| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Sep | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
Posted on September 24th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: The Uncategorized Category.
Monday, in the heroic tradition of the some of the finest post-secondary students in east central Indiana, several undergrads from Dr. Denise Bullock’s S100 Introduction to Sociology section braved a rigorous review session for Exam #1, held by… me. That’s right, I’m spending this semester as a teaching assistant for S100, and I’m taking no prisoners (although I’m not really sure what that means). Anyhow, today we played Jeopardy with sociological terms and one student came out alive, and with more points than anyone else. Uh, I guess I should mention at this point that the rules may have been somewhat less than clear and the judging, by me, a little suspect and/or blatantly unfair… but that’s beside the point, one student came out on top, and that’s why the first ever Barry’s Blog 1st Place in Sociology Blue Ribbon Award goes to… (drum roll)… Mr. Jasson Wickman.
Congratulations Jasson! And congratulations to all the other brave students who showed up!
Stay tuned for more championship awards. I’m sure we’ll be handing out more before the semester is complete.
10-4,
Barry
1 comment.
Posted on September 18th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: The Uncategorized Category.
I was in Chicago last week and went to see the polar bears at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I stood in front of the glass for about 45 minutes, watching the polar bear pair swim in repetitive, looping arcs, round and round, one clockwise, the other counterclockwise (one must have been from the Antarctic). There’s nothing quite so peaceful and mesmerizing as watching polar bears swim. The one you see here, would gulp some air, dive to the bottom, push off a rock, woosh past the glass, look down, turn around, push off the wall, and do it all over again, and again, and again. I couldn’t figure out whether or not he was doing it to amaze the visitors peering through from the visitor side of the glass partition, or whether he was doing it just for the sake of doing it. I worried he might be sad.
But then, I thought about one of my favorite things to do, ride my recumbent trike. Sometimes, after a long ride, when it’s getting a little too dark to safely ride on the street, or when I want to stay pretty close to home, I ride circles around First English Lutheran Church. The congregation at FELC has been thoughtful enough to construct their parking lot in an approximate 1/10th mile oval. It’s smoothly paved, no bumps, fairly level, with just enough variation to make it interesting. Riding around the circle can be mesmerizing. I know I’ve done up to 10 miles (100 laps) at a stretch. It’s soothing, calming, and entirely enjoyable, riding around and around.
So, if I were not so busy, with work, school, and other stuff, and was held captive in a large, walled-in viewing area, I might be inclined to ride my trike around in endless, looping circles. I think I’d go clockwise. And if there were little kids? Yeah, I think I’d ride right up to the glass and swiftly swoop away.
So, when life is getting a little too hectic, think of the polar bears at the Lincoln Park Zoo, and do a little “transcontinental” meditation. Imagine yourself on display someplace far away, perhaps even on Kurt Vonnegut’s planet Tralfamador. Envision yourself looping around and around, amazing visitors with your looping and looping around. Works for the polar bears. Works for me. I suggest you give it a try.
10-4,
Barry
1 comment.
Posted on August 14th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: People, Places, & Things for $1000, Alex., School Type Stuff !.
Last week, I did two things I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. First, I finished a research paper I’ve been working on for many a fortnight; and second, I went to the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both experiences reinforced the idea that: in the course of just doing stuff, you just might learn something.
The research project I finished was an inquiry into the possible presence and/or influence of “traditional” gender role socialization, on the events and circumstances surrounding the recent Hayes Arboretum controversy. If your not familiar with it; basically, the Hayes Foundation rezoned 33+ acres of forested nature preserve, located directly on top of a sensitive aquifer that supplies 33% of the city’s drinking water, for the purposes of building a strip mall. Trees and wildlife, gone. Frisch’s Big Boy, Walgreens, Kohl’s, Starbucks, and Menards, going strong. For further detail, check out:
and/or
During the course of my research, I interviewed four proponents and 3 opponents of the rezoning, land sale, and strip mall development. And, in doing so, I thought I was basically just going through the motions necessary to confirm my suspicions that the strip mall people were sexist and a few leaves shy of a tree limb (if you know what I mean). I was wrong.
