You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2008.
In an interesting shift to the race to obtain credentials, the UK is now allowing some corporate training programs (including McDonalds’) to count toward the equivalent of a high school diploma. Of course, universities and colleges get to decide whether or not to accept these degrees for admission, but the argument is that recognizing such training programs via national accreditation is a positive step.
But this is tricky; will it help out employees by recognizing the education they’ve received via corporate training programs, or will it contribute to a devaluing of such diplomas? In the U.S., a lot of attention is being paid to the “inflation” that is making a bachelor’s degree the new standard, and pushing the credential requirements up even as the “content” of jobs stays the same. Does the McDiploma give advantages to the individuals who receive them, or could it wind up decreasing the overall “value” of all high school diplomas (or the UK’s equivalent)?
the parody video Tom Cruise WANTS you to see! on FunnyOrDie.com
Much like the Scientology video, I was late getting to this party as well, but as a follow-up to my last post, here’s the hysterical parody over at funnyordie.com.I’m a little behind on this one, but Gawker has posted (and claims it will not remove) the video of Tom Cruise talking about Scientology. Honestly, I watched the whole thing, but I stopped really listening toward the end because I totally have no idea what he’s even trying to talk about anymore.
Apparently the Scientologists are the only ones who can see the world for what it really is. We already know that they hate psychologists (because, as Mr. Cruise so pointedly tells us, Scientology is “the authority on the mind”)…I wonder if sociology is next.
It’s been a strange January day in Indiana; I woke up to dark, ominous skies, left the house in near record-high temperatures, got drenched in torrential rain, and cuddled with the cat when she was perturbed by rumbles of thunder.
It’s also strange to be back to work, and yet not back to work, all at the same time. I have no schedule to keep to, no classes to teach, no standing meetings or appointments; the spring semester started on Monday, but for me it’s just a line on the academic calendar. And yet…I have more work to do than I’ve ever had before. I may have only been in my office for about four hours today, but my work day is only just ending now.
In the interest of fair warning, as my qualifying exam readings (on culture and inequality) begin to take over increasingly large chunks of my mental capacity, it’s likely that they’ll start to encroach here as well from time to time. I’ll do my best…but you have been warned.
While catching up on the news over lunch, I noticed that CNN has a couple of stories about women on its front page, albeit buried down in the “Living” section. In fact, two stories about the crazy things women are up to these days were the top links in this section. 
The first story reports recent findings reported in Gender Issues that suggest women are prioritizing their careers over their relationships. CNN reports that in a study of college students, “while 51 percent of the women prioritized romantic relationships over achievement goals, more than 61 percent of men did the same.” The researchers suggest that this finding is more about the relationship between women and the workplace, where having children can have a negative impact, than it is about women actually preferring work over romance. Additionally, for men, the researchers suggest that since most families now have both parents working, men may feel less pressured to put their careers first, and more able to emphasize romantic relationships.
Interestingly, CNN did not talk about other structural factors related to economics and changing family dynamics. For example, while the threat of divorce might loom large to both men and women, single parenthood is both more common, and apparently more difficult, for single mothers. Additionally, maybe women are more worried about their careers because they still make about 80% of what men make. Maybe, if women were earning the same amount as men, and weren’t significantly more likely to be living in poverty if they become single parents, we would see different trends. I haven’t read the actual study CNN is reporting here, but I always find it curious that we don’t like to talk about this kind of inequality in the mass media. In the past, when I’ve talked about the gender wage gap with my students, many of them have expressed disbelief that this could still be true.
After reading about the 51% of women who are cold-hearted and prioritize work over family, I moved on to find out just what kinds of shocking parties these women are now attending. It turns out that, instead of Tupperware parties, women are now hosting Taser parties, designed to sell women new, less lethal tools of self-defense. My favorite part is that the Tasers being marketed to the civilian population at these parties are small enough to fit in a purse, and come in a variety of colors. Apparently, for women, the favorite color for a Taser? Pink. The article suggests this is a “girl power” thing, but maybe it’s also a way to retain femininity when one is doing something as masculine as carrying a weapon? I don’t know.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that the women around you will not only leave you, not only Tase you, but will also go completely insane and try to hold your kids hostage. Women these days!
Today we received word that the Solid Rock Children’s Home, one of the orphanages we’ve been working with, has been looted and burned down. It seems that violence along tribal lines is continuing, and that this was the motivation for destroying Solid Rock. The good news, though, is that everyone is okay, relocated, and (currently) safe.
It’s easier to push things like these aside when they’re far away and the people affected seem faceless.
These are the children of Solid Rock.
This photo was taken by a friend of mine who was at Solid Rock this past summer, in the classroom. The children were given a writing prompt to follow; but as Todd saw, these “instructions” can take on larger meaning.
With these elections, Kenya has been given the beginning of a story; time will tell how it is completed. For Solid Rock’s children and all the people of Kenya, I hope this chapter is over soon, and that the ending is a happy and peaceful one.
I’m spending my morning at the airport because my flight has been delayed for three hours so our crew can rest after getting in late last night. Unlike my previous experiences with Northwest, which have generally been about as pleasant as a kick in the face, today hasn’t been so bad. It’s amazing what a difference a nice desk agent and a meal voucher can do.
Airports are coming to be a bit of a Third Place for me–albeit one that requires a $100+ entrance pass and a photo ID, unlike Panera and Starbucks (both places that have seen a lot of me in the past). Perhaps more accurately, though, they are liminal spaces, places we usually only inhabit in between point A and point B. But can liminal spaces produce liminal states of consciousness? I guess time will tell; for now, we can just conclude that liminal spaces with free internet access produce…blog entries.
The images of the polls opening in Kenya last week were peaceful, hopeful, and inspiring. Since the announcement of election results, marred by inconsistencies and evidence of rigging, in Kenya, the images in the media have been ones of violence and death.
My rational and political side is troubled by the evidence of vote rigging and election tampering, and understands the kind of outrage that has prompted these reactions. Should Kenyans really just accept election results that have so obviously been doctored and move on? No.
But it is my emotional and compassionate side that is dominating my thoughts on Kenya right now. The knowledge that my friends’ family members are in Kenya, and fear for their lives, leaves me with a pit in my stomach that I can’t seem to get rid of, and I know that I can’t even begin to understand the anxiety my friends are feeling.
I also know that a few months ago, these images would have seemed so distant from my own life that I couldn’t have cared in quite the way I do now. But the work I’ve done over the past few months (and the trip to Kenya that was still in the infancy of its planning stages), and the people I’ve gotten to know, have drawn me toward the country, and now the news from Kenya hits just a bit closer to home. The city where my friends are from–the city I planned to spend much of July in–is now making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
This wasn’t how I planned to return to writing here; it isn’t what I would like to be thinking about. But right now, I am keeping Kenya in my thoughts, and hoping that Kenya can return to hopeful pictures, like the one I’ve chosen to use for this post, instead of the most violent ones.
Images are here:
