Marion joined us a little late, with Marlene Boykin's promise to help her catch up. But Marion came with carpal tunnel syndrome, already wounded by the technology we rely on so heavily. We did our best to prevent the need to type, and Marion, during the course of the semester put up Dragon Dictate, a program which enables the computer to understand voice commands.

On December 12, with class well over, I received from Marion the following request: "can you define the word inculcate? this word comes from an african book, but i can't find a definition for the blasted word." Yes, I could. Rodale's Synonym Finder offered: teach, indoctrinate, "hammer in" etc. What I prized in the request was the unstated assumption that an exchange of vocabulary was an ordinary daily occurrence, and the implicit freedom to share lacunae in knowledge, as well as to display performance skills. Marion's gentle request bespoke a trust that lies at the foundation of teaching and learning.

Marion, I look forward to working with on GIS mapping next semester, and on some html work for the site.

Patrice Johnson.

Patrice, flying back and forth between LA and Hemet to care for her mom.
You can see why she wanted my pink cowboy hat from Gene Autrey's museum.

On December 17, 2000, Patrice managed to get through to e-mail that had previously escaped me. She wrote:

"This course has taught me how valuable a role statistics plays in almost every aspect of one's life. Prior to this class my knowledge of statistics was shallow, and I had an underlying fear of it. It all seemed so complicated. I have come to learn that science and math deal with facts, and those facts must deal with validity, and an understanding of measurement. I can interpret now graphs, art and music, textual context, and a clearer understanding of SPSS. I can now better understand and respect the role that statistics plays in my life. No longer am I afraid to tackle statistics problems. I have the ability to use statistics to make it work for me.

"One accomplishment that I'm proud of along the way to understanding statistics: I came to understand Fellman's article," Rambo and the Dali Lama: Empathy". "In empathizing, people use their own feelings and expressions to guess at the feeling of others, and to be willing to feel those feeling with them…" By incorporating this approach I was able to empathize with the plight of the Yanomamo."

jeanne: Patrice, you expressed this well. Within the limited space we have for our reports of learning much is jumbled together, like SPSS along with art and music. I can imagine some folks' consternation at that combination. But then your explanation of moving from Fellman's definition of empathy to the ability to empathize with the Yanomami lets me realize how much you did manage to integrate, and how much more valuable that was than mere memorization.

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