Interview-based research requires that the researcher actually listen to interviewees’ own stories in order to identify their beliefs and attitudes. And in doing so in my own research, I found something I hadn’t expected. The imagined tree-killing, strip-malling, evildoers were… regular people. In fact, they were extremely similar to us, the good people. All of the respondents had similar backgrounds. Most all were fervent supporters of nature and animals and all that sort of stuff. All wanted to protect the water supply. All were advocates of economic development, job creation, and increasing the tax base. All wanted to save the Arboretum, to the point that both laid claim to the title, “Friends of the Arboretum.” They all wanted the same things, but they were never able to communicate this fact. They came at the issue with different perspectives, and in that they were not required to listen to each other in order to get a good grade on their papers at IU East, they never came to understand one another’s point of view. Drat.
My step-father regularly states as his own personal maxim, “Communications, world’s biggest problem.” To which my mother jokingly replies, “What?” In a more tragic/comic than joking way, they express the issue concisely. We did not listen; therefore, we did not understand; therefore we did not communicate; therefore, we missed a real opportunity to cooperate on a solution that would satisfy all parties involved. Drat.
At the Lincoln Museum, I realized, quite inadvertently, that I am not the first to recognize this fact that we all have much more in common than in difference, yet consistently fail to communicate. During the first famous Lincoln Douglas debate, Abraham Lincoln related:
“Before proceeding, let me say I think I have no prejudice against the Southern people. They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not now exist among them, they would not introduce it. If it did now exist amongst us, we should not instantly give it up. This I believe of the masses North and South. Doubtless there are individuals on both sides, who would not hold slaves under any circumstances; and others who would gladly introduce slavery anew, if it were out of existence. We know that some Southern men do free their slaves, go North, and become tiptop Abolitionists; while some Northern ones go South, and become most cruel slave-masters.”
Here, Lincoln demonstrates that people, generally speaking, really are quite similar. And he identifies with his Southern foes, in that he knows that, given different circumstances, he might have exactly the same perspective on the issue, of in this case, slavery. Unfortunately however, he seems to have come to the conclusion that, a house divided cannot stand, and that the only solution was for one side, whichever side, to beat the other side into submission, at a total cost of over 618,000 lives. Maybe there was no real alternative, but man, that’s a tough way to go.
So, it’s been 148 years, 11 months, and 24 days since Lincoln made this first debate speech, and we still have a lot in common, but are still also not listening to and identifying with one another. Drat. It’s a lesson that, for me, has been a long time coming, but one that I think I’ve finally got. Here, in this blog, on this day, August 14, 2007, I do solemnly declare my commitment to listen in order to understand.
In all seriousness, asking questions, listening, understanding, and empathizing with others may not be practical, viable, efficient, or effective in every circumstance, but it is something. It’s something we can do, everyday, to work towards a better tomorrow. I’m thankful for having the opportunity IU East has given me to learn such a valuable lesson. All I have to do now, is do my best to apply it.
P.S. I do recommend this: if you have a chance, check out the Lincoln Museum (it’s rated one of America’s 50 top museums; and, if you get a chance, check out IU East (it’s rated #1 in my book, which I haven’t written yet, but come on, I just finished that big paper). And, it’s so cool that the admission to the museum is $5 (with Lincoln on it) and they give you back a penny (with Lincoln on it). They don’t hand out pennies at IU East, but sometimes I do leave a nickel on top of the coffee machine on the first floor of Middlefork Hall. Just sayin’.
1 comment.
Posted on June 30th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: School Type Stuff !.
No, not really. It’s just my car.
Sometimes, in college, you find yourself studying in some pretty weird places… this was one of those times. My wife is a development officer for a small college in northern Indiana. While she was meeting with an alumnus inside a cool, comfortable, air-conditioned bank, I was outside in my library, I mean car, sweating it out, reading about social psychology. “What is a development officer,” you ask? Well, jokingly I tell people my wife shakes down old people for money. That would be wrong. What my wife really does is travel around visiting with alumni, keeping them apprised of events and activities on campus, and of course, providing them with opportunities to support the institution. Someday, I hope to be one of these people… that is a “visitee” rather than a visitor (one officer in the family is enough; there’s a lot of traveling and hard work involved). I can’t really imagine, right now, that I would want to give money back to the university… I mean, wouldn’t that be kind of crazy? But, that is where a substantial portion of university funding comes from, alumni contributions. If you think about it, we pay tuition, but without alumni contributions, the costs would be much higher. I guess it kind of means someone helped us through school, so we should return the favor. Hopefully, (fingers crossed) the education we receive at IU East will enable us to do so.
