no way a healthcare buff and I’m just now breaking into the basics of Economics with my Principles class, but it was truly something. Especially Dr. Nancy Dickey – she’s the president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and the vice chancellor for health affairs for The Texas A&M University System – and while I’m actually very against the creepiness that is A&M university, she was an amazing speaker.
Surrounded by well-dressed economists, teachers, chair people, CPPP people, healthcare professionals, Texas legislatures and the like, all their spoons tinkling in coffee cups and their lips all pursed in interest or boredom, I took notes over Dr. Dickey’s: “Who’s Got the Roadmap? Health Reform, TX Style.” I had my doubts about this as I’m not much of a “TX Style” person, but very quickly I became impressed. She stated the general September 23rd goals promised by Obama’s Healthcare as follows:
• Allow parents to keep children on insurance till age 26 (whoo-hoo!)
• Eliminate lifetime limits on coverage
• And, I can’t believe this hasn’t always been outright illegal, prohibit insurers from rescinding benefits if beneficiaries become ill
And I’m happy to report that these have been met. And this is a big step forward. Of course, my major question continues to be that we all already know TX is a shit-lined black hole of health care, but how are we supposed to fix any of it without first fixing the absolutely deplorable evil education system issues in TX? Of course, then a woman on the panel made the absolutely stunning comment that “We all know Texas has a great education system” … and that’s when I realized how much of this was already lost. Much of the wonderful and impressive proposals and hopes put forward at this conference intimidated me in their scope and filled me with hope for America’s future healthcare systems and reform – but it also depressed me to hear such a great denial of such a large problem in TX that could greatly help in the solution of these related issues. Healthcare is not an island-problem. It’s a problem interrelated with class conflicts, education issues, poverty, etc, etc, etc. Of course, it was reassuring to hear all the great murmurings at my table of “Great education system? WHAT education system?”
Anyhoo, another big problem facing us is the Craven Physician Paradox: where “the public” everyone kept referring to either absolutely listen to their physician instead of outside clinical expertise while still stand in their physician’s way as what spooks them out of prescribing anything themselves and referring said spooky patients to those same specialists … At some point, it has to be the physician’s responsibility to simply diagnose and treat their patients – if they won’t trust their own educations then why I am even making a pit stop in their offices to begin with?
There was a great listing over those two days of issues upon issues within America’s healthcare system, but, I’m pleased to report, I’ve rarely found so many hopeful people. We have the means to fix this staggering problem – we’re all just waiting on November at this point.
But why should anyone have to wait any longer for healthcare reform? When do we all finally say: now is the time? We’ve waited long enough.
Here's the Center for Public Policy Priorities (they're the Good Guys) website for more information over the conference:
http://cppp.org/events/event_details.php?eid=274
ciao for now neighborinos
Well, stepping into the Austin Doubletree hotel for the Healthcare Conference was pretty intimidating. I had to skip Thursday and Friday classes to be there and while that was a disappointment, it was more than worth it. I’m in no way a healthcare buff and I’m just now breaking into the basics of Economics with my Principles class, but it was truly something. Especially Dr. Nancy Dickey – she’s the president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and the vice chancellor for health affairs for The Texas A&M University System – and while I’m actually very against the creepiness that is A&M university, she was an amazing speaker.
Surrounded by well-dressed economists, teachers, chair people, CPPP people, healthcare professionals, Texas legislatures and the like, all their spoons tinkling in coffee cups and their lips all pursed in interest or boredom, I took notes over Dr. Dickey’s: “Who’s Got the Roadmap? Health Reform, TX Style.” I had my doubts about this as I’m not much of a “TX Style” person, but very quickly I became impressed. She stated the general September 23rd goals promised by Obama’s Healthcare as follows:
• Allow parents to keep children on insurance till age 26 (whoo-hoo!)
• Eliminate lifetime limits on coverage
• And, I can’t believe this hasn’t always been outright illegal, prohibit insurers from rescinding benefits if beneficiaries become ill
And I’m happy to report that these have been met. And this is a big step forward. Of course, my major question continues to be that we all already know TX is a shit-lined black hole of health care, but how are we supposed to fix any of it without first fixing the absolutely deplorable evil education system issues in TX? Of course, then a woman on the panel made the absolutely stunning comment that “We all know Texas has a great education system” … and that’s when I realized how much of this was already lost. Much of the wonderful and impressive proposals and hopes put forward at this conference intimidated me in their scope and filled me with hope for America’s future healthcare systems and reform – but it also depressed me to hear such a great denial of such a large problem in TX that could greatly help in the solution of these related issues. Healthcare is not an island-problem. It’s a problem interrelated with class conflicts, education issues, poverty, etc, etc, etc. Of course, it was reassuring to hear all the great murmurings at my table of “Great education system? WHAT education system?”
Anyhoo, another big problem facing us is the Craven Physician Paradox: where “the public” everyone kept referring to either absolutely listen to their physician instead of outside clinical expertise while still stand in their physician’s way as what spooks them out of prescribing anything themselves and referring said spooky patients to those same specialists … At some point, it has to be the physician’s responsibility to simply diagnose and treat their patients – if they won’t trust their own educations then why I am even making a pit stop in their offices to begin with?
There was a great listing over those two days of issues upon issues within America’s healthcare system, but, I’m pleased to report, I’ve rarely found so many hopeful people. We have the means to fix this staggering problem – we’re all just waiting on November at this point.
But why should anyone have to wait any longer for healthcare reform? When do we all finally say: now is the time? We’ve waited long enough.
Here's the Center for Public Policy Priorities (they're the Good Guys) website for more information over the conference:
http://cppp.org/events/event_details.php?eid=274
ciao for now neighborinos
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