Dark for a While

Sorry, due to computer issues, this blog will be going dark for a while (if you haven't already noticed). I will continue to work on ideas while enjoying 'the off season.'

Kick the can, don't kick the bucket

It seems strange to me, that without thinking of it, I can just realize its been almost exactly one month since my last update (and 2 months since my last real blog). I don't have a lot to say. Obama won the election. Phillies won the World Series. I don't have any real judgments about that stuff yet. I'll wait till Obama has actually done something noteworthy, either as President or just President-Elect, before I devote an entry to him.

Change that. One thing on my mind, before it slips away into oblviion forever. I think it's a little sad how all the news about the Obama victory was because he was the first black president. I have nothing wrong with identification based on race, it is legitmate, but I don't think it's newsworthy. From the moment his name was entered into the primaries, it was always possible for the next POTUS (President of the United States) to be black. It's not that big of a deal. I'm thrilled for him and his family, but it comes down to this: Obama is an American first, and American at birth. Then culture and education and race are all taught later, after he is already defined as American. So we should be celebrating a new American President. Rather than celebrating his race as the most interesting thing about him, look at his home state of Illinois. Good old honest Abe came from there, too. Wonderful. Also wonderful, but not unexpected: the White House is in control of the Democrats again. Great for them.

I don't think I really see myself as identifying with one party more than another. I do say another, not the other, because I do not want to fall into the trap that most Americans do, and think we only live in a two-party system. I don't like the idea of letting a party, a group, or an affiliation define yourself. Rather, I think each individual should make up the larger group, creating a diverse group that is the background that chooses the actions of the larger group as a whole. I may not be a huge Joe Lieberman fan, but I do respect him for switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Do you remember when he ran in 2000 as the Vice President candidate with Al Gore for President when affiliated with the Democrats? I don't know when he switched parties. I don't really know why either, which makes this endorsement kind of hollow. But realizing that his good and well-being was not happening any longer with the Democrats and taking the active effort to seek change ? - Now that is fantastic.

End Tangent. That went on a lot longer than I had intended, and I'm not sure if I still have time (only so many hours in the day) to write the post I wanted to write. The title is irrelevant now, so maybe I should just get to my original topic and hope you ignore my excessive chit-chatting.

----

About a week or so before Halloween, we were hanging out in my apartment. What we were doing, who was there - they don't really matter. This is what does: My building is an old house, divided into 6 apartments. The front door of the house/building has multiple doorbells. None are labeled. so I have no idea if my apartment has a door bell or even if it works. For whatever reason, we decide to head out. As we troop down the stairs, I see a silhouette through the glass. Only one way to find out who it is.

We open the door, and to my surprise, there are a few kids looking up at me, with the responsible parent hanging back, letting the children do their own dirty work (teaching responsibility, which I think is good). The young students were there, and I assumed they had rang the doorbell as I was walking out. To them it must have looked like they had summoned me with the bell, and to me it was just an awkward meeting.

They told me about their school project. In groups, they were to bring paper grocery bags to neighborhood houses. Attached to each bag was a list of suggested canned-food items that could be placed into the bag, which was going to be collected on or shortly after Halloween, and then donated to a local food bank for Thanksgiving. I was startled, even more so because I had not expected to see anyone or converse with anyone. I usually try to map out conversations and their possible tangents before I engage in them. I was not so lucky this time. I accepted their bag, but unwilling to go back to my apartment, I left the brown bag in the middle of the stairwell, where hopefully other tenants of my building would find it and donated accordingly.

Now it is about two weeks after Halloween. Thanksgiving is almost upon us (but if you look at major retailers, it's actually Christmas). That brown shopping bag has been forgotten. Somehow it is not on the small front porch of my building, stuck on the wooden railing. It is pathetic how empty and lonely that bag looks. Some of the sympathy I have for that bag is really blame and curiosity on my own behalf.

What would have happened if I had took that bag from the kids and just handed it back to them? Would they have just taken the bag back and walked away? Or would they have demanded an explanation. If they wanted one, would the explanation I offered have been enough? Or would it have been too much?

