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Name: Val
Home: Rochester, NY, United States
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| Tuesday, March 9, 2010 |
| Looking Back on Bloody Sunday |
A crowded bridge. People ask if they might kneel down and prat before the turn back . The Alabama state troopers will hear none of it. They launch an attack on the crowd, beating them with nightsticks, releasing tear gas, savagely attacking the gather individuals. This is a snapshot of what occurred on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, Bloody Sunday. A group of people attempted to march from Montgomery from to Selma Alabama, to secure civil rights for African- Americans only 45 years ago. Peacable prostesters brutally beaten over the most basic of human rights. Horrific.
We have come a long since that day. We have an African-American president, African-Americans are represented in each branch of federal government. That being said, the numbers are still skewed. People ought and died for the rote to vote, the right for equality and the opportunity to represent their nation in government. People face horrific beating for basic civil rights and secure for future generations rights that the previous did not have. We should honor their memory with not only remembrance, but progress. Racism is still existent in our society and I can think of no better way to salute the work they have done than to continue on their message and work to stamp t out for good. |
posted by Val @ 10:10 AM  |
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| Friday, March 5, 2010 |
| This is our Mission |
"Our mission is student success... Academic, Artistic, and Humanistic." Words worthy of a classroom motivational poster. However, what do they really mean? How is success measured? On an individual basis? Collectively? Putting aside the puffery, what does this really mean to say?
To me, the message is idealistic but honorable. The idea that a school can have this sort of impact on the entire student body is far-fetched. However our school seems to be doing a good job, with a higher graduation rate that the rest of the district and the better part of out students graduate high school, and move on to some form of higher education. Success, however, I feel is better measured on a case by case basis to see how each person grows and changes.
Academic success is is different for every student. Students that always get solid A's and success from the start is different that the success of a failing student that brings up their grade to a passing one. Even if they are skirting the edge, I feel this is a greater success for struggling students and the school. As inspiring are these cases are, sometimes the school drops the ball on these struggling students, who continue to struggle through their school career. Overall however it seems that our school is succeeding in the academic portion of its mission, at least from my perspective.
Artistically are school seems to be doing fine. Dedicated arts teachers force feed students two hours of instruction a day. Our school turns out some incredibly talented individuals. We have amazing stage productions and students who receive scholarships. We are an arts school and it shows.
When it comes to the humanistic portion of our mission, we seem to be failing. Students walk the hallways brimming with brazen disrespect, acting entirely rude and obnoxious. Our school is failing to help old these individuals into the bar minimum of what is expected of them. Obliviously this is something we need to work on. |
| posted by Val @ 9:48 AM |
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| This Site is Blocked...Maybe it shouldn't be |
The following scenario is pretty common place. A student logs onto a school computer and attempts to check one of countless internet account, but what is this? *Gasp* Trully the site is not blocked?Unfortunately for the student it is, indeed. Probably not without good reason.
However, despite the possibility it will be abused, social media offers a widely untapped resource to teachers. Some tech-savvy profs. may be running a class blog, but there not even scratching the glass ceiling. Schools are squandering a valuable teaching medium buy banning social networking. Most students will admit to spending quite a bit of time on Facebook, and some frequent other sites like Twitter. A Facebook group could be the online home of a class, facilitating discussions and allowing access to past assignments. Struggling students could tweet questions to their teacher and get immediate responses. Social media even offers practical application in art class, with sites such as Dailybooth being used to showcase photography, with its photo a day platform making it easy for the teacher to turn into an assignment. A teacher could even potentially teach a class remotely by offering lectures via the video hosting juggernaut coughyoutubecough.
If students are worried about school using these sites to monitor them, the need only adjust their privacy settings. The internet is where students ARE. Schools would be wise to join them. The web offers a way to share media content, ideas, and could even play host to online lectures. |
| posted by Val @ 9:46 AM |
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| Wednesday, March 3, 2010 |
| Six Guilty Pleasures |
Guilty Pleasures. We all all have them. Something we feel shame for loving. Secret obsessions that we keep secret form the world that we keep secret from the world, because society might not accept that file of Daniel Radcliffe picture on your computer filed "Family Vacation '08." These are a few of mine, brought to light for the first time in history.
1.) Listening to Gary Busey speak. The man is so far gone that everything he says is brilliant. I once laughed for ten minutes after hearing him scream in anger, "I'm going to rip out your endocrine system."
2.) Raw cookie dough. Never in my life have I come across a food more delicious or alluring. Never have I felt such shame as when I polish of a lump straight from the tub.
3.) Youtube. I'm not talking about the wonderful and intelligent user generated content. Nor do I speak of music videos or movies or other media content. Nay I speak of videos about cats, videos that last for ten minutes. Videos of people injuring themselves, making hilarious blunders, all rich in schadenfruede. So much of my time has been sucked into the black hole that is web videos.
4.) Red lipstick. It gets a bad reputation. Girls who wear it are considered "sexually indiscriminate" however the terms used are less kind. Red lipstick is a stigma in the makeup world hiding in the bottom of makeup bags waiting for special occasions. It never gets used. Only furtively can I bring myself to wear it, and its normally off before I leave the house, but those few minutes its on I relish it.
