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Current Issue: Volume 26, No. 7 , Week of March 5, 2006

We're All in This Together

jeanne's first version of Walls to Exclude
Walls to Exclude
Memories that Never Fade

NEWS and Announcements Site Map
News and Announcements from the Department of Criminal Justice, UWP
News and Announcements from the Department of Sociology, CSUDH

google
WWW www.habermas.org

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created:March 3, 2006
Latest Update: March 5, 2006
E-Mail Icon jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Topic of the Week:

Walls to Exclude, Memories that Never Fade

In Message 10881 on transform_dom, I answered Star when she requested why there wasn't as much rage about pedophiles as there is about illegal immigration. I think there is, Star. Take a look at Restorative Justice and Therapeutic Jurisprudence, with Examples. Chosen subject was sex offenders, but others included. I consider locking someone up for life, until our ability to measure the effects of treatment, is pretty much representative of rage. As therapeutic jurisprudence points out, that rage may be based on many unstated assumptions (and questions we haven't thought to ask) that may not lead to justice. We have lots to learn in this area, but recent laws on sex offenders and recidivism have led to communities to try to build walls to lock out sex offenders, and maybe even to lock them in somewhere.

I thought it was interesting that Star essentially raised the question of proportional rage. Michael had raised it earlier when he complained that we were quibbling about sex offenders instead of focussing on the Iraq war, for killing innocent people seemed much worse. Fact is, whatever is happening to you at the moment is what's worst. So Star, yes immigration is something we should be howling over, too. But the one you focus on is going to depend on your unique identity and your unique experiences.

The media claim that we the people have a short attention span. They're right. I do, at least. Every morning there are new stories. Every night there are more car chases and hit and run accidents. Yesterday's news is well, yesterday's news. That's not our attention span. That's an infrastructure that provides no scoreboard on Katrina and redevelopment of New Orleans, on the Iraqi war, on traffic problems in the valley. No scoreboard on how we're doing on these issues that make up our news each day. Of course, we can't keep up. How about having our news reporters follow through every week on how the issues raised are coming along. Like the trailers in Arkansas to relieve housing conditions in New Orleans and other places hit by Katrina.

I'm gonna try to help by dividing our site into topics, and then we'll do follow up posting on each of the topics. It'll take me a couple of days to rearrange the format. Meanwhile, the topic I chose for this week was immigration, in response to Star's plaintive request.

As I drew the sketch for the week, I first jotted down an approximation to the Chinese Wall, to remind us that we've been building walls for a very long time to keep the excluded out. My husband thought first of Mexico. But I was thinking also of Palestine and Israel, of India and Pakistan, of Berlin, of recent calls of a wall on the border between Iraq and Syria, walls, walls, walls. I like Professor Tom O'Connor's Understanding Discrimination against Immigrants Start there. I'll come back with more tomorrow. love and peace, jeanne

NEWS, Announcements, and

Current Events Discussion Topics:

  • How to Join Learning Records and Transform_dom On Yahoo.

  • Grade Corrections, Fall 2005:

  • New Office: SBS -B325 No phone, sorry.

    Visual Sociology

    Lectures, Notes, and Texts

    • Topics

    • Discussion Questions

    • Lecture Notes Lecture notes on the substantive concepts discussed. These are not a "substitute" for actual lectures in class or workshops, but I have tried to cover the main concepts so that absence from class will not critically deprive you of the substance of our discussions. The discussion questions are for your own understanding of how well you have grasped the concepts. You may pose any of the questions on transform_dom, where we'll all be glad to discuss these issues. If you are confused, please make sure you clarify the concepts with jeanne when she is available in the office and in class.

      Index of Theory and Application Lectures in Chronological Order, Spring 2006 This index has topics I proposed through lectures prior to Week 7. At that time we were able to post materials from transform_dom itself. For the rest of the Spring semester please refer to:

      Topics for Spring 2006

    Academic Resources

  • SquiggleResource Literacy

    • Urban Legends Reference Pages. They post rumors and scams and phony e-mails circulating, to offer you a quick check. It worked for me. I entered "Fat Boy" as a google seacrch, and when I saw the Snopes.com link, I knew it would help, and it did. To not check your sources is as grievous as to plagiarize someone else's information and writing. A Page from Urban Legends As an Example.

