.Ten More Minutes
GeekList: Free Computer Artificial Intelligence Opponents for Abstract Strategy Games with Screen Shots
I will be in my office (or down in the classroom) until 10 a.m. today collecting portfolios. If you can't make that deadline, there will be a box outside my door. If that seems sketchy, there is a large wooden pillar/drop box outside the English department office. Make sure that my name is on the portfolio so it can be directed to me. I would not be too late, as grades are due soon. I plan on finishing my grading by Monday at 5pm.
As we stated in class, (so both of you that attended may remember this), the portfolio should include the following:
1. significant event paper
2. summary strong strong response
3. bibliography
4. research paper
You can also include any work you did for Paul Nodal prior to my arrival.
In your cover letter, as we discussed IN CLASS, you should include the following:
1. An explanation of how you revised your work, and why.
2. Tell me what you've learned during the semester
3. Tell me what grade you feel you actually deserve given the work that you did for the course.
Thank you.
As we stated in class, (so both of you that attended may remember this), the portfolio should include the following:
1. significant event paper
2. summary strong strong response
3. bibliography
4. research paper
You can also include any work you did for Paul Nodal prior to my arrival.
In your cover letter, as we discussed IN CLASS, you should include the following:
1. An explanation of how you revised your work, and why.
2. Tell me what you've learned during the semester
3. Tell me what grade you feel you actually deserve given the work that you did for the course.
Thank you.
Today: discuss chapter 22
April 7th, Friday: Annotated Bibliography due
April 14th, Friday: exploratory research paper due
April 7th, Friday: Annotated Bibliography due
April 14th, Friday: exploratory research paper due
UCSC Library - How To Write an Annotated Bibliography: "3. PURPOSE
Not to be confused with the abstract%u2014which merely gives a
summary of the main points of a work%u2014the annotated bibliography both
describes and evaluates those points. Whether an annotated bibliography
concludes an article or book%u2014or is even itself a comprehensive, book-length
listing of sources%u2014its purposes are the same:
To
illustrate the scope and quality of one's own research
To review the
literature published on a particular topic
To provide the reader/researcher
with supplementary, illustrative or alternative sources
To allow the
reader to see if a particular source was consulted
To provide examples
of the type of resources available on a given topic
To place original
research in a historical context"
Not to be confused with the abstract%u2014which merely gives a
summary of the main points of a work%u2014the annotated bibliography both
describes and evaluates those points. Whether an annotated bibliography
concludes an article or book%u2014or is even itself a comprehensive, book-length
listing of sources%u2014its purposes are the same:
To
illustrate the scope and quality of one's own research
To review the
literature published on a particular topic
To provide the reader/researcher
with supplementary, illustrative or alternative sources
To allow the
reader to see if a particular source was consulted
To provide examples
of the type of resources available on a given topic
To place original
research in a historical context"
April 5th: Please bring one bibliography entry to class.
April 7th: Annotated bibliography due. Eight sources, two paragraphs (minimum) per source.
April 14th: Rough draft of exploratory paper.
April 7th: Annotated bibliography due. Eight sources, two paragraphs (minimum) per source.
April 14th: Rough draft of exploratory paper.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts: Home
Some free and legal David Byrne/Brian Eno. They are encouraging people to remix this. When I was a youth, "remix culture" didn't exist.
Tip: think of your research paper as a remixing of existing knowledge, combined with your own insights.
Some free and legal David Byrne/Brian Eno. They are encouraging people to remix this. When I was a youth, "remix culture" didn't exist.
Tip: think of your research paper as a remixing of existing knowledge, combined with your own insights.
Annotated Bibliography Another annotated bib. A little light on the annotations.
Feminist Pedagogy in Composition
A sample annotated bibliography. You will only need to write a couple of paragraphs for each entry.
A sample annotated bibliography. You will only need to write a couple of paragraphs for each entry.
For those of you that have been missing lately:
For class on Monday, I'd like everyone to visit the actual physical library and find two *good* sources related to their research question and post them to your weblog, along with a summary of each source and how it relates to your project.
For class on Monday, I'd like everyone to visit the actual physical library and find two *good* sources related to their research question and post them to your weblog, along with a summary of each source and how it relates to your project.
