Rare Message from the Medium

Astral Facts, December 2012
Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Rare Message from the Medium

25 December 2012

Well, the Mayan Apocalypse has come and gone and now I have a new reference to use when I am explaining the term “anticlimactic” to my students.  Those of us here in the Humanities Sciences might use our inquisitive nature to ask “What went wrong?” (or perhaps "what went right" if we consider continued existence a good thing.)  Much discussion has revolved around the Mayan calendar cycle.  Although many scholars had explained the philosophical view of the Mayan people regarding life’s cycles, the disaster view is the one that went viral.  Local poet Paul Nelson touched upon this in his commentary, quoting Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia and an “indigenous man,” in his speech to the UN General Assembly:

And I would like to say that according to the Mayan calendar the 21 of December is the end of the non-time and the beginning of time. It is the end of the Macha and the beginning of the Pacha, the end of selfishness and the beginning of brotherhood, it is the end of individualism and the beginning of collectivism – 21 of December this year. The scientists know very well that this marks the end of an anthropocentric life and the beginning of a bio-centric life. It is the end of hatred and the beginning of love, the end of lies and beginning of truth. It is the end of sadness and the beginning of happiness, it is the end of division and the beginning of unity, and this is a theme to be developed. That is why we invite all of you, those of you who bet on mankind, we invite those who want to share their experiences for the benefit of mankind.

https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/12/21

Nelson prefaces his commentary by noting how people tend to filter life events and other cultures through their own cultural lenses.  In this country what Nelson refers to as “the muscle of their media empires” propagates this distorted view in an Orwellian kaleidoscope of significance and insignificance.  Thus, theater audiences flock to see movies such as 2012 and even Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.  Regardless of how much evidence there is to the contrary, it seems we like the “don’t confuse me with facts; my mind is made up” perspective.

Here is the link to Paul Nelson’s blog entry with further discussion on his part:

http://paulenelson.com/2012/12/21/the-indigenous-perspective-on-the-mayan-apocalypse/

Reviewing all this here at Christmas time reminds me of a letter the Seattle Times published 15 years ago regarding this celebration time and how circumstances may have been altered through different cultural filters over time:

I remember reading Mad Magazine back in the 1960’s and one issue had a cartoon showing three houses during the holiday season.  The houses on both ends were decorated with festive lights outside and people were having loud parties inside, obviously thoroughly enjoying themselves.  The house in the middle had no outside decorations and through the window viewers could see a family sitting together and reading from a sacred text.  Two people were standing on the sidewalk and one turned to the other while indicating the house in the middle commenting, “I guess they must not be very religious.”

Of course that was around 50 years ago, but when the local media is encouraging people to send in photos of light displays in neighborhoods so the community can vote on the “best” display …..

Hopefully, the Mayans were right in the aspect of the changing of the nature of the age.

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a somewhat regular presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices during the academic year.

Food for Thought: Priced Appropriately

Astral Facts, November 2012
Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Food for Thought: Priced Appropriately

This is the season between major holidays when food is a topic of interest.  Holiday treats emerge as we set the stage for the health and diet resolutions of the New Year.  While we do emphasize tradition in this season, some traditions pass away.  Some do so quietly as they slip into the night, while others are tossed out while kicking and screaming.

Currently, we can notice the kicking and screaming over the demise of the Hostess Company and the infamous Twinkie Brand® as people gobble up the shelf supplies before they expire! 

Of course, we know that the “hard science” experts have determined that matter never disappears – it just changes appearance.  That seems to be the case as the people at Cracker Jack® are coming up with a new variety: Cracker Jack’d®, which will contain coffee.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/11/16/cracker-jacks-adding-coffee-caffeine/1709179/

They say you get what you pay for! 

However, my students and I have wondered if that is really true.  To test this theory, the students and I in my English 128 class (research writing in science, business, and engineering) run an experiment to test that concept.   We ask the question:  “Does the higher price for certain food items reflect the better taste of the product?”  To answer this question and test our claim that it does, we use student taste preferences for salsa.  It always seems like an appropriate subject since each quarter usually ends in some sort of party atmosphere.   Students may wonder if they should go out and buy a more expensive version of salsa to offer at the party they are hosting or attending.