I think it has for at least one recent graduate, and my new role model, Stormi Shafer. You might remember her from an earlier post when she met the creator of the Internet, Walter W. Walb. She recently graduated from IU East with a BSS degree with a concentration in psychology. Yesterday, she text messaged me saying, “i love my job.” She used her degree to land a job at Pearson Education. “Who are they,” you ask? Take a look at one of your textbooks. There’s a pretty good chance, it’s a Pearson Education product. Cool. As I sweat and study in my car/bookmobile, I tell myself, “Think about Stormi, she graduated, and so can you.” I’ve just got to make it through the summer. Hopefully, in a few years, Stormi, myself, and all the other folks studying at IUE, will be successful to the extent that… people like my wife will be shaking us down.
10-4,
Barry
P.S. Don’t worry, I never read while driving… it makes it too hard to take notes.
0 comments.
Posted on June 9th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: The Uncategorized Category.
This little video should do for a study break on a warm summer day.
Back to the books (see previous post).
10-4,
Barry
0 comments.
Posted on June 8th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: The Uncategorized Category.
Well, if you happened to be in Whitewater Hall today at about 11:00 AM, you had an opportunity to: meet Indiana University President, Adam Herbert; bid a fond farewell to IU East Chancellor, David Fulton; and welcome, as the new Interim Chancellor of IU East, Dr. Nasser Paydar. Whew!
President Herbert warming up the crowd.
President Herbert began his remarks by carefully decribing Indiana University’s commitment and dedication to educational excellence at Indiana University East and the entire Richmond/Wayne County community. He then described the high degree of consideration given to the transitions and expressed the confidence Indiana University has in placing Nasser Paydar in the position of Interim Chancellor.
Dr. Paydar, making suspicious references to Purdue. (He was joking, right?)
Dr. Paydar comes to IU East from his former position as Vice Chancellor of IUPUC in Columbus, IN. Dr. Paydar’s background is in Mechanical Engineering. having earned his BS, MS, & PHD from Syracuse University. Dr. Paydar’s remarks included several references to his past relationships with Purdue University and joked about his innability to tempt his son to attend IU rather than Purdue. Hmmm? We’ll have to keep an eye on this situation. But, in all seriousness, both President Herbert and Dr. Paydar referenced Dr. Paydar’s extensive background in institutional cooperation, between IU, IUPUI, Purdue, and Ivy Tech campuses, as proof that Dr. Paydar is the right man to meet the future challenges and opportunities IU East faces as we move into a more complex and integrated world of education.
President Herbert indicated that, upon approval of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Nasser Paydar will serve as IU East’s new Interim Chancellor for a minimum of 1 year.
On behalf of the IU East Bloggers (if I may take that liberty, and assuming all goes well with the Trustees), I would like to extend a hearty Internet shout out to Dr. Paydar. Welcome aboard!
In other Big News, the final piece of the puzzle has arrived… that’s right, the last, and most highly sought after IU East Parking Pass.
Now, I’m sure some of you do not appreciate these things as mush as I appreciate them. I also know that some of you, and I’m not naming names (you know who you are), don’t actually purchase them. If you want to scurry around campus constantly sweating it out in dark places, hiding from Campus Security, that’s ok. Just don’t come complaining to me when some “meany” gave you a ticket. Just sayin’. I choose to look at them as badges of accomplishment, Gold Ribbons, so to speak. All I have to do to earn this one is… complete a massive Independent Study research project. Drat!… I mean, gee, I’m looking forward to the challenge. Then, graduation, Baby! The only question is, will I have the nerve to get Dr. Paydar to go for the High Five rather than the traditional handshake as I receive my diploma?
Until then, 10-4,
Barry
2 comments.
Posted on May 7th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: People, Places, & Things for $1000, Alex., School Type Stuff !.
Coveted Awards
This year’s first ever International Psychology Professor of the Millennium Award is to be shared by IU East Psychology faculty, Dr. Susan Shaprio (of Richmond), and Dr. Duane Lundy (formerly of Canada), for their service, above and beyond the duty of mortal educators, in taking students to (and bringing them safely home from) this year’s Midwest Psychological Association Conference (MPA) in Chicago, Illinois. Note: Please disregard the inscriptions on the awards, I had a little problem with the engraver.