Blogger Help : What is BlogThis! ?: "What is BlogThis! ?
BlogThis! is an easy way to make a blog post without visiting blogger.com. Once you add the BlogThis! link to your browser's toolbar, blogging will be a snap. Or rather, a click. Clicking BlogThis! creates a mini-interface to Blogger prepopulated with a link to the web page you are visiting, as well as any text you have highlighted on that page. Add additional text if you wish and then publish or post from within BlogThis!
There are two ways to use BlogThis!: if you use Windows and Internet Explorer, you can use BlogThis! straight from the Google Toolbar. If you're on another browser, just drag the link below to your browser's Link bar."
BlogThis! is an easy way to make a blog post without visiting blogger.com. Once you add the BlogThis! link to your browser's toolbar, blogging will be a snap. Or rather, a click. Clicking BlogThis! creates a mini-interface to Blogger prepopulated with a link to the web page you are visiting, as well as any text you have highlighted on that page. Add additional text if you wish and then publish or post from within BlogThis!
There are two ways to use BlogThis!: if you use Windows and Internet Explorer, you can use BlogThis! straight from the Google Toolbar. If you're on another browser, just drag the link below to your browser's Link bar."
dailypennsylvanian.com - Penn prof: Point shaving possibly a factor in tourney: "Wolfers observed that in games with double-digit favorites, those teams tend to barely miss covering the spread. For example, in games with 14-point spreads, the favorite often tends to win by 12 or 13, winning by 15 or 16 far less often. In addition, while small favorites cover the spread about 50 percent of the time, large favorites only cover in 47 percent of the games."
I read the Wharton piece, and it sounds very plausible that he has detected, on a massive scale
I read the Wharton piece, and it sounds very plausible that he has detected, on a massive scale
NPR : Economist Claims to Have Evidence of Point Shaving: "Justin Wolfers, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has analyzed 44,000 college basketball games and says he has found statistical evidence of point shaving among teams which are prohibitively favored by Las Vegas bookmakers."
ABC News: 'Freakonomics': What Makes a Perfect Parent?: "Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, co-authors of the best-selling 'Freakonomics,' pored through a massive government database called the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Starting in the late 1990s, it followed 20,000 American children, collecting information on many aspects of their lives. Levitt and Dubner used the ECLS to see what helps young children do well on tests.
'Not only does it measure their scores,' said Dubner. 'It also conducts extensive interviews with the families of the kids, so we know a lot about each family and what they do in the family.'"
'Not only does it measure their scores,' said Dubner. 'It also conducts extensive interviews with the families of the kids, so we know a lot about each family and what they do in the family.'"
1. reread chapter six and ask yourself honestly, "did I actually do a summary/strong response?"
2. post to your blog the following: a) your research question, b) What you currently know, think and feel about your topic, and c) who are you? How does your identity and experiences affect what you know or think about this topic?
3. Read chapter 21 for class and prepare for a "surprise" quiz. Read it carefully, don't just skim along.
2. post to your blog the following: a) your research question, b) What you currently know, think and feel about your topic, and c) who are you? How does your identity and experiences affect what you know or think about this topic?
3. Read chapter 21 for class and prepare for a "surprise" quiz. Read it carefully, don't just skim along.
class research work
Matthew A. Mason
6 Feb 2006
English 1010
Research Stategies
Research Strategies
Dose the predominate coulter in Utah
Dose the predominate religion support over indulgence
Do Utah
1) Pick key words to your Question
A) Family size
B) School debt
C) Consumption
D) Bankruptcy rate
E) Materialism
F) Utah
G )LDS population
H) Credit card use and Bankruptcy
2) Wed search hits for key words / URLS:
A) Scholar.google .com
B) Gov.com
3) Once you find good or interesting facts:
A) Cut in past
B) Blog This
Yahoo! Mail
Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.
Cranes research strategies
Geoff Stanley
ENGL 1010
March 6, 2006
- Get your questions
- Start thinking of keywords associated with the question.
- Start googling the keywords.
- Narrow down your search by keeping an electronic journal of your keywords
Yahoo! Mail
Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.