To conduct our research, we limit the “population” to red tomato based salsa in 12-24 ounce containers found at local grocery stores or supermarkets (thus not Costco nor 7-11 stores).  Each student goes out to a particular location (we make sure that a variety of stores are covered) and they are quite surprised to find the proliferation of salsa products that fit the profile, for salsa can be found in the ethnic foods aisle, in the deli section, in the chips aisle, in the refrigerated section, and within any natural food or nutrition section – both on the shelf and in the refrigerators.  Students find about 25 potential products in a typical store. 

To get an overview as a basis for a good representative sampling of the population, we put together a composite population survey by combining the results from three different stores.  We find anywhere from 40-60 different varieties with store brands in one of the locations, “national” brands in all three, and “premium” brands showing up in one or two locations.  They vary in price from the “cheap” store brands costing a couple dollars for a 16 ounce jar up to some premium brands costing five or six dollars for a 14 ounce package.  (We use the normal prices, ignoring any sales going on.)

We anticipate the cheaper ones not tasting as good as the expensive ones, and we gather a random assortment of a dozen or so of the products, making sure to have refrigerated and non-refrigerated samples represented from each of the three categories (store, national, and premium brands).  We do a blind taste test and then rank the samples based on taste preference, with the best tasting ranked #1.  We then rank them on cost, with the cheapest ranked #1.  If we have a dozen samples, we anticipate that the one ranked #1 in cost will be #12 in taste and the one ranked #1 in taste will be #12 in cost.  Thus, if we add the cost and taste ranks, they should all add up to thirteen, or close to it (say from eleven to fifteen).  If this is the case, then we can confirm that level of taste corresponds to the level of cost.

This quarter when we finished our project, the students were surprised that the basic “Fred Meyer” store brand salsa finished first overall.  In fact, it wasn’t even close, as it was the cheapest (at $1.89 for a 16-oz jar) as well as the second-best in the taste ranking, giving it a combined rank score of 3!  (With 14 samples, we expected a range of 11 to 17.)

As I mentioned, the students were surprised at this result, but I wasn’t.  This was about the 15^th time I have had my students conduct this activity, and the Fred Meyer product has finished in first place every time but twice.  (The Safeway Select brand finished first once and Amy’s Organic brand finished first the other time.  However, both of those times the FM product finished in a close second place!) 

Every time we have done this activity, the store brands end up in the top third, the national brands finish in the middle, and the premium brands come in at the bottom.  The “fresh” refrigerated versions always finish lower overall compared to the non-refrigerated in the same categories.

Thus, we have found that, based on student taste preferences, the cheaper the product, the better the “quality”!  Of course, often the higher price is driven by factors such as marketing and such, which is why in advertising, since most restaurants are selling a similar chunk of meat, they say “Sell the sizzle – not the steak!” (Children don't consider the burger as the attraction to their favorite fast location - they are attracted by the playground and "happy" meal toy!)

We might wonder if the results might be different if we conducted the same experiment with the folks dining at the country club.  From a humanities science perspective George Orwell could offer some insight into that aspect because during the Great Depression he lived on the edge of poverty and worked in the kitchens of an expensive hotel in Paris for several months.  He related the experience in his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, and described the “care” given to the premium meals:

In the kitchen the dirt was worse. …The French cook is an artist, but his art is not cleanliness.  To a certain extent he is even dirty because he is an artist, for food, to look smart, needs dirty treatment.  When a steak, for instance, is brought up for the head cook’s inspection, he does not handle it with a fork.  He picks it up in his fingers and slaps it down, runs his thumb round the dish and licks it to taste the gravy, runs it round and licks again, then steps back and contemplates the piece of meat like an artist judging a picture, then presses it lovingly into place with his fat, pink fingers, every one of which he has licked a hundred times that morning.  When he is satisfied, he takes a cloth and wipes his fingerprints from the dish, and hands it to the waiter.  And the waiter, of course, dips his fingers into the gravy-his nasty, greasy fingers which he is for ever running through his brilliantined hair.  Whenever one pays more than, say, ten francs for a dish of meat in Paris, one may be certain that it has been fingered in this manner.  In very cheap restaurants it is different; there, the same trouble is not taken over the food, and it is just forked out of the pan and flung onto a plate, without handling.  Roughly speaking, the more one pays for food, the more sweat and spittle one is obliged to eat with it.  (80)

To which we can all say, bon appetite! 

Or, as Hemmingway might say, “Nada, nada, nada.”

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a somewhat regular presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices during the academic year.

