The "Busman's Holiday" in the Parked Bus: Winter Break 2015-16

The “Busman’s Holiday” in the Parked Bus

Astral Facts, Winter Break 2015-6

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.

Busperson in the Parked Bus

Each November, while the students sequester themselves for autumn midterms, I usually realize that I haven’t used my two “personal days” allowed under the contract and those days will expire on the calendar year end, carried over from the previous contract year.  In the metaphorical “busman’s holiday,” I pack up the pile of student papers and my wife and I leave town, booking space in a nearby WorldMark facility for an extended November 11th holiday break.  In between whittling down the piles of student papers and taking walks together for physical escape, one or both of us peruse the resort’s DVD selections of past films that have passed us by while ploughing through previous fields of student papers.

For those of us not so hardy and not willing to face the madding crowds of the current winter break film lines, here are some suggestions for escape options we found for home viewing, where the popcorn is fresher and more natural (organic popcorn at Trader Joe’s is the best deal in town).  Along with real butter and Himalayan sea salt, you can supply your own favorite beverage, hot or cold, caffeinated or not.

With the discussions of multicultural issues at the forefront locally, nationally, and world-wide, we recommend The Railway Man (2013) starring Colin Firth, Nicole Kidder, and Hiroyuki Sanada.  Combining scenes from the "present" with flashbacks to the wartime events, the film considers concerns such as how a survivor of a wartime POW camp might deal (or not) with issues that continue to persist many year later.  More importantly perhaps are options that others -veterans included - might have in support and how extreme these might be.  The film offers some insight.

Another film that addresses issues of immigrants bringing their cultural traditions and differences to established neighborhoods and communities is the topical issue in the film The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) with Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, and Charlotte Le Bon.  While the surface conflicts might be culinary in nature, and, as many of us acknowledge during these holiday seasons, food is a bonding substance that defines and unites cultures, the film offers commentary on that theme that goes deeper than how much is on the plate itself.

Finally, for a more “long-term” escape journey in the parked bus, we recommend a BBC mini-series To Serve Them All My Days (1980) (included in the 1982 PBS Masterpiece Theater series), which involves 13 episodes covering the time between WWI and WWII.  The setting is at Bamfylde School, a fictitious private (referred to in Britain as “public”) boys boarding school in England, with the main character a young soldier recovering from “battle fatigue” (now recognized as PTSD).  This main character (played by John Duttine) secures a position as a history teacher in the school, which is a “world” distant from his Welsh upbringing in a working class coal miner family.  The episodes cover his challenges dealing with social, political, philosophical, psychological, religious, gender, etc. issues and stereotypes stemming from class and ethnic differences coming from students, fellow faculty, community members, family, and even administrative changes at the school.  Although the original book was written in 1972, and the series itself was one 35 years ago, the issues still persist.

We have found all these also available at our local (King County) branch libraries, and all thirteen episodes of the BBC series seem to be available on YouTube.  Regardless of the medium, we wish everyone a “grande” time during our “short” break.

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.

Summer Reading; Some Are Writing

Summer Reading; Some Are Writing

Astral Facts, May-June 2015

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.

Fanfic As You Like It!

Now that school is out for the summer just about everywhere (except for those of us teaching summer school and/or supporting those doing the instruction), it only seems appropriate to turn to the traditional summer reading lists.  While some of us can turn to the shelf with all the new materials on the bucket list, quite a few of us might choose to go back to re-experience the old favorites.

Somewhere in between we can find those doing both by combining old and new.  Like most of us, they wish the stories could have turned out differently or perhaps they recognize characters have acted in unreasonable ways just to please the author.  Even sometimes, the book has ended without finishing the story.

 While most readers might just accept that as the way life is, others haven’t been so complacent.  Rather than taking the lemons of life and making lemonade, they trade those lemons for prunes, make prune juice, and let things flow!  They are the ones who have created and participated in “FanFic” – the action of continuation or alteration of the text by its fans.

For example, why not revise all the “Harry Potter” stories into a feminist version of something like a “Harriet Potter and ….” series?  The child of the muggle dentists could then be Herman Granger, who has the book smarts but not the dauntless courage of the female protagonist. Could you image a good girl/bad boy relationship between Harriet and Draco Malfoy with Harriet’s nurturing feminine character in conflict with her role as “the girl who lived”?  More than just a love triangle, let’s put Herman Granger and Ron Weasley into the mix to create a “love rhombus” with Harriet as the hypotenuse! 