Tamie Broderick
March 6, 2006
English 1010
Cranes Research Strategies
1- Get a question
2- Think of keywords associated with the question
3- Start searching the keywords (google, and internet
sites)
4- Blog some good sites that would be interesting for the
paper.
list
Marcus Jessop
English 1010
Materialism
Bankruptcy
Marriage Rates
School debt
Family Size
Business
Consumption
Household Incomes
Credit Card Debt
Missions
Yahoo! Mail
Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.
Crane's guide to research.
Jared Crockett
ENGL 1010
3/6/2006
Mark’s Guide to Research
1) Come up with a question.
2) List keywords
3) Find non-biased sources that answer questions
4) Save good source information
5) Summarize thoroughly
eresearch methods
Scott Armstrong
Research Methods-online, dwah hah hah!
.Does the dominant culture encourage materialism?
Utah, Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy Rates, Consumption, Marriage Rates, Family Size, (http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595072079,00.html) Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School professor and expert in bankruptcy issues, recently told the Deseret Morning News that a family with children is nearly three times more likely to file for bankruptcy than a family with no children.
.Are there things that the LDS church encourage things that arent strictly doctrinal?
.Whats the correlation between family size and bankruptcy?
. Where does debt come from in lds church?
.Credit Card debt?
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/interviews/warren.htm www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=101316,00.html
.Medical debt?
LN DiPadova - cppa.utah.edu
Yahoo! Acesso Grátis
Internet rápida e grátis. Instale o discador agora!
Daily Herald - BYU study: Perceived racism leads to depression among Hispanics: "BYU study: Perceived racism leads to depression among Hispanics PDF | Print | E-mail
Daily Herald
PROVO -- Perceived racism may lead to depression and sleep problems in Utah's Hispanic community, according to a new study by a Brigham Young University researcher.
Previous studies have linked depression and sleep disorders, said BYU clinical psychologist Patrick Steffen, but his new study looks at racism, sleep disorders and depression together.
'We found that perceived racism impacts the quality of their sleep and that disturbed sleep is related to depression,' Steffen told the Deseret Morning News in a copyright story.
The perceived racism causes depression because those affected have difficulty determining where they fit in with other people, said Monroe White, a clinical psychologist at the Mountainlands Community Health Clinic in Provo."
Daily Herald
PROVO -- Perceived racism may lead to depression and sleep problems in Utah's Hispanic community, according to a new study by a Brigham Young University researcher.
Previous studies have linked depression and sleep disorders, said BYU clinical psychologist Patrick Steffen, but his new study looks at racism, sleep disorders and depression together.
'We found that perceived racism impacts the quality of their sleep and that disturbed sleep is related to depression,' Steffen told the Deseret Morning News in a copyright story.
The perceived racism causes depression because those affected have difficulty determining where they fit in with other people, said Monroe White, a clinical psychologist at the Mountainlands Community Health Clinic in Provo."
Please read chapters 6 and 21 for Wednesday, and bring some possible topics for your third paper to class.
There will be a quiz.
There will be a quiz.
In Focus | December 2005 | Fun With Dick and Jane and Judd Uncut: "THE POWER
of the ‘VOMIT PASS’
You told the WGA about writing what you call a “vomit pass” on your scripts. Could you explain this for the aspiring scenarists in our audience?
I read a book by Ann Lamott called “Bird by Bird,” and in the book she talks about the “Down-Up Theory” — “Get it down, then fix it up” — and how you shouldn’t judge yourself when you’re writing your first draft. That should be a moment for pure creativity, and being too hard on yourself prevents you from finishing.
So I’ve taken that advice. I call it a “vomit draft,” which means I try to write a first draft really fast and not judge myself — and then I look at it and see what the hell happened, then deal with it in a more critical way.
Other people I worked with when I was a show-runner on TV shows could literally sit in a room and obsess for hours and hours over whether or not to put a comma somewhere. And you could see how much pain they were in as they were writing, because they were judging the work as they were writing it — and that’s impossible. I guess it’s possible — some people do it — but those are the people that take a long time to write, or suffer through it.
Do they tend to burn out earlier?
I don’t know. I just think it makes you write less. I read a lot about writing and how the brain works, and it’s true that your brain is cut in half, and one half judges and one half is really creative — and you shouldn’t have ’em working together.