Adams Family Values

Astral Facts, October 2012

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Adams Family Values

At our house we often read something for inspiration or insight between the evening meal and dessert.  Sometimes we pick a short selection from one of the “Chicken Soup” type sources.  Other times we read from collections of writings from famous figures from the past.  Not only is this a way to expose our children to such materials, but my wife grew up in Austria, so she enjoys hearing some of the short fiction selections that I cover in my classes in order to fill in gaps her background of American culture. 

In this way, we have been able to discuss ideas expressed by people such as Jonathan Swift, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Abraham Lincoln, Plato, Ernest Hemmingway, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, John Steinbeck, Confucius, Machiavelli, Mark Twain, Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, James Joyce, etc. during dessert and before the children scatter to watch episodes of The Office, face challenges in World of Warcraft, update their Facebook pages, etc. 

Recently we read a selection from The Spirit of America, a collection of early American writings edited by William Bennett.  The selection was quite short – just excerpts from a couple of short newsy letters between John and Abigail Adams in 1776 and 1780 regarding the choice of the national seal for the new republic.  Such short selections are usually chosen by one of the children, based on length rather than content, but often these short pithy bits offer a lot to chew on for the Humanities Scientist within us all.  This is especially true in times like this when we are bombarded by the campaign ads and ethical choices they draw upon (or contradict).

In the initial letter, dated August 14, 1776, barely a month after the Declaration of Independence, Adams writes to his wife about the choices put forth by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, followed by his own more secular choice:

Dr. F. [Benjamin Franklin] proposes a Device for a Seal. Moses lifting up his Wand, and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh, in his Chariot overwhelmed with the Waters.—This Motto. Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.

Mr. Jefferson proposed. The Children of Israel in the Wilderness, led by a Cloud by day, and a Pillar of Fire by night, and on the other Side Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon Chiefs, from whom We claim the Honour of being descended and whose Political Principles and Form of Government We have assumed.

I proposed the Choice of Hercules, as engraved by Gribeline in some Editions of Lord Shaftsburys Works. The Hero resting on his Clubb. Virtue pointing to her rugged Mountain, on one Hand, and perswading him to ascend. Sloth, glancing at her flowery Paths of Pleasure, wantonly reclining on the Ground, displaying the Charms both of her Eloquence and Person, to seduce him into Vice. But this is too complicated a Group for a Seal or Medal, and it is not original. http://www.masshist.org/publications/apde/portia.php?&id=AFC02d060

Here is a view of the concept: 

http://jaffro.net/files/Gribelin_Shaftesbury_Characteristics_Hercules.htm

A more colorful rendering is used in this YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idm2HxgUTpM&feature=related

When in Paris during the spring of 1780, Adams makes a further reference to this image in another letter to his wife with elaboration on its significance to him:

There is every Thing here that can inform the Understanding, or refine the Taste, and indeed one would think that could purify the Heart. Yet it must be remembered there is every thing here too, which can seduce, betray, deceive, deprave, corrupt and debauch it. Hercules marches here in full View of the Steeps of Virtue on one hand, and the flowery Paths of Pleasure on the other—and there are few who make the Choice of Hercules. That my Children may follow his Example, is my earnest Prayer: but I sometimes tremble, when I hear the syren songs of sloth, least they should be captivated with her bewitching Charms and her soft, insinuating Musick.

http://www.masshist.org/publications/apde/portia.php?id=AFC03d254

 In his preface to the selection, William Bennett notes that  at this fork in the road, the woman to Hecules’ left (Sloth) suggests taking the smooth path for an easy life of pleasure, while the other woman (Virtue) points to a more rugged upward path that will offer nothing except what he can make of it with his own work and strength. 

Bennett notes, “I have often told this story to audiences asking them which road they would choose.  Some simply disbelieve that anyone would choose the second road, but it is surprising how many choose it, still.  One young person has told me it sounded like the choice between television and homework” (225).

Perhaps this weekend I will sign up to referee some soccer matches in spite of the rain.  I might even  take a walk with my wife and enjoy the fall colors together with her before this season ends rather than being tied down by cable watching yet another game of another season. 

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a somewhat regular presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices during the academic year.

Astral Facts, September 2012
Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Stuff and Bother

29 September 2012,

Once again, we have made it through the month of September, when lots of issues come up as schools stagger into a new academic year. While we did endure recent issues with replacement sanitation workers and referees, last year’s teacher contract issues didn’t remerge to  cause further disruptions.  Of course, when we heard on the news that the drivers of the recycling trucks had rejected the contract offer that would have paid them $98,000 by the end of the six-year extension, my thirteen-year-old son was thinking it might be better to focus on a career as a garbage truck driver rather than the more glamorous but lower paying career on a SWAT team.  Fortunately, being more realistic and mature, I wasn’t swayed by such child-like thoughts, however, …..