Yes, student, I will gladly fill this bag with non-perishable goods and return it to you promptly. But that is false. That is untrue, and the promise that is told though a smiling face, is never going to be fulfilled. I'm just going to leave this behind, like most of my generation, for someone else to deal with. I'm sure someone else will find this bag, and fill it with their unwanted items, while I am hidden away in my own little isolated world happily enjoying my food. We expect to be taken care of. In the words of Tyler Durdin, "We are a generation of men raised by women...an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't." So sorry Junior. I am too self-absorbed to help you. I am busy trying to take care of myself.

[Quick time-out. While in the middle of the above paragraph, I left the class I was in and returned to my apartment. Due to this transition, and the additional reflection allowed by the length of the walk, my tone may have shifted. Perhaps not. Just a brief notice.]

The walk I just mentioned in that little sidebar conversation made me feel guilty and curious. I never actually looked at the bag other then in passing. So I scooped the bag up before I came upstairs and am taking a serious look at it.

Help Hungry Neighbors Have A Happy Thanksgiving...just by putting groceries in this bag!

Ok, co-sponsored by the WCU Catholic Newman Student Association...benefits 2 distributors: St. Agnes Day Room, and Project 1 (serves local families affected by HIV/AIDS. [Later, I will (should/might) have an entry about religious organizations, and will serve as an update to my entry on author viewpoints.]

Leave the bag out front in a visible location by 11am on Nov 22 and it will be collected. So I can still do something. I know where some of these items are at Target, and I know I can afford them. Maybe I can do something. Maybe I can do 2 somethings. I'll try to take care of some items, and maybe you can too, and donate items to your own local food bank.

"Everything but the Turkey!
-Stuffing Mix
-Instant Mashed Potatoes
-Gravy (2 jars or cans)
-Canned sweet potatoes (1 large or 2 small)
-Corn, Green Beans, or Carrots (3 or 4 cans)
-Cranberry Sauce
-Applesauce of Canned Fruit
-Canned Pumpkin Pie filling
Box of Brown Sugar
-Hot Chocolate, Coffee, or Tea"

Fight Club had Project Mayhem. I don't have a clever name for this. Maybe we can just call it doing the right thing, taking care of business (TCOB), or actually belonging in our communities. Maybe we can calling it Kick The Can of the Community and give back.

Any other local charities that deserve consideration?




(this blog was updated on Nov 19, 2008 to fix some spelling errors)

Getting In Touch

A new feature that I will be working on is called Getting In Touch will serve as updates to older entries.

About one month ago, my new belved channel, MHD ceased to exsist. Now in its place is Palladia. As of September 1st, the channel and respective website have be revamped and recreated. The channel has matured enough to come into its own, with new shows and airing specials like the MTV VMAs. The logo is a butterfly with musical notes flowing across its wings, and has continued to impress me with high quality entertainment. The logo, displayed above, features the new slogan of the channel as well. Rock On.

Flapjack and a Cigarette

During the summer, PA legislators voted to ban smoking, and the bill was signed into law (PDF) by Gov. Ed Rendell on June 13, going into effect 90 days later, on September 11, 2008. The public had three months notice to know this was going to happen.

Senate Bill 246 forbids smoking in public places such as restaurants and businesses. Smoking is still going to be allowed at private functions and in private homes, as well as at tobacco shops. I think that this is great. Now when we go to dinner, we won't need to decide between smoking or non-smoking sections. Places that have patrons that hang out while they smoke might loose some business - diners, bowling alleys, and the like. On the flip side, maybe more people will come out to celebrate the new found clean air.

This law also prohibits smoking at government facilities. By extension, the ban effects campuses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). As a student at a state school (West Chester University), I got an e-mail on 9/11 which included this paragraph "Based upon the above, it is the position of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education that smoking, as defined by the statute, is now prohibited on the entire campus. “No Smoking” signs will be prominently posted at appropriate locations throughout the campus and maintained by the university. It is a violation of this law for employees and students to smoke on campus." (See the full e-mail at the bottom of this post)

The Clean Indoor Air Act is now controlling outdoor air quality as well. I submitted a Letter to the Editor of the WCU Quad (campus newspaper) after this e-mail was sent out. I will not be re-posting that Op-Ed, but will link it, and recall some key points.