"
of the ‘VOMIT PASS’
You told the WGA about writing what you call a “vomit pass” on your scripts. Could you explain this for the aspiring scenarists in our audience?
I read a book by Ann Lamott called “Bird by Bird,” and in the book she talks about the “Down-Up Theory” — “Get it down, then fix it up” — and how you shouldn’t judge yourself when you’re writing your first draft. That should be a moment for pure creativity, and being too hard on yourself prevents you from finishing.
So I’ve taken that advice. I call it a “vomit draft,” which means I try to write a first draft really fast and not judge myself — and then I look at it and see what the hell happened, then deal with it in a more critical way.
Other people I worked with when I was a show-runner on TV shows could literally sit in a room and obsess for hours and hours over whether or not to put a comma somewhere. And you could see how much pain they were in as they were writing, because they were judging the work as they were writing it — and that’s impossible. I guess it’s possible — some people do it — but those are the people that take a long time to write, or suffer through it.
Do they tend to burn out earlier?
I don’t know. I just think it makes you write less. I read a lot about writing and how the brain works, and it’s true that your brain is cut in half, and one half judges and one half is really creative — and you shouldn’t have ’em working together.
"
**** If you received this email, please reply to me with the words "I got it" ****
Our English 1010 class home page is:
http://tenmoreminutes.blogspot.com
today in class we submitted drafts, wrote a reflective memo, and signed up for http://prenhall.com/harris and took a grammar quiz.
For next class period: Read the article I have linked to and included below. Please read it closely, and be prepared to answer this question, and many others:
How does Gladwell try to persuade us?
What are some examples of good description in this essay?
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050829fa_fact
THE MORAL-HAZARD MYTH
by MALCOLM GLADWELL
The bad idea behind our failed health-care system.
Issue of 2005-08-29
Posted 2005-08-22
Tooth decay begins, typically, when debris becomes trapped between the teeth and along the ridges and in the grooves of the molars. The food rots. It becomes colonized with bacteria. The bacteria feeds off sugars in the mouth and forms an acid that begins to eat away at the enamel of the teeth. Slowly, the bacteria works its way through to the dentin, the inner structure, and from there the cavity begins to blossom three-dimensionally, spreading inward and sideways. When the decay reaches the pulp tissue, the blood vessels, and the nerves that serve the tooth, the pain starts—an insistent throbbing. The tooth turns brown. It begins to lose its hard structure, to the point where a dentist can reach into a cavity with a hand instrument and scoop out the decay. At the base of the tooth, the bacteria mineralizes into tartar, which begins to irritate the gums. They become puffy and bright red and start to recede, leaving more and more of the tooth's root exposed. When the infection works its way down to the bone, the structure holding the tooth in begins to collapse altogether.
Several years ago, two Harvard researchers, Susan Starr Sered and Rushika Fernandopulle, set out to interview people without health-care coverage for a book they were writing, "Uninsured in America." They talked to as many kinds of people as they could find, collecting stories of untreated depression and struggling single mothers and chronically injured laborers—and the most common complaint they heard was about teeth. Gina, a hairdresser in Idaho, whose husband worked as a freight manager at a chain store, had "a peculiar mannerism of keeping her mouth closed even when speaking." It turned out that she hadn't been able to afford dental care for three years, and one of her front teeth was rotting. Daniel, a construction worker, pulled out his bad teeth with pliers. Then, there was Loretta, who worked nights at a university research center in Mississippi, and was missing most of her teeth. "They'll break off after a while, and then you just grab a hold of them, and they work their way out," she explained to Sered and Fernandopulle. "It hurts so bad, because the tooth aches. Then it's a relief just to get it out of there. The hole closes up itself anyway. So it's so much better."