In the background of the educational scenery, vibrations around “merit” pay and adequate compensation have been an issue for some time.  We’ve heard about the problems of attracting energetic young teachers in fields such as science and technology when they can look forward to several years of service before hitting the top of the salary scale at less than $60,000 per year, while the private sector jobs  have them starting at $75,000 and higher fresh out of school.  As they say, “you don’t have to be a rocket scientist ….”  Thus, the discussion around merit pay has delved into the area of perhaps having different pay scales for educators (and support staff) depending on the relative value of the disciplines of their expertise.

This is when those of us in the “Humanities Sciences” feel the attention toward the lack of attention in our direction.  In many ways, we are viewed as a stumbling block for the other disciplines, where their access to a variety of learning opportunities becomes constricted by required coursework in the Humanities Sciences.  As someone in another discipline once mentioned (perhaps it was on another campus where I used to teach), “My students can learn all they need to know about the Humanities through reading stuff on their own.”

Since I heard that reference several years ago, I’ve reflected on the stuff I've been reading on my own, and I’m wondering if perhaps the statement is quite accurate.  When I’m reading stuff on my own, I don’t run into many opportunities to consider the chemistry of protein digestion, the math principles allowing me to stream live video on my smart phone (if I could afford one), the configuration of support necessary to keep the concrete bridge floating when I cross Lake Washington, etc. 

This brings to mind an experience attending a basketball game as a senior at the UW in Hec Edmundson Pavilion (now the Alaska Airlines Arena and previously the Bank of America Arena).  During halftime Jim Griffin, one of my friends sitting next to me (majoring in one of those other disciplines), pointed at the steel beams on the ceiling and commented that he could figure how much stress was being placed on each of them.  That was over 40 years ago, and in spite of all the stuff I have read on my own, I still don’t have a clue how to come up with that answer myself.

However, I have noted that stuff related to Humanities Sciences pops up all the time when I read on my own.  Issues about ethics, references to literary works, images from art, and such seem to permeate the stuff we encounter regularly.  For example in last Sunday’s comics (September 23^rd), Sherman’s Lagoon brought up issues about the purpose behind certain behaviors.  In this text, the characters ask some philosophical questions, such as “what is the point of shopping if you don’t buy anything?”  (click on the graphic to view a larger version)

Further, the character asks, “If you do buy something, is it a bargain if you don’t need it?”  The female character concludes by stating, “I’m not sure I can answer that question!  It shakes the very foundation of the meaning of life for me!” 

Of course, someone could take a philosophy class and discuss the deeper implications of these questions and statements, but since the questions are already raised in the “stuff” we can all read on our own, maybe it wouldn’t be such an important class after all.  At any rate, probably the teacher wouldn’t deserve to be paid as much as someone teaching one of the more important classes where salaries are much higher in the private sector.  After all, how much does an ethicist earn in the private sector?

      In that same issue of the Sunday comics appearing in the Seattle Times, the Get Fuzzy cartoon also had stuff about the meaning of life and other philosophical questions.  Although the characters’ comments seem a bit fuzzy, I guess it just goes with the overall theme related to the title.  Although many of the references wouldn’t make sense if I didn’t recognize the original philosophical questions that are being misstated, I probably could have learned about those other questions by reading stuff on my own. 

Certainly if the discussion had been about some proton that had dropped an electron and was acting positive, I wouldn’t have a clue because that kind of information is not in the stuff I would read on my own.  Likewise, I wouldn’t react if someone told me the gas chromatograph went to the psychologist because of his separation anxiety.  Again, that’s not the kind of stuff I usually read about.  (Who does?)

On the other hand, since various components of Humanities “stuff” show up on a regular basis not only in the funny papers, but in references in campaign speeches, television sitcoms, video games, popular music, Disney movies,  and even scientific journals, perhaps maybe this “stuff” might be quite important after all.  For example, Barry Mazur, Professor of Mathematics at Harvard, recently spoke at a conference on “Number Theory as Gadfly,” where

Mazur describes number theory as a field which produces, without effort, innumerable problems which have a sweet, innocent air about them, tempting flowers; and yet... number theory swarms with bugs, waiting to bite the tempted flower-lovers who, once bitten, are inspired to excesses of effort!  (http://www.scienceandliterature.org/speakers)

Forty years ago, when Jim Griffin and I were at that basketball game contemplating the earthly forces pressing on the ceiling above us, he noted that, even though he could easily compute the amount of pressure on each of the beams, he wondered about any importance  in knowing those numbers.