Although, for reasons of national security, I cannot share pictures from inside the conference (’cause really important stuff happens in there), I can share some of the views from Chicago’s Mellinium Park. Check out Senior, Stormi Shafer and Dr. Lundy crossing the serpentine pedestrian bridge at the Frank Gehry ampitheter!
And you can’t go to Chicago without seeing the bean. (No, I didn’t take this picture. I stole it. But that’s OK, ’cause it’s really cool.)
Here’s what it looked like when we were there.
Stormi trying not to get crushed.
Me and Stormi taking a picture of me and Stormi.
Dr. Shapiro getting all psychedelic.
A lot of people think that IU East is just up at the top of the hill in Richmond, but brother, it’s a whole lot more than that. It’s like a Star Trek transporter to the rest of the world… doodle, noodle, doodle… (or whatever sound a transporter makes) and you’re there.
At a conference such as the MPA, invited speakers, graduate and doctoral students, and professors, present papers and PowerPoint presentations on all sorts of topics. Stormi & I really enjoyed How Positive Mood Structures Goal Pursuit in Social Comparison Situations by Eric R. Igou from Tilburg University (wherever that is), and, Dr. Lundy said that Why are Some Individuals Not Racially Biased?, by Robert Livingston of the University of Wisconsin totally rocked like the original VanHalen from the 1980s (well, maybe he didn’t say exactly that, but he really did like the presentation). Stormi & I also attended a session on getting into graduate school. In that Stormi is currently graduating, and I’m graduating at the end of the summer, we both really wanted to see what the level of work was like at the next level of education. I suppose we were a little apprehensive, a little nervous, but going to the conference showed both of us that attending IU East, especially with its liberal arts, broad approach to learning, has really prepared us well for any future academic challenges. Prior to attending IU East, I would have been lost at a confernce like MPA (I would have wandered around, saying, “Wha?” and “Huh?”)… now, I can’t wait to takle a graduate level presentation. Watch out suckers, we’re coming, and we’re bringin’ our A-game. Here’s a katrate chop for that research topic… Pow!
Once again, a big shout out and round of applause (with Hi-Fives) for Drs. Shapiro and Lundy. You guys totally rock. Yeah! Keep on keeping it real. For those of you not in a psych class… sign up!… they just might learn ya sometin’.
10-4,
A smarter and more worldy Barry.
P.S. The sauerbraten, Javier’s Mixed Grill, and Pop Rocks Thai food things were awesome. If only we could have found that Tarot card reader for Stormi… guess my psychic visions will have to suffice.
6 comments.
Posted on April 24th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: School Type Stuff !.
Over the weekend, I attended my first ever IU East Honors Convocation. Little did I know it was such a big deal. Let me tell you, these professors were stylin’! There were so many robes, sashes, and funny hats, I thought I was watching Harry Potter Live.
The highlight of the evening was Chancellor David Fulton’s Key Note address. Normally, the Chancellor does not give such an address at these events, but this was Chancellor Fulton’s last Honors Convocation. After 36 years at IU East, he’s leaving us. Why so soon?
Check out what the world was like around the time the Chancellor joined IU East:
I don’t want to make our Chancellor seem old, but man, that’s some old stuff! I didn’t even include the fact that the nation of Somalia was just committing their language to a written form at the time Dr. Fulton arrived on campus. Jeez!
A lot of folks received awards that evening, including my friend from stats class, Tess Osbore, who received the 2007 Criminal Justice Distinguished Student award. Our Chancellor, however, did not receive an award. In light of this oversight, I am presenting our Chancellor, David J. Fulton with the first ever, Barry’s Blog Gold Medal award for excellence in Chancelloring! Woohoo, great job Dr. Fulton!
(Uhmm, sorry about the actual picture of the gold medal, but it was the first one that popped up. Give me a break, it’s almost finals week.)
Congratulations Chancellor Fulton!
10-4,
Barry
5 comments.
Posted on April 14th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: School Type Stuff !.
Another conference… another name tag… another name. Argh.