Dip your quill in the inkwell and take it from there …..

For inspiration, read what others have done: Google “fanfic” and your favorite book or author.  Try it with “Shakespeare” and over 2100 stories show up on 77 pages, including those little-known versions of scenes such as “Fresh Off the Gondola” and “The Twisted Balcony Scene.” These go much beyond the more passive cinematic version of Leonardo DiCaprio and street gangs in LA with its agonizing “balcony” scene in the swimming pool.   

We could also try to rewrite the texts in the style of another author. For those expecting academic content,  here is a link to the final scenes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as if Ayn Rand had written it:

http://the-toast.net/2015/04/09/ayn-rands-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/

For those of us who prefer a lighter summer vacation fare, how about just rewriting Liam Neeson’s short phone statement from the film Taken (which we now know is Taken 1)?  Here’s how Ralph Jones would imagine it done by Dr. Seuss, Shakespeare, and Hemingway:

The original:  “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you’re looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money; but what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career; skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you. I will not pursue you. But if you don’t…I will look for you…I will find you…and I will kill you.”

DR. SEUSS

“No I don’t know who you may be,

I don’t know what you want from me.

I have no money but I do

Have skills that would endanger you!

If you let my daughter go

I won’t chase you, no! no! no!

But if you keep her, oh dear me,

I will find you, you will see.

Not only will I catch you, I

Will make sure that I watch you die!”

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

“I know thy voice but know not who thou art.

Nor can I profess to know thy mind.

If ransom be thy motive, know that I

Hath money only for the clothes that cloak

My skin. In place of coins I hath acquired

Valuable knowledge of the sort that breaks

The backs of men like you. Return my girl.

If she and I are reunited, thou

Shalt have no cause to hear from me again.

But lo, if you should choose a different path

(O God! I can scarce imagine such a fate),

Scouring land and sea I will find you

And with my sword I will remove thy tongue.

A plague upon you! I will not rest until

Thy body rots six feet beneath the earth.”

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

“Will kill you if you do not return daughter.” 

These and four others are posted here:

http://the-toast.net/2015/06/09/liam-neesons-taken-speech-written-by-seven-famous-authors/

So this summer as the sands of time trickle through the hourglass, spread them out on an exotic beach, with pen, Ipad, Kindle, or other device in hand (and a cool drink with a little umbrella also at hand) and create your own reality: some are reading and summer writing!

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.

Freberg and the Postmodernist Responsibility, April 2015

Freberg and the Postmodernist Responsibility

Astral Facts, April 2015

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.

Freberg and the Postmodernist Responsibility

In 1962, syndicated columnist and social critic Marya Mannes asked the question “How Do You Know It’s Good?” as the title of an article.  Mannes was in the midst of the shift from the “modern” to “postmodern” ages.  She began by voicing the concerns that many felt in this transition time:

Suppose there were no critics to tell us how to react to a picture, a play, or a new composition of music.  Suppose we wandered innocent as the dawn into an art exhibition of unsigned paintings.  By what standards, by what values would we decide whether they were good or bad, talented or untalented, successes or failures?  How can we ever know that what we think is right?

http://members.tripod.com/karl_p_henning/old/itsgood.html

Dating back to the times of the early Greeks, the definitions of “acceptable” cultural and literary standards were established and revised through the generations with a general consensus emerging from the dominant culture of the time.  These had an authoritative “voice” such as Plato, Aristotle, Wordsworth, [Matthew] Arnold, etc. as the spokesperson.   

In the early 1900’s the “Modern” critical view dominated.  Also referred to as “New Criticism” or “Formalism,” this continued this view of the “tradition” of good literature conforming to “formal rules” of structure, elements, and organization.  The major difference was that this involved a variety of voices with none seen as the focal point.

In her article from over 50 years ago, Mannes notes that this multitude of voices caused a shift from the modern approach to the “postmodern” era where we firmly stand situate ourselves these days.  Mannes points out that the period after WWII introduced a just because it’s old doesn't mean it’s good / just because it’s new doesn't make it bad approach that was transforming even further in jettisoning the “old ways.”  As she says, “The word ‘new’ – in our country especially – has magical connotations.  What is new must be good; what is old is probably bad.” 