Since the Humanities content shows up so regularly in the stuff around us that we read on our own, I guess we can also wonder about the value of the answers to the questions asked and discussed in the areas of the Humanities Sciences - including the reference implied by the title of this entry!

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a somewhat regular presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices during the academic year.

Stories of Prodigal Suns

Astral Facts, May/June 2012

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Stories of Prodigal Suns

Recently I heard someone discuss the story of the “prodigal son” and how it has implications beyond its “conventional” context of parent and child.   In Confucian theory, the five great social relationships, in the order Confucius put them, are parent: child, elder sibling: younger sibling, husband: wife, elder: younger (community) and ruler: subject (politics).   The fourth relationship could be seen as the relationship between boss to employee, coach to athlete, teacher to students, etc. with the latter relevant to us in the education business.  That seemed like a good topic for the final Astral Fact of the academic year.

Then one of my students wrote his research paper on the topic of storytelling as a cultural aspect that needs more emphasis in modern culture.  His point was that traditionally, cultural values are established and reinforced by the stories of and in the culture.  He saw the current cultural system of people writing to be paid for expressing their personal views as detrimental to cultural values, as the motivation is centered on recognition for the individual’s fame and fortune first without long term consideration of consequences to the culture as a whole. 

His observation was that people were more interested in getting attention to themselves, which often required them to “act weird” and break social norms by coming up with whatever would make them like “brilliant suns” in the eyes of their audience.  The student proposed having a network of salaried national storytellers, a sort of “poet laureate” group, who would have the role of maintaining the stories that illustrate the core cultural values. 

It was an interesting argument, and those people expressing “opposing views” noted that the current trends do represent cultural values and the “turmoil” he was observing is the story of the day.

Perhaps we don’t always recognize how the “stories” of our daily lives help us understand the issues of our times.  Here in the Humanities Sciences, we try to look at the stories as more than just stories.  Often the real life observations are beyond what we could “make up” on our own.  Reader’s Digest is popular for putting those snippets of life in the little spaces at the end of the longer stories, and they help us understand the longer stories.  For example:

Ready for the “hard luck” plagiarism story?

I give four essay assignments for my English 101 classes, with the final paper due the last day of classes.  After the first paper has been returned, I tell students they can individually opt for “portfolio” assessment rather than just the standard grade for each assignment.  The portfolio due the last day of classes would still have the fourth paper as well as one of the first three “as is” and another of the first three “as is” with a revised version.   (Thus their grade is based on only the three assignments in the package and one of those first three disappears).

After the third paper has been done, I reduce the workload: standard grading will be based on the best three papers (making that fourth paper optional) and the portfolio is reduced to any two of the three items previously designated (which also makes #4 optional).

One of my students (a non-native speaker) turned in her portfolio Monday with revisions of two of the first three papers.  I looked at the two original papers and kept the best for the “as is” grading.  As I read the revised paper of the other, an analysis of “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, in parts the syntax wasn’t consistent with the rest.  Sure enough, most of one of her paragraphs is cut and pasted from the sample paper on the story from 123helpme!.com .  So I printed out a copy, highlighted it and the corresponding section in her paper, and included a note that she wasn’t getting a passing grade on the assignment.   She got the portfolio back at the start of our final exam Wednesday.

So she sent an email after the exam to tell me:

i understood wrongly from last time in class the class we just had to choose any of two of the papers we have done and we did not have to do #4 according to that so i did not send it even tho i was working on it  however i would be gratful if i can send the paper #4 if u please let me to do so. i have my own difficulties to understand english sometimes even tho im trying my best to do so..

Apparently my answer was going to be yes because 50 minutes later (before I had read the first message) I received a second message with the paper attached:

hi

i hope you consider replacing this essay as #4 due to my lack of understaing and also because i did not clearly understand what you meant last time cause i already preparing to this paper then i thought you said its ok you can choose two of the perivous papers and fixed them both but i did not know if i had to do it as proflio style u mentioned before. i would be gratful.

thanks

Again, in her attached essay the syntax is a bit smooth (worlds apart from the email messages), with the phrase “how does a schmuck become a saint” at the end of the first paragraph.   Not only does that phrase show up on a simple Google search, but an article with the same title and same opening paragraph shows up!   And the final paragraph from the article is also the beginning of the conclusion paragraph in the student submission.