People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you're paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury. It isn't, of course. The loss of teeth makes eating fresh fruits and vegetables difficult, and a diet heavy in soft, processed foods exacerbates more serious health problems, like diabetes. The pain of tooth decay leads many people to use alcohol as a salve. And those struggling to get ahead in the job market quickly find that the unsightliness of bad teeth, and the self-consciousness that results, can become a major barrier. If your teeth are bad, you're not going to get a job as a receptionist, say, or a cashier. You're going to be put in the back somewhere, far from the public eye. What Loretta, Gina, and Daniel understand, the two authors tell us, is that bad teeth have come to be seen as a marker of "poor parenting, low educational achievement and slow or faulty intellectual development." They are an outward marker of caste. "Almost every time we asked interviewees what their first priority would be if the president established universal health coverage tomorrow," Sered and Fernandopulle write, "the immediate answer was 'my teeth.' "
The U. S. health-care system, according to "Uninsured in America," has created a group of people who increasingly look different from others and suffer in ways that others do not. The leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States is unpaid medical bills. Half of the uninsured owe money to hospitals, and a third are being pursued by collection agencies. Children without health insurance are less likely to receive medical attention for serious injuries, for recurrent ear infections, or for asthma. Lung-cancer patients without insurance are less likely to receive surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment. Heart-attack victims without health insurance are less likely to receive angioplasty. People with pneumonia who don't have health insurance are less likely to receive X rays or consultations. The death rate in any given year for someone without health insurance is twenty-five per cent higher than for someone with insur-ance. Because the uninsured are sicker than the rest of us, they can't get better jobs, and because they can't get better jobs they can't afford health insurance, and because they can't afford health insurance they get even sicker. John, the manager of a bar in Idaho, tells Sered and Fernandopulle that as a result of various workplace injuries over the years he takes eight ibuprofen, waits two hours, then takes eight more—and tries to cadge as much prescription pain medication as he can from friends. "There are times when I should've gone to the doctor, but I couldn't afford to go because I don't have insurance," he says. "Like when my back messed up, I should've gone. If I had insurance, I would've went, because I know I could get treatment, but when you can't afford it you don't go. Because the harder the hole you get into in terms of bills, then you'll never get out. So you just say, 'I can deal with the pain.' "
One of the great mysteries of political life in the United States is why Americans are so devoted to their health-care system. Six times in the past century—during the First World War, during the Depression, during the Truman and Johnson Administrations, in the Senate in the nineteen-seventies, and during the Clinton years—efforts have been made to introduce some kind of universal health insurance, and each time the efforts have been rejected. Instead, the United States has opted for a makeshift system of increasing complexity and dysfunction. Americans spend $5,267 per capita on health care every year, almost two and half times the industrialized world's median of $2,193; the extra spending comes to hundreds of billions of dollars a year. What does that extra spending buy us? Americans have fewer doctors per capita than most Western countries. We go to the doctor less than people in other Western countries. We get admitted to the hospital less frequently than people in other Western countries. We are less satisfied with our health care than our counterparts in other countries. American life expectancy is lower than the Western average. Childhood-immunization rates in the United States are lower than average. Infant-mortality rates are in the nineteenth percentile of industrialized nations. Doctors here perform more high-end medical procedures, such as coronary angioplasties, than in other countries, but most of the wealthier Western countries have more CT scanners than the United States does, and Switzerland, Japan, Austria, and Finland all have more MRI machines per capita. Nor is our system more efficient. The United States spends more than a thousand dollars per capita per year—or close to four hundred billion dollars—on health-care-related paperwork and administration, whereas Canada, for example, spends only about three hundred dollars per capita. And, of course, every other country in the industrialized world insures all its citizens; despite those extra hundreds of billions of dollars we spend each year, we leave forty-five million people without any insurance. A country that displays an almost ruthless commitment to efficiency and performance in every aspect of its economy—a country that switched to Japanese cars the moment they were more reliable, and to Chinese T-shirts the moment they were five cents cheaper—has loyally stuck with a health-care system that leaves its citizenry pulling out their teeth with pliers.
America's health-care mess is, in part, simply an accident of history. The fact that there have been six attempts at universal health coverage in the last century suggests that there has long been support for the idea. But politics has always got in the way. In both Europe and the United States, for example, the push for health insurance was led, in large part, by organized labor. But in Europe the unions worked through the political system, fighting for coverage for all citizens. From the start, health insurance in Europe was public and universal, and that created powerful political support for any attempt to expand benefits. In the United States, by contrast, the unions worked through the collective-bargaining system and, as a result, could win health benefits only for their own members. Health insurance here has always been private and selective, and every attempt to expand benefits has resulted in a paralyzing political battle over who would be added to insurance rolls and who ought to pay for those additions.