The global shift in post WWII culture offered the opportunity to review and enhance past traditional approaches.  Self-reflection and self-confession became the norm as a pathway to self-knowledge and self-improvement. The shift was intended to improve the individual within the community and improve the community for the individual. 

Thus, satire became a useful tool to disarm harsh criticism if we could laugh at ourselves and with ourselves.  This would then be a avenue for understanding ourselves and our culture as a means to recognize the cultural reality while taking individual responsibility for our role in it.

One of the great masters of such self-reflective satire passed away during the month of April in the person of Stan Freberg.  It only seems appropriate to reflect upon his creative genius at getting us to look at ourselves through the lens of satire and to reflect upon how this helped us see ourselves, individually and culturally,  in a humorous and non-threatening way.

Freberg did this through his comedy monologues.  Corporate powers recognized that he had his finger on the pulse of the American consumer, and they harnessed his talents.

Before the “reality TV” rooted in the daytime soaps was probably even a concept for prime time television, Freberg came up with a “reality TV commercial” series playing upon the recognition that the commercials used paid actors purporting to be users of the products.  Freberg asked - Why not use that apparent weakness as a strength?  Here’s an example done for Cheerios:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PauDwNFPucU

Before diversity and multicultural awareness became buzzwords, Freberg was on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4_fLIPAfoY

Freberg made us aware of the hype used in our culture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqx9zbdfK9k

Probably one of his most famous creations was the “St. George and the Dragonet” story, updated here with Claymation on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT3QYb7AN6k

Freberg’s genius was in getting people to react to the humor on the surface as a means to reflect on the reality below it. 

Unfortunately, these days most people don’t have time to get very far below the surface.  We have the technique but not the skill honed by responsibility.

As technology has changed the culture and old technology speeds up the shift to new technology, we have morphed into a type of Postmodern society with the focus on self for self’s benefit.  In this approach, the emphasis is on finding fault and problems with any general status quo, which is then exposed through satire as ridicule.  Somehow knowing how messed up things are around us is supposed to help our own self-esteem in a sort of “My life isn't so bad after all” epiphany.

I often observe my children watching some pointless “reality” show (usually with people in dysfunctional relationships agonizing over how dysfunctional other people are), and I point out that this “reality” is scripted, offering nothing of substance to apply to the lives of the viewers.

“But Dad, It’s hilarious!” is how my children respond, having been well-schooled in the current Postmodern techniques used to answer Mannes’ original question, “How do you know it’s good?”

As for me, I still prefer to watch the commercials.

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.

Still Crazy After All These Years: March 2015

Still Crazy After All These Years

Astral Facts, March 2015

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.

Still Crazy After All These Years

Humanities Scientists have interests that extend beyond the classical forms of literature, art, and philosophy, for drama, film, and sports as entertainment also fall within our purveyance.  While the Natural Scientist may ponder how the final minute in a basketball or football game can actually last as long as ten minutes or more, the Humanities Scientist only revels in the splendor of life not controlled by the clock or other technology-imposed concepts that squeeze the essence out of the vintage of life with a mechanical whine!

No clearer evidence of this can be found than the national frenzy occurring every year around this time with the “March Madness” associated with college basketball.  It has been estimated that nationally over four million hours of productivity are usually lost during the time of the national basketball tournaments as workers are distracted by the events on the hardwoods. 

Even years after our own college days, we can experience those frenetic times from the past surge up from the unconscious and subconscious domain of the spiritual hard drive.  In the past, workers would have the radio on, with regular distractions stimulated by the emotions in the announcers’ voices in the background.  Local and national television only exacerbated these distractions, adding sight to the sound and bringing the distractions to the foreground.  The Internet spiked this even further, as people began to watch the scenes in their cubicle workstations.

 Supervisors and managers then began to patrol the hallways and cubicle aisles to crack the whip and get the workers back on track.  (Several of the websites, such as CBSSports.com, ESPN.com, and even NCAA.com offered a “boss button” in the corner of the screen.  A quick click at the approach of a supervisor, and the screen changed to a complex multi-colored spread sheet.)

However, more recent research has shown that those lost man-hours (not so many “woman-hours” have been lost in the past, but that is changing with further emphasis on the Women’s Tournament) are actually more than doubled in later productivity as a result of the “bonding” and camaraderie created as workers share “the ecstasy of victory and the agony of defeat” as their teams soar and/or crash and burn.  