5.)My itunes playlist. The every other song is one that I have to hide under my coat and turn the volume down low, lest anyone catch a line from a defunct boy band. Gracing my playlist are country songs, swedish sugar pop, teen pop groups, DIsney songs, and yes boy bands. Embarressing as these songs may be I dare you to not sing along.
6.) Cartoons. As old as I get I cannot shake the habit of sitting down to watch a good cartoon. I will be forty years old sitting down to watch re-runs of X-men cartoons or Avatar:The Last Airbender. I consider the prospect of having children just so I have excuse to sit down as an adult and rewatch "The Lion King, " and other disney gems. |
| posted by Val @ 9:20 AM |
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| Friday, February 12, 2010 |
| Free Speech...Not for Students? |
How far does the authority of school administrators extend beyond the school building? Far enough to cyberstalk students and punish them for what they publish to the internet in their spare time?Apparently the superintendent of the Syracuse school district thinks so. Earlier this year a group of students were punished not only for creating a group that pokes fun a teacher, but all of the students who joined the group were punished as well. This situation inadvertantly brings to life an issue of how far schol authority reaches. Faculty member were assigned to moniter the facebook activity of the students. This generated a controverity over whether or not the administration overstepped their bounds.
Students will be students. They will make fun of teachers, and every single one of the has at least one teacher that they will hate. If a student dirupts the class room or make fun of said teacher on school property the administration is within every right of the administration to take action. The school has no jurisdiction on the internet, when it is being used at home. It was a violation of the student's right to free speech and moreover their privacy.
In their defense the schoolboard claims that the group ccalled the teacher "evil" and features other sorts of written defamation. This is utterly ridiculous who hasn't called a teacher evil. It was said in jest, and if we are to assume that other posts were made in the same vain than this group was uttely harmless. Even if the group was less than harmless, than steps could have been taken to get the group taken down, and the student should have gotten a warning, as opposed to detention. Especially for those who were merely members of the group and did not engae in the creation of the group or psting of malicious material. This was an overreaction of the part of the school and the district and and they went too far in their attempts to quell "disruption" among the student body. |
| posted by Val @ 9:47 AM |
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| Wednesday, February 10, 2010 |
| Democracy is Not For Everyone |
Tom Tancredo spoke at a recent Tea Party promoting the return of literacy tests to filter who can vote in major elections. According to Tancredo "people who cannot spell the word vote, or say it in English," should not be allowed to vote and that the are responsible for "putting a committed socialist ideologue in the white house." These statements were met with applause and cheers from those in attendance. Literacy tests, the same institutions that prevented African-Americans from voting in southern states, and propagated racism, brought back? The ridiculously hard test that was given only to African-Americans or Native Americans? Everyone is guaranteed their right to vote under the umbrella of democracy, and what Mr. Tancredo suggests would strip many citizens of their basic rights. One does not need to know how to read to form opinions. Having a firm grasp of the English language, while probably an advantage, is not necessary to elect officials. If someone cares enough to perform their civic duty to vote then they, then they shouldn't have go through hoops to do it. If Tancredo, is going to suggest literacy tests, why not go all the why? Bring back the poll tax. Make people pay for their rights, and preserve the "Judeo-Christian ideals" of this country, and prevent the poor from voting as well. Maybe bring back Jim Crow laws and just put America on the backward path to racism and segregation the Tancredo is aiming for.
Democracy is for all citizens, regardless of race, gender, econmic situation, or the ability to read and speak the english language. |
| posted by Val @ 9:19 AM |
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| Monday, February 8, 2010 |
| The Desire to Conform |
Everyone deep down has the desire to conform to something. Whether it be to the norm as to better fit in and blend with the rest of society, or the desire to conform to whatever their respective idea of "different" is. There is no great dichotomy between conformity and non-conformity. They are the same in that they are generated by an individual's desire to fit into a certain societal niche.
One is not evil where the other is good. They are each integral pieces of human nature. There is nothing wrong with the desire to fit in or go with the flow, it is when this desire interrupts basic human compassion when it becomes an evil. It is easier to go with the flow than to think individually about object facts and form person opinions on a topic. However,whether or not someone would lay aside their compassion and watch something horrible, such as the holocaust and turn their head in apathy is largely dependent on the individual. Although a lot of people simply followed the herd, some were able to to break from the pack. This does not speak in general about non-conformity as a whole. It can do just as much evil as good, and free thinkers can destroy as well as lead the world.
One shouldn't worry to much about non conformity. If you like a expensive designer purse (and you have enough money) buy it. If you want to listen to the Jonas brothers, go right ahead. If you don't that's fine too. Don't shower dislike on something because your following the herd. Don't buy an indie dress because its indie. Do what you like, ignore what you don't. The point is to happy. If you like who you are and you do do what you enjoy, you'll be be happy.
For your entertainment. |
| posted by Val @ 9:49 AM |
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