    • the-artists.org Good quick reference site with many of the artists, art schools, and visual approaches to present social issue that we discuss. Added April 8, 2005.

    • Plagiarism Watch www.streetgangs.com site. The intelligent and effective use of resources means that you have to be careful not to plagiarize other people's material. We have several files on plagiarism, but I think the one that might make the most sense to you is this complaint on streetgangs.com. They give you samples of sites that have taken their material without citation, even at colleges, and they also give you examples of sites that have used their material with proper attribution. I find the irony poetic, and hope that their message will get through to you the importance of attribution. Dr. O'Connor on his Mega Criminal Justice site led me to streetgangs.com and noted that others frequently hack into the site. For that reason I have created a backup copy for your use in case you cannot access the actual site. Please be sure to attribute any citation to streetgangs.com. jeanne Backup.

      http://www.quackwatch.org/index.html Quackwatch, a website maintained by Stephen Barrett, M.D.

      "Quackwatch, Inc. . . . is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies. Its primary focus is on quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere. Founded by Dr. Stephen Barrett in 1969 as the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud, it was incorporated in 1970. In 1997, it assumed its current name and began developing a worldwide network of volunteers and expert advisors. . . . "

    Using Academic Language Effectively

    Merriam-Webster Dictionary Search:

    and Careers

    • Resumes:

    • Letters of Recommendation:

      • Letters of Recommendation: How to get me to respond to your request. Many of you need letters. If you will follow this format, I can do them quickly and make them good.
      • Dog Letters If you do not give me adequate information, but do manage to get my attention, you may end up with a dog letter. That is a letter that says that you work well with people, that you are enthusiastic, that you persist at getting things done, and that everyone likes you. Of course, my dog gets along well with people, brings his ball to them, is enthusiastic, and persists at getting them to take his ball. Everyone likes my dog. That's a dog letter. It's so general it could be about my dog. jeanne

    • Career Options You Might Not Have Considered

      • visual media and their interdependence with other means of knowing to understand that we are not totally rational creatures deciding things apart from our feelings and values. Wolfowitz (new President of the World Bank to aid developing countries AND principle advocate of the Iraq War) might feel very differently when he is exposed to visual and aural images of the poor developing countries that have not before been his primary concern. So we want to know how best to present those developing countries visually. And we might find that we can have a career doing that sort of thing, so it does reflect on us as individuals. Added April 2, 2005.

    That Was Fun! Sneaky Strokes and Flying Good Dogs

    Flying Dog is also a painting by Zhang Kai. Best I've ever come across to illustrate our site with magic numbers and unicorns and whipped cream cats and now, flying dogs, oh, and Faupel's Flying Fish.:

    • Icons and acronyms and what they mean in Internet Speak

    • Index of Nice Things We've Said to Each Other

      • I Was Scared of Statistics

      • It Feels Good to Make a Difference

      • The Site Goes On - You're Always Welcome Back
        • From Angelique Hawley on December 16, 2005: Message No. 9072 on transform_dom.
          Merry Christmas! Jeannne and Pat and all the marvelous students at CSUDH that has shared in "Naked Space"

          I wish I had a lot of money so that I could reward all of you properly. Transform_domDigest is so wonderful.

          I can recall when being one of the first users in 2004 and I see we are at digest 594. my how time flies when we are learning and having fun.

          Jeanne you and Pat are the bomb!

          I continue to read the digest although I am not taking any of your classes now. The digests have been more informative than the school paper. Please continue to keep it going.

          Get rest ! I hope to see you .

    • Flying Good Dogs: Whenever something happens in this or any other class that works out well, that inspires you, that helps in studying, whatever, take a few minutes to send us an e-mail. We'll post it where all of us can learn from it, including other teachers.