-As of 9/16, the ashtrays are still all over campus. They are by some benches and near the doors of many buildings. If smoking is not allowed, they should have been removed prior to 9/11, as to send a clear signal.
-As of 9/16 there are no "no-smoking" signs on the north campus academic quad, and no increased presence of campus safety, public safety, or officials from the Department of Health to patrol for smokers.
-As of 9/16 there are no designated smoking areas that allow students to smoke in a safe environment. Students are still forced to smoke in the West Chester community.
-As of 9/16, there is no notice on the WCU website about this law, or on the main page of the PASSHE website. The homepage of the PASSHE site merely links to an Associated Press news story.

I maintain that this ban is a good idea that will help protect the health of non-smokers, but the three months of preparation should have been used to actually prepare. PASSHE should have notified students earlier than the day of action, and there should have been a more forum type approach for students, instead of just pawning inquires about the PASSHE policy to the Dept. of Health.

Check out news stories on this topic from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC, and Fox.

Right now, the state is profiting, with one hand, off the sales of tobacco products, while profiting on the other side, by fining people for using their products.

What is the appropriate way to enforce a ban like this? Complete and total ban of all products, including sales, possession, and purchase? Or a free-for-all?

PA Department of Health
PASSHE

Points of View

Did all of August slip by without me writing a post? Wow. The middle of September is rapidly approaching.

I'm writing this in the new Google internet browser, Chrome. So far, I like it. It's very similar to Firefox, but I am not sure which one I will continue to use. The point to that is that I am not sure how the formatting will look, but it should be fine...after all Google also owns Blogger's parent company. I have noticed some sites being unresponsive: Facebook and Wired so far.

I've already made it clear which blogs I typically read. I found this off Wired maybe a week or 2 ago, and it raised an interesting point. One of my favorite childhood books was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Think of it as Starship Troopers for kids, but less military oriented. Orson Scott Card, who has written over two dozen SciFi, fantasy, and religion related books in multiple series, and has written as a commentator for various political and religious events.

As a writer, Card is very passionate with either fiction or non-fiction. One glance at the bottom of his Wikipedia page chronicles them better than I can. I turn my attention to his article that was highlighted in the Wired article, which can be found at Mormon Times, a website that Card identifies with. He is a member of the Church of LDS (Latter Day Saints). Fine. Normally, at least for me, I don't care about anything personal about authors I read. White, Black, Asian, Mixed, Albino, Male, Female, Transgender, Jewish, Muslim, LDS, Christian, Wicca - All Fine By Me. I usually just care about when the next publishing is going to be.

When an author uses his "celebrity status" to endorse certain view points, like this one when Card calls anything pro-gay coming from the "propaganda mill." It upsets me to see someone so against a view. Propaganda is going to be spewed from either side in a major argument. But comparing Gay Marriage to abortion is absurd. They are totally different, the only thing they have in common is that 50 years ago they were all hush hush.

I can't really say enough how disappointed I am that Card has written like this, even if it was meant just for a Mormon audience. My question is: Do we read because the author is outrageous or his idea/story is outrageous. A (bad) example: OJ Simpson's unreleased book If I Did It was inflammatory. But was it such a big deal because of who wrote it, or the subject matter? Tom Clancy is not what I would think of as an inflaming writer. He writes military related stories - and usually meets our exceptions. Card has been injecting his religious views into his books for a long time, and it took me a long time to understand all of them, and finally get turned off by them. Maybe if his works were presented in that new section at Borders the Religious and SciFi and Fantasy cross section. Oh wait. That's not real.

We can't separate the writer from the tale unless its really engrossing. If JK Rowling (Harry Potter fame) wrote her next book about a raunchy orgy, people would be shocked. Shock sells BIG. I think that if we know the background of writers before we read their work, we will search out influences, instead of letting them get flushed out naturally, we loose part of the story. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and a story is just a story.

What do you think? Does the writer make the book? Or does the written word make the author? And how does this change with cross genre writers?

Watching Music

It’s been said many times, but MTV killed the music video. MTV had been the home of the “video star,” which according to the first music on MTV, killed the "radio star." In conclustion, MTV killed both the radio star and the video star. MTV is now based more in Reality Shows. Programs like Road Rules, The Real World, My Super Sweet 16, MTV Cribs, Pimp My Ride, The Hills, Laguna Beach, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila, Jackass, True Life, Made, and Date My Mom (the list goes on.)