Policy is driven by more than politics, however. It is equally driven by ideas, and in the past few decades a particular idea has taken hold among prominent American economists which has also been a powerful impediment to the expansion of health insurance. The idea is known as "moral hazard." Health economists in other Western nations do not share this obsession. Nor do most Americans. But moral hazard has profoundly shaped the way think tanks formulate policy and the way experts argue and the way health insurers structure their plans and the way legislation and regulations have been written. The health-care mess isn't merely the unintentional result of political dysfunction, in other words. It is also the deliberate consequence of the way in which American policymakers have come to think about insurance.
"Moral hazard" is the term economists use to describe the fact that insurance can change the behavior of the person being insured. If your office gives you and your co-workers all the free Pepsi you want—if your employer, in effect, offers universal Pepsi insurance—you'll drink more Pepsi than you would have otherwise. If you have a no-deductible fire-insurance policy, you may be a little less diligent in clearing the brush away from your house. The savings-and-loan crisis of the nineteen-eighties was created, in large part, by the fact that the federal government insured savings deposits of up to a hundred thousand dollars, and so the newly deregulated S. & L.s made far riskier investments than they would have otherwise. Insurance can have the paradoxical effect of producing risky and wasteful behavior. Economists spend a great deal of time thinking about such moral hazard for good reason. Insurance is an attempt to make human life safer and more secure. But, if those efforts can backfire and produce riskier behavior, providing insurance becomes a much more complicated and problematic endeavor.
In 1968, the economist Mark Pauly argued that moral hazard played an enormous role in medicine, and, as John Nyman writes in his book "The Theory of the Demand for Health Insurance," Pauly's paper has become the "single most influential article in the health economics literature." Nyman, an economist at the University of Minnesota, says that the fear of moral hazard lies behind the thicket of co-payments and deductibles and utilization reviews which characterizes the American health-insurance system. Fear of moral hazard, Nyman writes, also explains "the general lack of enthusiasm by U.S. health economists for the expansion of health insurance coverage (for example, national health insurance or expanded Medicare benefits) in the U.S."
What Nyman is saying is that when your insurance company requires that you make a twenty-dollar co-payment for a visit to the doctor, or when your plan includes an annual five-hundred-dollar or thousand-dollar deductible, it's not simply an attempt to get you to pick up a larger share of your health costs. It is an attempt to make your use of the health-care system more efficient. Making you responsible for a share of the costs, the argument runs, will reduce moral hazard: you'll no longer grab one of those free Pepsis when you aren't really thirsty. That's also why Nyman says that the notion of moral hazard is behind the "lack of enthusiasm" for expansion of health insurance. If you think of insurance as producing wasteful consumption of medical services, then the fact that there are forty-five million Americans without health insurance is no longer an immediate cause for alarm. After all, it's not as if the uninsured never go to the doctor. They spend, on average, $934 a year on medical care. A moral-hazard theorist would say that they go to the doctor when they really have to. Those of us with private insurance, by contrast, consume $2,347 worth of health care a year. If a lot of that extra $1,413 is waste, then maybe the uninsured person is the truly efficient consumer of health care.
The moral-hazard argument makes sense, however, only if we consume health care in the same way that we consume other consumer goods, and to economists like Nyman this assumption is plainly absurd. We go to the doctor grudgingly, only because we're sick. "Moral hazard is overblown," the Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt says. "You always hear that the demand for health care is unlimited. This is just not true. People who are very well insured, who are very rich, do you see them check into the hospital because it's free? Do people really like to go to the doctor? Do they check into the hospital instead of playing golf?"