So instead of having a reduced grade on this assignment, the student fails the class!  Apparently, the principle is not being grasped.   I sent her an email to let her know.

Thursday: 

I had decided not to give her a failing grade for the class, and I had submitted a 1.0 (D), which was less than the 2.0 she would need to move to the next level composition class.  This would require her to retake this English 101 course. 

Not knowing this, in the evening the student emailed to ask if she could do still another paper to try to replace the original plagiarized one. I told her that this was not possible because she had already had a second chance.  I told her although I had given her a 1.0 “D” for the class rather than the failing grade mentioned previously, she would still need to retake the class from another instructor.

She responded about the plagiarism on that second paper:

Mr.lowe

please consider i have no clue about the plagiarizing that or attention to that this is what happened i been having difficulties to understand the writing class since it started but so i asked my friend yesterday to help me out with some of it i have no clue it was copied from another place yet i did add my own words and my own to that thats what happened and i would like if you consider a chance for me and help me through my difficulties and misunderstanding to it im really sorry for it. 

And so the story continues.  We couldn’t make this up, could we? 

Obviously, someone needs to adjust the picture going in the head of the student.  I tried to do so with my response:

If your friend wrote your paper for you and then you added some of your own writing to it, that would be cheating.  It doesn't matter if your friend copied it or not.  You still knew that you didn't write it!  You knew that I wouldn't accept the first paper because you had copied it.  Why would you think it would be okay to have another person write part of the paper?

W. Lowe

Hopefully, the student will recognize the implication of what’s been going on.  As one colleague put it, “It would be funny if it weren't for the fact that the student sincerely believes not understanding English justifies cheating and [this] should persuade you to give a better grade!” 

However, it still isn’t penetrating very deeply.  Even though I have informed her that I had not submitted a failing grade, the student’s latest response is:

i asked her for help i did not for help i had that on my mind i was talking about religion and its facts she did not wrote the paper she helped me with some but i did not know that help was from outside sources thats why i just told as it happened and i be grateful if u consider a second chance for me to pass 

thanks 

If we stop and think about it, we have two tragedies here:  first is the lack of depth of understanding on the part of the student.  In spite of how detailed I was in covering documentation and avoidance of plagiarism in class on three separate occasions, the student didn’t understand the concept very clearly.  On top of that, all my explanations have fallen on deaf ears, for the student is still pleading for me to overlook this and give a “reduced” grade, even though I already told her I am not giving her a failing grade, merely a “D” that will not allow her to move to the next class without retaking this English 101 course.  For this student, the actual learning is not the issue; the main focus is just on getting a “good” grade.  It makes me wonder how many other silent voices hold this same view, but we don’t realize it.

The second tragedy is in how much time and effort I have spent dealing with just this one student and her “issues” over the issue.  This is time that I could have spent helping other students (or even taking time “off” from student needs to spend time with family).   Those opportunities have been lost forever.

Perhaps by documenting and sharing the story of this journey, it can help others on both sides of the teacher’s desk.  Then we can work on those three relationships Confucius says should be at the top of the list, once the sons and daughters are back on track.

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

It’s All Greek – Do You Copy?

Astral Facts, April 2012
Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

It’s all Greek -Do You Copy? 

These days, issues of academic integrity seem to be a common topic of discussion.  With more and more on-line courses and online existences, one wonders who is taking the tests or writing the content coming from the other end of the ether way. 

Students see the exchange of talents merely as good business techniques – “I’ll do your math homework if you’ll do my English essay” is generally regarded as cooperative learning as they pool skills and resources.  After all, on Law & Order Jack McCoy and Michael Cutter called in expert witnesses and used the ADA's (assistant district attorneys) availabilities to do much of the work and research for them to present in their trial performances.  It’s just good business in a transactional based culture!

Based on the Greek approaches of ethos, pathos, and logos identified at the root of dramatic themes in the broad field of the humanities sciences, we might be able to more clearly understand the nature and essence of the plagiarism phenomena.  Although such copying and falsification has been occurring since as long as history reaches back, the proliferation though current advances in technology is quite over whelming in many areas of modern living and culture even beyond the academic fields.