This is intensified as the “office pools” stimulate interest in even the obscure match-ups not involving the individuals’ own alma mater or hated cross-town or intra state rival, for each game means points added or lost toward bragging rights in the ‘hood.

However, more than just bragging rights are involved.  This year it has been estimated that nationally approximately $9 billion will be involved from the twenty-five cent office pool antes up to the open match book bets in places like Las Vegas and discreet off-shore financial cachets.

The challenge significance will be once again underscored by a presentation from The White House on Tuesday or Wednesday with President Obama's selections in his bracket with an explanation of his prediction of the "Final Four" and the White House personal projections for the eventual winner.

Because our mission in the two-year colleges is to prepare students to transfer to appropriate four-year colleges and universities or directly to the workplace, for the past 14 years in conjunction with the Popular Culture class I have taught, I have offered my students an opportunity to determine if they are “Smarter Than A Teacher” by taking the online March Madness Tournament Challenge hosted by ESPN.  In addition to teachers and students, the “pool” also is open to anyone else in the greater community in order to “randomize” the population sample involved.  (Minimum age is 13, so the supposition is you have to be smarter than a 5^th grader!  However, you can still get advice from a 5^th grader!)

While this only involves “Bragging Rights in the ‘Hood” with no financial aspect in our Green River group, the group itself will be part of the national pool conducted by ESPN.  The national winner does receive a $20,000 Best Buy gift card and a trip for two to Hawaii.  Several years ago, a 16-year-old high school sophomore from Alabama was the national winner, so anything is possible!  The details as I present them to my students are listed below:

Are You Smarter Than A Teacher? 

Now is a chance to prove it!    Non-credit activity: English, 101, 126, 128, and 185.

March Madness “Sanity” Test

Go online to the ESPN Fantasy game home page:  http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2015/en/game

Click on the GET STARTED link and then register to participate through the “sign up for free” link and set up your personal user name and personal password.  

Once you create your entry, you can join the group. (If possible teachers should include a “T” at the end of the entry name.)  Our group is Green River. 

Sunday, March 15 was the day for the choosing of the 64-68 teams for the national college basketball tournament.  Between then and 9:00 in the morning of Thursday, March 19 (when the first game in the tournament starts) you can fill out your predictions regarding the winners of each round of the tournament.

(Note: You must fill out all the information including the final winner before the first game starts on the morning of the 19^th.)

You may compose as many as ten different versions of how you predict the tournament will end.  (Thus, if you have Gonzaga beating Kentucky in the championship game, you could also do a revised version with Kentucky beating Gonzaga.) 

After you register the first entry and join the group, you can select the “create another bracket” to prepare another entry.  (If you select the “my brackets” link you can create another bracket as well.)

You will be competing against a group of teachers, members of the community, and your classmates to see how many are smarter than the teachers!!

Six years ago a sophomore high school student from Alabama had the best result in the nation, winning $10,000.  This year the top prize (in the nation) is $20,000 and a trip to Hawaii.  In our group, top prize is bragging rights in the ‘hood.  Almost the same!

Note: Since 2001, students have finished first eight times (including one female student, so this isn’t only a male domain), teachers have won three times and members of the community (including my wife one year!) have also won three times.

Even now, the anticipation of the referee’s whistle seems to be calling from the past and the future!  See you again after that final whistle, which is only a signal to anticipate the next starting tweet!

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.

February 2015: The Angel's Angle

Astral Facts, February 2015

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.

The Angel’s Angle

This time of the season usually brings the Astral Facts of life into the limelight with the celebration (or at least acknowledgement) of the Lunar New Year (often referred to as the “Chinese” New Year) with one of the significant animal representations.  This year has drawn attention more so than in the past, for it has been designated the Year of the Sheep, which has caused some debate since this animal motif has been referred to as the Year of the Ram and the Year of the Goat in the past.  This issue of translation is rather interesting, for the natures of the sheep, ram, and goat certainly have quite different connotations.

While that might be a combative linguistic issue in some cultures, it does strike a chord in connection with cultural concepts in “Western” culture related to the nature of angels.  In the past, theologians used to argue over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin, which might be relative to the fields of the natural sciences and the nano-technology of using subatomic forces in medicine to scrub the cholesterol out of clogged arteries.

 

However, from a different perspective, I often hear people refer to a departed loved one by mentioning the person is “an angel in heaven now, looking down at us.” 