Friday, Barry Baker (it’s not a difficult name people) and several fellow BSS Senior Seminar students and IU East faculty attended the 19th Undergraduate Intercampus Indiana University Women’s Studies/Gender Studies Conference (whew, that’s a heck of a title.) at the Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne (which is also a heck of a name) campus. A good time was had by all, and we learned a lot of stuff too.
Senior, Stormi Shafer had a particularly good time learning about the inventor of the Internet, Walter Walb (for whom the Internet and the IPFW Student Union are named). Check out Stormi, blowing Walter a kiss in admiration!
You know the “www” in every Internet address… it stands for Walter W. Walb! Cool!
No, not really. Everyone, of course knows that “www” stands for “wild, wascally wabbit,” an expression, of couse, attributed to the information technology pioneer, Elmer W. Fudd. But anyhow, the conference was really cool. I learned about interesting stuff like (as this selection of student presentation titles suggest):
1) Superheroes and Sexuality: A Crytical Analysis of Lesbian Representations in Mainstream Comic Books.
2) Sizing Her Up, Do Tall Women Get the Short End of the Stick?
3) Women on Videogame Covers: Less Clothing and Lesser Lives
4) The Aviatrixes of World War II
5) Nancy Drew and the Case of the Mysterious Gender Roles
6) And one, the title of which I cannot recall, that was about the cultural influences of Bratz dolls.
Pretty informative stuff. I was really impressed by all of the presentations, I attended. They were based on work from all different types of disciplines, such as: history, sociology, pshychology, women’s and gender studies, etc., and they all showed something in a way that, from a perspective that, I never considered. That’s really what a lot of scientific/historical inquiry is all about, discovering and uncovering the cultural phenomena and human behavior that may be unnoticed or taken for granted, but nevertheless has major impacts and influences on our lives. Cool.
When I’ve attended conferences such as this one and the Midwest Students’ Sociology Conference, etc., I’ve noticed that IU East students have been really well represented (which is a credit to our dedicated faculty and involved students), as compared to other local (and possibly much larger) campusus, colleges, universities, etc. I was hoping they were going to have one of those shout out for your school contests (’cause we totally would have won), but I guess, that would have been a little too “raucous” for a women’s conference. Oh well.
10-4,
Barry Baker
3 comments.
Posted on April 6th, 2007 by Barry.
Categories: School Type Stuff !.
So the other day, I was talking to my mother-in-law and I was dreadfully lamenting the fact that I had two big PowerPoint presentations coming up in the same week. I told her that in one class, there was a possibility that I might not be chosen to present for another two weeks, but still had to be prepared to go on the first day. I think I then said something about hoping not to get picked. Then, she said, “Well, Barry I know you’ll be prepared and I also know that you would rather go ahead and present in order to get that behind you.” What? Is she crazy? No way! I wanted to put it off to the absolute last possible moment. What a lousy idea. What does she know about PowerPoints anyway?
So, there I was, sitting in Rob Tolley’s Sociology of the Family class, and I was performing some probability calculations. Most likely, 4 students would be selected to present on the first day. There were 10 students in attendance, therefore, I had a 2/5, or 40% chance of being chosen. “Not bad,” I thought. Then, a classmate told me that he hoped he wasn’t chosen because his presentation wasn’t finished. Drat! More calculations, I was up to 45%. Then, the guy behind me said he forgot his disc at home. He couldn’t go. Double Drat! Suddenly I was up to a 50/50 chance. That’s 50%, that’s not good. I tried to make myself feel better, by calculating that I only had a 1/8 or 12.5% chance of being chosen first. I crossed my fingers.
Then, surprise of surprises, Rob Tolley broke with his time tested method, of randomly selecting of names written on little pieces of paper from a coffee cup, and… asked for volunteers. And who volunteered? What idiot would possibly volunteer to go first? Me, that’s who. What? Was I crazy. I went first. I know, its nuts, but I did it. Well, despite the fact that the network made me reboot the computer right in the middle of my presentation, everything went pretty well. And as it turns out, it made feel a whole lot better about giving my super important, senior seminar PowerPoint presentation two days later. Now, here I am at the weekend, with no more PowerPoints. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still got mountains of homework, but thankfully, no more PowerPoints. Thanks Jewell.
10-4,
Barry
2 comments.