We could view the classification of some major types of plagiarism in a taxonomy as follows:

Theo-sauros.  (aka T-sauros Rex).  This technique involves substituting a variety of words from the original source in order to disguise the original phrasing.   The Theo-sauros will do this to make the content appear original and more godly (Theos) or royal (Rex).  Thus, phrases such as “common sense” will be changed to “ordinary feeling” or “communal sagacity.”   Of course, someone using “basic intelligence” would recognize that changing so many words and phrases will end up distorting the overall coherence of the writing.

Pseudopigios. This technique aims to lend credibility to the writer’s own unsubstantiated beliefs or opinions.  (This dates back to the ancient practice of pseudepigrapha when people would try to pass off their personal views as coming from Noah, Abraham, and even Adam and Eve themselves.)  The pseudopigio will make up credible sounding sources, usually bogus websites or non-existent online issues of accepted sources like Scientific American, which would not have page numbers for cross referencing.

Downloadios.  This technique involves the use of websites that sell or exchange fully written papers on a wide range of topics.  The websites have a disclaimer that the paper is for review only, but when students are paying as much as $10 per page, chances are that the “review tool” ends up being the actual paper.  Often the Theo-saurus will use this technique as a starting point.

Domestios, Fratios, or Sororios.   In this technique, known by several names, the writer will merely put his or her name on works done by a family member or close associate who has taken the same or similar courses.   Very few if any changes are made by the writer.  A variety of this is the Superidio, where the writers take their own writing done previously and make slight alterations (often not more than changing the date and course name) to submit as new work.

Spectato or Spectreios.  Sometimes Anglicized as “ghost writing,” this technique is an offshoot of the previous technique, but done under contract or by request.  Sometimes this is disguised as “peer editing” when the writer asks for help with a rough draft, outline, or paper topic and the other person produces the bulk of the final content.  Colleagios is the version that pools resources to trade expertise such as a native speaker editing and rewriting a non-native speaker's paper in exchange for the non-native speaker completeing a math or engineering assignment, depending on expertise.  The exchange might be "non-academic" such as a student in a trades program repairing a car or upgrading a computer in exchange for a writing assignment paper.

Cuspidios.  In this technique, the writer merely expectorates content directly from lecture notes or class discussion, sometimes even from the same class the paper is written for.  Usually the original notes are not taken clearly, so the content may be a bit garbled as the writer merely repeats what has been heard or understood as if it were his or her original thinking.

Oblivio.  This particular practice often includes one or more of the methods mentioned above without the practitioners recognizing that they are violating standards of academic integrity.  Such people often have been doing this as a matter of habit or they are so used to seeing those around them plagiarize that the practices seem “normal” behavior.

Insidios.   In this technique, the writer deliberately restructures sentences, reverses the order of list points or details, or even cites a small portion of the original source as a means of deliberately presenting the source commentary, insight, and/or conclusions as his/her own original thinking.

The terminology may be Greek, but the bartering concepts of "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours," "the ends justify the means," "all's fair in love and war," and other such euphemisms and aphorisms seem to be part of the syllabus of Basic Survival 101.  

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.

Critical Thinking on the Astral Plane

Astral Facts, March 2012

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Critical Thinking on the Astral Plane

In the past, when people took a trip, it was a good time to sit back on the plane with a good read with something to think about. These days with in-flight movies and netflicks loaded onto portable devices, the “read” part may not be so prevalent, but the thinking shouldn’t change.


One of the learning outcomes here on campus is for students to develop skills of critical thinking. This is a major emphasis in English 101, and hopefully students can carry on with those skills outside the classroom as well. In my class we read an article written some time ago (1975) called “The Farce Called ‘Grading’” by Arthur E. Lean. Lean’s basic position is that “grades tend to stigmatize and punish” students who don’t have innate intellectual skills stressed through standardized tests and conventional academic systems. He also points out discrepancies in grading which may occur from instructor to instructor. When I ask my students to write an in-class response to the article, explaining at least two reasons why it is or isn’t a good article, the overwhelming majority give it a “thumbs ups” approval.


Unfortunately, after we examine the content more carefully, we find it is laden with logical fallacies, misleading partial bits of evidence, and personal opinions without support. For example, Lean uses the example of a student who sued her university because of a grade dispute. He doesn’t specify the incident location or time nor mention whether or not she won her lawsuit, although readers might assume so if they don’t stop and consider the missing details from his example. Since a successful lawsuit would have strengthened his argument, the real implication is that she did not win the lawsuit. The student’s argument was that she was being punished for alleged wrongful behavior, but the university disciplinary committee found her not guilty of wrong doing. Again, readers assume that the wrong-doing was related to the course itself, but Lean does not provide details to confirm that. He leaves it to the readers to jump to that understanding.