Is that our human destination?  Will we have wings if we live a good life before we die?   The film It’s A Wonderful Life back in 1946 suggested that this wouldn’t be automatic.  In that one, Clarence, an angel 2nd class, needs to do some kind of “post-graduate” work to earn his wings.  If that doesn’t ring a bell, here’s a 2-minute overview of his situation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ZZUu2HUuo

Certainly for most people, “Clarence” did not fit the standard image of what an angel looks like.  The Renaissance painters have offered us a variety of concepts.  Are angels dressed in white with accompanying white wings, playing beautiful soothing music –  on harps or violins?  On the other hand, are they purveyors of justice, striking the evil doers with the laws of the cosmos, with wings not quite so downy soft and white?  Perhaps even they mete justice with a heavenly sword, clad in colors other than white with wings of darker shades?

How can we be sure about the identity and credentials of apparent angels? 

In 1928, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, perhaps because of his first name, pondered this same question, which he posed in a literary medium in his short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” 

Essentially, the story begins on the third day of a terrible storm, with thousands of crabs coming ashore and filling the home.  The baby is sick and the father is killing the crabs and tossing them back into the sea.  On the beach he finds the washed up nearly dead body of an old man with enormous wings.  Not sure if this is an angel or just a shipwrecked Norwegian fisherman (for he speaks only a few words of a strange language), the family puts him in the chicken coop.  When the people hear of this, some say he is the angel of death coming for the child, but hundreds line up to see him, so the family charges five cents admission and becomes wealthy.  The priest suspects he is not an angel, for he does not seem to understand either Latin or Aramaic.  People lose interest in the old man when a circus comes with a girl who was hit by lightning and transformed into a giant spider with a female head.  As the old man’s molting wings grow new feathers, the wife is upset by having a home “lousy with angels” getting in her way.  Naturally, I have omitted many details as well as the ending but the full text is here: http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/323/MarquezManwithWings.htm  Also, a 2-minute YouTube overview is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bljRZP1QYlg. 

Of course, the question is: was he an angel or not?  If so, the angel of death blown off course or a guardian angel, like Clarence, using unusual methods to protect the child? In my classes, when students have “taught” this story in group presentations, sometimes they have asked their classmates to (1) draw a picture of an angel and then (2) draw a picture of the old man in the story.  Similarities and differences have been a source of lively discussions.

Which opens up another can of worms or perhaps delicious tidbits:  do all angels have wings?  One of the prime sources of content is the Bible.  What does it say?  Often when people refer to angels, the image is of some kind of powerful supernatural winged being.  However, the Bible often presents angels quite differently.   For example, when two angels visit the home of Lot, nephew of Abraham, Lot prepares a feast for them and the angels eat the food.  The people in the town (Sodom) and Lot himself refer to them as “men” and the fiancés of Lot’s daughters do not leave the town when the angels warn it will soon be destroyed.  Even Lot himself hesitates to leave (New Scofield Study Bible, Gen 19.1-16).  In other words, none of the participants in the story recognize that these are two angels.  Since they don’t recognize them, this means they did not have wings or dress in the shiny white clothing most people imagine angels wearing.   In fact, the angels seem to have taken on physical attributes, for they are able to eat the food, and they are able to physically pull Lot and his womenfolk away from the impending disaster.  Earlier the Bible in Genesis 6:4 says, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and bore children to them” (New Scofield Study Bible).  According to the notes accompanying this verse, “sons of God” refers to fallen angels.   Thus, this verse also indicates that angels were understood to be similar to humans in structure and appearance enough to mate with the human women.   These angels not only appear in human form, but they have physical substance as well – in fact enough to cause pregnancy in the women.  These two examples indicate that angels can and do have appearances similar to humans and sometimes humans cannot tell if they are angels or not.  Also, the concept that angels are supernatural and only spiritual in essence seems to be contradicted as well.  These angels exhibit carnal behavior and desire not usually associated with the typical concepts people have about angels.

Throughout the Bible, angels are referred to as being “ministering spirits” and “messengers,” as well as fulfilling other roles as servants.  Thus, the concept of people going to heaven to become angels might not fit the general concept of the role of angels or of people who have passed away.

We might ask ourselves if perhaps we have unknowingly encountered angels.  I suspect I had such an experience many years ago when I was an adjunct instructor living on an even tighter budget than now.  My in-laws were getting old, and my wife and I decided she should go to visit them with our children.  Since they live in Austria, the trip would be expensive, and I was hoping to sell my vehicle to pay for the trip.  Unfortunately, my asking price of $1900 for a twenty-year old vehicle with over 300,000 miles wasn’t getting any response. 