Moving on from that hyperlink festival, I'd like to look at VH1. As I was growing up, I considered VH1 to be the adult/middle-aged version of MTV. It had boring stuff and music on it that did not interest most children. The women on it were dressed in a less provocative manner, and the videos in general were smarter. I think the first music video I watched, in its entirety, on VH1 was "By The Way" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was on a business trip/vacation with my Dad in Las Vegas. Weird how I just remembered that. Anyway, that video showed me alternative ways to enjoy music. At the time, I didn't drive, so I was always listening to my Dads' conservative talk radio shows. I had already tired of MTV (I only had a six month affair with TRL). VH1, in the long run, was more visually conservative while being more thought provoking. VH1 has become popular with a somewhat younger audience with the I Love The... programing. And by all means, VH1 is not perfect (I point to example A: Flavor of Love and example B: Hogan Knows Best) just that is a step up from MTV.

There is a third music channel, that I can't say I have ever really watched. I never really cared for this genre of music, I always considered it redneck, or involving missing love, prison, and truck driving (That is a quote from a comedian, but I can't recall who, and Google didn't find anything. I am just not that creative). Sorry, the channel is CMT: Country Music Television. I don't know anything about it that would not come from the Wikipedia article, so I will summarize: Owned by Viacom (same parent company as MTV), CMT is "an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, and reality programs." There are reality shows similar to the ones found on MTV. Trick My Truck seems to the CMT solution to Pimp My Ride. There are other reality shows that put musicians in improbable situations. "CMT's current programming features country music-oriented shows (i.e. country music videos, taped concerts, etc.), country lifestyle-oriented shows, and old shows and movies that prominently feature country or Southern-rock music."

In my new apartment, I wanted to enjoy my living space. I ordered HDTV from Comcast. Well, in addition to HBO, Showtime, and Starz, I found some new HD programming. One of these was MHD - Music High Definition. This station is the freak love child of MTV, VH1, and CMT (and a distant cousin to MTV2). But wow, it seems to only have the good traits. It has a diverse range of programming (pop, alternative/adult, and indifferent country). The reality programming is music based. There are music videos, concerts, Story Tellers from VH1, MTV Uplugged and various music-related award shows (Not Grammy, more like MTV Music Awards). I wanted to sing the praise of a relatively new (Jan 2006) Network. The programming may not be original, but this is a fresh concept of re-mixing networks to bring a new idea (and new ad revenue.)

What other new programs, HD or otherwise have you recently discovered that made a change in your life? Any inspiring concepts? Does the Shawshank Redemption really do it for you?




......
Okay, my affair with TRL may have been a bit longer than six months.

Dr Horrible's Dark Tower

I just watched the conclusion of the three-part Joss Whedon webisode Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog and I can actually compare it to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, which I also concluded tonight.

The way both presentations end is very...not circumstantial, but lackluster...full circle (?) unsatisfying. That works. They both built up to a huge finish, and while the Dr. Horrible at least had a conclusion, not so much with the Tower.

I'm not going to spoil anything from the series that could be considered King's greatest achievement, his magnum opus..but I do recommend reading it, if you have like 4 months of free time. The series weaves a long tale between several other Stephen King books to create a larger universe...or universes turning on the same wheel (ka is the wheel of destiny). I grew very attached to the main characters and enjoyed their flaws very much. Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, on the other hand, moves too quickly for true character development. This is not Whedon's best creation. There are not references to other classical works. It might be better than Angel, but it is surely no Firefly (which is only one season long, so check that out over summer).

Major kudos to each of the artists for entertaining me for so long. I don't know how long that Dr Horrible link is going to work, so look on YouTube , maybe you can find something useful there.

"Long days and pleasant nights"

UPDATE: Dr. Horrible will be available on iTunes and DVDs with lots of special features. The Dark Tower series is available in bookstores now.

This blog is closed captioned for the hearing impaired

I forgot that a blog is supposed to be a narrative of events, that happen in some sort of order. I pull crap like posting once a month. Posting Part 1 but where is Part 2? I stopped caring, so I thought that I would just stop writing. I don't have any readers anyway, so the only person I am letting down is myself. Which still sucks.