For that matter, when you have to pay for your own health care, does your consumption really become more efficient? In the late nineteen-seventies, the rand Corporation did an extensive study on the question, randomly assigning families to health plans with co-payment levels at zero per cent, twenty-five per cent, fifty per cent, or ninety-five per cent, up to six thousand dollars. As you might expect, the more that people were asked to chip in for their health care the less care they used. The problem was that they cut back equally on both frivolous care and useful care. Poor people in the high-deductible group with hypertension, for instance, didn't do nearly as good a job of controlling their blood pressure as those in other groups, resulting in a ten-per-cent increase in the likelihood of death. As a recent Commonwealth Fund study concluded, cost sharing is "a blunt instrument." Of course it is: how should the average consumer be expected to know beforehand what care is frivolous and what care is useful? I just went to the dermatologist to get moles checked for skin cancer. If I had had to pay a hundred per cent, or even fifty per cent, of the cost of the visit, I might not have gone. Would that have been a wise decision? I have no idea. But if one of those moles really is cancerous, that simple, inexpensive visit could save the health-care system tens of thousands of dollars (not to mention saving me a great deal of heartbreak). The focus on moral hazard suggests that the changes we make in our behavior when we have insurance are nearly always wasteful. Yet, when it comes to health care, many of the things we do only because we have insurance—like getting our moles checked, or getting our teeth cleaned regularly, or getting a mammogram or engaging in other routine preventive care—are anything but wasteful and inefficient. In fact, they are behaviors that could end up saving the health-care system a good deal of money.
Sered and Fernandopulle tell the story of Steve, a factory worker from northern Idaho, with a "grotesquelooking left hand—what looks like a bone sticks out the side." When he was younger, he broke his hand. "The doctor wanted to operate on it," he recalls. "And because I didn't have insurance, well, I was like 'I ain't gonna have it operated on.' The doctor said, 'Well, I can wrap it for you with an Ace bandage.' I said, 'Ahh, let's do that, then.' " Steve uses less health care than he would if he had insurance, but that's not because he has defeated the scourge of moral hazard. It's because instead of getting a broken bone fixed he put a bandage on it.
At the center of the Bush Administration's plan to address the health-insurance mess are Health Savings Accounts, and Health Savings Accounts are exactly what you would come up with if you were concerned, above all else, with minimizing moral hazard. The logic behind them was laid out in the 2004 Economic Report of the President. Americans, the report argues, have too much health insurance: typical plans cover things that they shouldn't, creating the problem of overconsumption. Several paragraphs are then devoted to explaining the theory of moral hazard. The report turns to the subject of the uninsured, concluding that they fall into several groups. Some are foreigners who may be covered by their countries of origin. Some are people who could be covered by Medicaid but aren't or aren't admitting that they are. Finally, a large number "remain uninsured as a matter of choice." The report continues, "Researchers believe that as many as one-quarter of those without health insurance had coverage available through an employer but declined the coverage. . . . Still others may remain uninsured because they are young and healthy and do not see the need for insurance." In other words, those with health insurance are overinsured and their behavior is distorted by moral hazard. Those without health insurance use their own money to make decisions about insurance based on an assessment of their needs. The insured are wasteful. The uninsured are prudent. So what's the solution? Make the insured a little bit more like the uninsured.
Under the Health Savings Accounts system, consumers are asked to pay for routine health care with their own money—several thousand dollars of which can be put into a tax-free account. To handle their catastrophic expenses, they then purchase a basic health-insurance package with, say, a thousand-dollar annual deductible. As President Bush explained recently, "Health Savings Accounts all aim at empowering people to make decisions for themselves, owning their own health-care plan, and at the same time bringing some demand control into the cost of health care."
The country described in the President's report is a very different place from the country described in "Uninsured in America." Sered and Fernandopulle look at the billions we spend on medical care and wonder why Americans have so little insurance. The President's report considers the same situation and worries that we have too much. Sered and Fernandopulle see the lack of insurance as a problem of poverty; a third of the uninsured, after all, have incomes below the federal poverty line. In the section on the uninsured in the President's report, the word "poverty" is never used. In the Administration's view, people are offered insurance but "decline the coverage" as "a matter of choice." The uninsured in Sered and Fernandopulle's book decline coverage, but only because they can't afford it. Gina, for instance, works for a beauty salon that offers her a bare-bones health-insurance plan with a thousand-dollar deductible for two hundred dollars a month. What's her total income? Nine hundred dollars a month. She could "choose" to accept health insurance, but only if she chose to stop buying food or paying the rent.