I drove the family to the airport, and on the way home, I knew I had a $1200 payment due in a few days, so I decided to reduce the price down to that amount (still about $1000 over the Blue Book listing).  When I got home, I picked up the phone to call to change the ad, but I didn’t hear a dial tone.  I said “Hello? Hello?” and a voice responded, “Do you have the car for sale?”  I affirmed this and gave the caller the address.  In 20 minutes he arrived, a lean, 40ish year old with tattooed arms and wearing dusty jeans and a soiled sweatshirt.  He said he had done a short-term construction job nearby.  He took the car for a five-minute test drive, asked where the nearest bank was, and came back 30 minutes later with 19 $100 bills.  Since I had a free tow from AAA, we arranged for them to come and follow him to his home in Seattle with the car.  My wife had taken our camera with her to Austria, so while we waited we used one of those disposable cameras to take a last picture of me with the car, him by the car, and then I used up the final frames of the car on the truck leaving. 

The next day, the camera disappeared.  I was the only one home and I had left it on my desk, but it was gone the next day when I looked for it to take for developing.  My only conclusion was that he was an angel sent to help us.  Perhaps many of us might reflect to identify such experiences as well.

Another question might relate to the role of animals.  Here is a recent suggestion by a syndicated cartoonist:  http://www.gocomics.com/wumo/2015/02/25.  Or, as Mark Twain has noted:  “Heaven goes by favor.  If it went by merit, you would stay out and the dog would go in.”

  

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.

Copy Cat Tastrophe, Astral Facts January 2015

Astral Facts, January 2015

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.

Copy Cat Tastrophe

We are approaching the middle of the current academic term (winter quarter), when midterms and first major essays start to hit the inboxes.  Frankly, this is raising some anticipatory anxiety for me.  This past fall term in my classes has turned out to be the “worst” ever in terms of blatant plagiarism in student papers.  In fact, I had to dismiss two students for repeated occurrences.  

It is unfortunate that such records will go on those students’ transcripts, but somehow the failing grade on the first paper just made them more desperate. Even though I informed them that I always drop the lowest score, which would wipe that from the record by the end of the term, it didn't temper the temperament.

Of course, this plagiarism thing isn’t new.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated about 150 years ago, it seems that once a person has been published, he has the right to copy anything others have written.  More recently, the “art” of plagiarism has come to be celebrated in a sense, as Tom Lehrer noted in his 1963 rendition (available on YouTube):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXlfXirQF3A

As the Internet has contributed to the temptation of easy access to plucking the “forbidden fruit” of the work of others, our campus recently underwent an effort to expand the education regarding the behavior.  As a team of us worked on this project, we found some interesting cultural differences at the root of the behavior. 

In some cultures, the act of identifying sources is regarded as an insult – both to the source and to the audience.  For example, using the phrase, “To be, or not to be: that is the question” and referencing it to Shakespeare would insult the audience’s intelligence.  The implication would be that those in the audience would be quite ignorant not to know the source if they hadn't been told.  Likewise, it would dishonor the reputation of Shakespeare to imply that his works and ideas are so obscure that they need to be identified when used. 

Thus, students and writers from such cultural backgrounds would be avoiding such taboos when they copy but don’t acknowledge the source.  However, “When in Rome ….” (as Shakespeare has noted - not to insult anyone’s intelligence).  Perhaps that was Shakespeare’s thought as well that he didn't need to cite any of his sources for his works (such as St. Ambrose for the “When in Rome…” statement.)

Because plagiarism can appear in many forms and because folks here in the Humanities Sciences like to refer back to the Greek and Latin roots of culture, here is the blooming taxonomy in the original Greek:

Varieties of Plagiarism and Plagiarists.

Greek terminology such as pathos, ethos, logos, etc., is often used in the broad scope of the humanities.  We could view the classification of major types of plagiarism in a similar 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 or royal.  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.

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 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.

 (Although these are posted on the Green River website, I don’t need to cite myself as the source.)

Returning back to the observations of Ralph Waldo Emerson from the top of the page, it seems fitting to close with another of his observations on bragging:  When we do encounter a braggart, we can acknowledge that, even though it might be done unconsciously, at least he is not guilty of plagiarism!

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.