I recently started watching the show Californication on Showtime, stars David Duchovny and similar to Dexter (another Showtime show that I recently discovered) I see parts of myself in the characters. The main characters in these shows are heavily flawed, and I don't think that I know how to tell others of these same flaws that I see in myself. I am not a serial killer, or a novelist, nor do I live in the somewhat exotic locations of Miami or LA.

As far as my opinion on Turn It In: I don't like it. Thumbs Down. My intellectual property is mine to protect and store, and I don't want them to have any of it. As far as I know, everything I wrote was perfect and original and that's good for me. Kudos. Should I follow through and become a teacher, I will not use Turn It In. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure my kids are doing the right thing. I will not be outsourcing my job.

This might be the second, but probably the third time I am going to try and redefine this blog. A Narrative (With Color Commentary). ... I am open to suggestions about how to do this, but I might force myself to sit down 1-2 times a week and just write something. Not a bitch and moan (at least not always), but I want to look at things I consider interesting.

See you next ___________________________________
(week)/(month)/(year)/(big news day)

Turn It In - Part 1 (Terms of Service)

Continuing my examination of Turn It In, has brought me to reviewing their Terms of Service and Terms of Usage.

The Terms of Service (TOS) is a 10-page Microsoft Word document in 12 pt. font Times New Roman. Due to its length and extensive use of "legalese", I will not be inserting it here. Rather, I will comment on parts of it. I will do my best to make sure that everything is presented in context and fairly before I pass judgment on anything.

"Originality Reports
If You are a School Administrator or Instructor, You agree to maintain any of iParadigms' notices (including legal notices relating to iParadigms' proprietary rights (e.g., copyright and trademark notices) and disclaimers on Originality Reports. You further agree to exercise Your independent professional judgment in, and to assume sole and exclusive responsibility for, determining the actual existence of plagiarism in a submitted paper with the acknowledgment and understanding that the Originality Reports are only tools for detecting textual similarities between compared works and do not determine conclusively the existence of plagiarism, which determination is a matter of professional judgment of the Instructor and Institution. Any disclosure of an Originality Report to any third party is at Your own risk. "
>>So basically, TurnItIn is just using a search engine to take specific parts of your written work and compare it to the results on the internet. My professor (Dr. Larry Udell) explained this to me as saying that it can find multiple plagiarisms in a paper, but it the instructors responsibility to find out what is actually going on. It is that individuals job to determine, (i.e.): If a quotation mark was forgotten; If a citation was written incorrectly; if the student did plagiarize; or if the student used part of his own paper that had already been submitted to TurnItIn. The instructor, being a professional, should be able to read the essays and recognize what does not sound like the words of that student, and then Google the suspicious material himself instead of going through a third-party website.

"License to Use Communications and Papers Submitted
You grant iParadigms a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, world-wide, irrevocable license to reproduce, transmit, display, disclose, archive and otherwise use Your Communications on the Site or elsewhere for our business purposes. iParadigms is free to use any ideas, concepts, techniques, know-how or information in Your Communications for any purpose, including, but not limited to, the development and use of products and services based on the Communications. This license does not include any right to use ideas set forth in papers submitted to the site. Please note that papers submitted to the Site are not read or reviewed by any individuals, but rather are only analyzed using the Licensed Programs. However, nothing herein shall preclude iParadigms from using information independently created by iParadigms.

With regard to papers submitted to the Site, You hereby grant iParadigms a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, world-wide, irrevocable license to reproduce, transmit, display, disclose, archive and otherwise use in connection with its Services any paper You submit to the Site whether or not originally submitted in connection with a specific class. This license shall survive the termination of the User Agreement. Any cessation of use of the Site shall not result in the termination of any license You grant herein to iParadigms."
>>On-site communications are free for TurnItIn to use (reproduction, transmittal, display, disclosure, and archive). The parent company (iParadigms) is permitted to use any part of said communication for whatever they want, including development and products and services, HOWEVER, this will not be done with any intellectual property in papers submitted. What if our communication highlights some of the ideas we plan on writing about? However, by comparing user-generated papers to newly submitted papers, intellectual property is being used for TurnItIn’s products and services. Our papers are scanned by a program, not a person, so there are no people that could take our essay and use it for themselves. Answer to my contradiction: anything users submit to the site (papers) can be used in accordance with an IRREVOCABLE LICENSE (and immortal, since that license will continue to exist even if TurnItIn.com ceases to have an online presence. So what does this part mean, because I am clueless now.