Lean later says that “we” [teachers and the community?] hold the academic requirements like a club over the students’ heads because we believe

most of them are naturally lazy, stupid dolts who must somehow be coerced, cajoled, persuaded, threatened, strong-armed into learning what we have decided is "good for them." Much of this required material is dull, boring, meaningless, and will be forgotten almost immediately …

which is a classic sweeping generalization that resonates very well with students, which is why the article always gets such a high approval rating before we exercise a bit of critical thinking. Lean is preaching to the choir in this case.


Next we read “A Modest Proposal” written by Jonathan Swift in 1729 to address social issues of hunger, overpopulation, unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and single moms with lots of kids abandoned by deadbeat dads. Swift’s “modest” proposal is to harvest the babies at about ten months and use them to expand the food supply. (The “other” white meat.) He points out that this will address the issue of hunger, it will reduce the unwanted overpopulation, it will provide employment for those families and address the issues of poverty, It will provide the income to allow them to afford to pay rent - addressing the homelessness situation, and finally the moms won’t be “single” anymore because the dad won’t want to abandon a “cash cow” once the woman gets pregnant.


Even though Swift’s proposal is quite practical, when I ask students to write about it being a good article or not, a significant portion of them find it “disgusting” and “immoral” to even consider. One young mother in my class even confessed she was tempted to take her shoe off and throw it at me when I suggested starting up a chain of restaurants selling “baby-back ribs”!


However, when we apply some critical thinking and examine lines like, “I grant that this food might be quite dear, and very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children,” noting that “dear” means expensive as well as precious or loved, we see a double meaning to his phrasing. The connotations to the use of the word “devoured” implies a greedy and thorough eating. Certainly, the landlords have not physically “eaten” the parents, but emotionally and psychologically they have drained the lifeblood out of them.


With a little analysis and thought, we are able to understand that Swift’s point is that the social practices of the day weren’t very far from taking the next step to his modest proposal. Yet if his proposal is immoral and disgusting, how could the current situation be justified? Thus, practical and convenient solutions to social struggle or perceived injustice should be tempered with moral and ethical considerations – especially from the perspectives of those being “marginalized.”


From here, as a class [or a society], we can engage in discussions related to current social situations such as homelessness, health care, abortion, cohabitation, divorce, censorship, freedom of speech, etc. reconciling emotional and intellectual responses.


Let’s try using 101 level critical thinking with a recent news item regarding food safety. Look at this five-minute report link regarding the report on mold and applesauce:


http://www.king5.com/news/Records-reveal-history-of-mold-problems-at-troubled-WA-food-plant-140911033.html

Of course, the message is that applesauce produced locally (in Washington State) could be unhealthy because of the unsanitary processing done at this particular plant. Since the plant is the source for many different brands (which the company will not reveal), consumers may unwittingly be eating moldy fruit! The opening interview with the woman whose children were sickened by the product is reinforced by returning to her at the end to remind the viewers of how dangerous this is to families with young children.


Wait a minute! She left the applesauce in the can and in the refrigerator for a month! Even so, the food lab could find no evidence of mold, even in that condition! Nor was any evidence of mold found in any of the other samples supplied by other consumers. The inspector was upset because her superiors in the Dept. of Agriculture did not find her reports of major concern, so she leaked information to another federal agency, the FDA, which is investigating the situation but has stated that the products are not currently a health danger and have not been in the past either. We might notice that the woman interviewed is a “former” inspector. Even though the evidence showed no mold in the products, the “witness” is still blaming the applesauce as the source of her children’s symptoms. We might wonder why the news station is reporting all this. The evidence says it is not a problem, but the “message” is that it is a problem!


As always, these academic skills, “this required material [which] is dull, boring, meaningless, and will be forgotten almost immediately…” according to Arthur E. Lean, might not be as meaningless as suspected and certainly shouldn’t be forgotten after all! Not on the physical plane nor on the astral plane.


Interestingly enough, as I was writing this, a colleague sent me an appropriate link to an article regarding this very topic, which seems like a good closing read:


http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/03/16/essay-value-first-year-writing-courses#.T3Xs38AepF4.mailto



Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.