"Sole Remedies
IF YOU ARE A STUDENT OR INSTRUCTOR, YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE, THE SERVICES, AND/OR HYPERLINKED WEB SITES IS TO STOP USING THE SITE AND/OR THOSE SERVICES."
>>If you don't like it, don't use it. Does that mean, since I personally do not like TurnItIn, I can just refuse to use it, without worrying about repercussions from my instructors? No way.

Moving on to the Terms of Usage...

"The contents of the Site may not be distributed, modified, reproduced, or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of iParadigms, except that you may download content from the Site to any single computer, provided you keep intact all copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices. Except as provided in these Terms and Conditions, any use of these materials on any other Web site or networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited."
>> Uh, oh. It already sounds like I am in trouble. I can't take information from the site and discuss it while looking at specific things that bother me? That is rather oppressive.

That's it for now. Anyone have opinions yet?

Further Use Of This Blog > Turn It In intro

Lately, I have had trouble (several months worth) of posting to this blog. I have not done any blogging, but mostly have concentrated on my school work. As a result, I got the best GPA yet in college. A lot of that time was spent writing, and I am very proud of what I accomplished. To highlight my accomplishments, I will be posting some of my favorite essays here. They won't be perfect, they may still have some grammar mistakes, it really depends on if I edited the paper after it was returned to me.

Anything and Everything that I post here, unless I state or cite otherwise is my EXCLUSIVE intellectual and physical property. It may not be copied or used in a presentation without my express permission. If you do you something I post, please cite it correctly, and let me know you did it - I am interested in extensions of my work.

Part of this stems from my first day of (retaking) Philosophy 180 - Intro to Ethics. The teacher has informed us that all take home essays must be turned in on Blackboard. Once they are submitted there, they will be submitted again to the Turn It In website. My dad's girlfriend's son is in 10th grade and also uses this program. Just from taking a glance at the Wikipedia entry of Turn It In, I am not a fan. Read that entry, and be prepared because at some point soon I will be posting an entry about Turn It In. As I stated above, everything I write is my own, and if that wiki is correct, they will keep my paper in their database to attempt to catch other students copying my published works.

I find it ironic that an Ethics class would use something as questionable as Turn It In, and will explore this irony in one of my upcoming posts.

So, readers: What are your experiences with Turn It In? Any horror or success stories to share? What are your feelings on intellectual property of students? Tough thinking may be involved, be sure to wear a helmet.

The Usage of Wikipedia in Research

Textbooks are not cheap. I can not think of a hard cover text book that has cost me less than $50. When I was in high school, it cost approx $75 to replace any given text. I am in my seventh semester at WCU, and on average, take 3 classes per semester. That means I am spending, on average between $150 and $225 per semester on books. Typically 1 out of every three books is kept or cannot be resold. The same rate of 1/3 can be applied for resale value of a book. If a book cost me $75 I will be lucky to get back $25 for it. Check out a Washington Post article, one of a few stories from across the country that has recently looked into the high costs of education and educational materials.

In his 1996 book Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen has a chapter that asks the question “Why Is History Taught Like This?” This chapter goes over the process of choosing an author, writing, reviewing, editing, publishing and selling textbooks. Books sometimes must have sections rewritten depending on where in the country is sold. For example, books chosen in southern US states very often have a lighter depiction of the Civil War then similar books in northern states. Sometimes, the original author may no longer have anything to do with a book, since they had written it over 50 years ago, only one or two central ideas from them may remain between the covers.

One way to fight the delay between research and publication is to publish books online. I argue that publishers would no longer charge for the printing costs, but instead would charge to access the material due to increased technology fees and security fees to prevent copyright infringement.

For a history class I am enrolled in, I had to write about an interview with an influential (to me) historian. I found a recent interview (Fall 2006), What I Think I May Have Learned-Reflections on 50 Years of Teaching: An Interview With Michael Wertheimer. Wertheimer is, or was at the time of publication, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He went to school at Swarthmore College, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award of the American Psychological Foundation and won a Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained, Outstanding, and Unusual Contributions to the History of Psychology from the APA’s Division 26. This article can be found on EBSCOhost and in Teaching of Psychology; Autumn 2006, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p280-287, 8p, 1bw.

One thing Wertheimer discusses is that students are sometimes “a bit uncritical in their assessment of sources” (282). An online encyclopedia could be such a source. I am enrolled in a different class that has a rule of no internet sources on the final paper. Fair enough, at least I know now, instead of the night before it is due. All sources need to be vetted, it does not matter if they are print, or electronic, or oral. See later in this post for more.

“Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is a leading provider of learning and knowledge products. We're proud to be one of the world's most trusted sources of information on every topic imaginable - from the origins of the universe to current events and everything in between.”

The Britannica Encyclopedia has limited information available online, but if you purchase their books you get the benefits of so much more! You can read them while in tunnels, or on a plane flying across the Atlantic Ocean. However, when a new edition is published, you don’t get the updated version free – you have to buy it all over again. To get new online material, simply hit the refresh button and new things can load.

When thinking about online encyclopedia, one may think of Wikipedia.
Wikipedia defines itself as a “ free, multilingual, open content encyclopedia project operated by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. “

Quick note from a lazy writer: links are in abundance on the Wikipedia website and are much easier to get from one topic to another. A paper encyclopedia can be like a child’s “choose your own adventure” book that has a different ending every time it is read. It is easy to get distracted in either format.

Deciding if a source is worthy is difficult. If you see a teacher using a site, usually you can use it as a trustworthy source. The first few results in a Google search might be trustworthy. The site linked on page 73 may not be so trustworthy.

I look at Wikipedia as a source of information published by my peers. My peers in this case are users of Web 2.0, the MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, BLOGS (!) and Wikipedia generation. Newspaper circulation is no longer growing, but the number of readers that use their websites is growing. It is fair to assume that the Philadelphia Inquirer has fewer readers than its website does, www.philly.com.

Do you trust your peers? Some you may not, but in general, do you trust them? Not with your personal secrets, but to tell you what color your shirt is, or who won the election.

Some news articles use Wikipedia to explain things that may be confusing. Check out this article from Wired.com LOST , by design, is an incredibly layered and complex show that I plan on blogging about in the future. Just like The Matrix trilogy, each part of LOST is layered with references to mythology, pop culture, history, science, and countless other topics. Some viewers may understand the literary references but be lost when it comes to the references behind someone’s name, like a Terry O’Quinn’s character John Locke (think: philosophy). In this case, Wikipedia is used a reference to explain some of the finer points that just don’t belong in the article. Why should an article give a synopsis of a two hour movie that is just referred to for less than one minute of a 42 minute TV show?

I am NOT suggesting or saying or recommending that one should use Wikipedia as a source for a scholarly paper. Rather, Wikipedia should be used to gain a general knowledge and general consensus of a topic. One of my fraternity brothers has to create a time line of Greek Mythology. If he looks at a quality Wikipedia article that cites its sources, he should be able to find a better site or article from a source that your professor would actually find credible. But if you use Wikipedia as a portal do you need to cite it? Or can you just say you “Googled” a topic and found any article?

I am trying to advocate for an open-minded attitude in the beginning steps of research. Research drives grants and scholarship and the future by creating a better understand of the past and the environment around us.

So what do you think? Can Wikipedia be trusted to lead us in the right direction for research? Or is the website the start of a downward spiral of scholarship that will lead ultimately to no new ideas being created?

Just So You Know Where I'm Coming From

I am student at West Chester University (WCUPA website).
I am a History major with a minor in Holocaust & Genocide Studies. My political views are fairly moderate, and depending on an issue, I will go to one side or another. I'm beginning to publish this blog because as a 20 year old, my voice often gets lost in a sea of opinions. I will do my best to add things at least once a week, and I hope my ideas are slammed, or appreciated, or discussed further. My generation seems to be mostly ignorant or arrogant, but as a whole, are improving.

I don't want my posts to be only political, but about life as well, for me and what I see around me.