The biggest difference between the two accounts, though, has to do with how each views the function of insurance. Gina, Steve, and Loretta are ill, and need insurance to cover the costs of getting better. In their eyes, insurance is meant to help equalize financial risk between the healthy and the sick. In the insurance business, this model of coverage is known as "social insurance," and historically it was the way health coverage was conceived. If you were sixty and had heart disease and diabetes, you didn't pay substantially more for coverage than a perfectly healthy twenty-five-year-old. Under social insurance, the twenty-five-year-old agrees to pay thousands of dollars in premiums even though he didn't go to the doctor at all in the previous year, because he wants to make sure that someone else will subsidize his health care if he ever comes down with heart disease or diabetes. Canada and Germany and Japan and all the other industrialized nations with universal health care follow the social-insurance model. Medicare, too, is based on the social-insurance model, and, when Americans with Medicare report themselves to be happier with virtually every aspect of their insurance coverage than people with private insurance (as they do, repeatedly and overwhelmingly), they are referring to the social aspect of their insurance. They aren't getting better care. But they are getting something just as valuable: the security of being insulated against the financial shock of serious illness.
There is another way to organize insurance, however, and that is to make it actuarial. Car insurance, for instance, is actuarial. How much you pay is in large part a function of your individual situation and history: someone who drives a sports car and has received twenty speeding tickets in the past two years pays a much higher annual premium than a soccer mom with a minivan. In recent years, the private insurance industry in the United States has been moving toward the actuarial model, with profound consequences. The triumph of the actuarial model over the social-insurance model is the reason that companies unlucky enough to employ older, high-cost employees—like United Airlines—have run into such financial difficulty. It's the reason that automakers are increasingly moving their operations to Canada. It's the reason that small businesses that have one or two employees with serious illnesses suddenly face unmanageably high health-insurance premiums, and it's the reason that, in many states, people suffering from a potentially high-cost medical condition can't get anyone to insure them at all.
Health Savings Accounts represent the final, irrevocable step in the actuarial direction. If you are preoccupied with moral hazard, then you want people to pay for care with their own money, and, when you do that, the sick inevitably end up paying more than the healthy. And when you make people choose an insurance plan that fits their individual needs, those with significant medical problems will choose expensive health plans that cover lots of things, while those with few health problems will choose cheaper, bare-bones plans. The more expensive the comprehensive plans become, and the less expensive the bare-bones plans become, the more the very sick will cluster together at one end of the insurance spectrum, and the more the well will cluster together at the low-cost end. The days when the healthy twenty-five-year-old subsidizes the sixty-year-old with heart disease or diabetes are coming to an end. "The main effect of putting more of it on the consumer is to reduce the social redistributive element of insurance," the Stanford economist Victor Fuchs says. Health Savings Accounts are not a variant of universal health care. In their governing assumptions, they are the antithesis of universal health care.
The issue about what to do with the health-care system is sometimes presented as a technical argument about the merits of one kind of coverage over another or as an ideological argument about socialized versus private medicine. It is, instead, about a few very simple questions. Do you think that this kind of redistribution of risk is a good idea? Do you think that people whose genes predispose them to depression or cancer, or whose poverty complicates asthma or diabetes, or who get hit by a drunk driver, or who have to keep their mouths closed because their teeth are rotting ought to bear a greater share of the costs of their health care than those of us who are lucky enough to escape such misfortunes? In the rest of the industrialized world, it is assumed that the more equally and widely the burdens of illness are shared, the better off the population as a whole is likely to be. The reason the United States has forty-five million people without coverage is that its health-care policy is in the hands of people who disagree, and who regard health insurance not as the solution but as the problem.
Our English 1010 class home page is:
http://tenmoreminutes.blogspot.com
today in class we submitted drafts, wrote a reflective memo, and signed up for http://prenhall.com/harris and took a grammar quiz.
For next class period: Read the article I have linked to and included below. Please read it closely, and be prepared to answer this question, and many others:
How does Gladwell try to persuade us?
What are some examples of good description in this essay?
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050829fa_fact
THE MORAL-HAZARD MYTH
by MALCOLM GLADWELL
The bad idea behind our failed health-care system.
Issue of 2005-08-29
Posted 2005-08-22
Tooth decay begins, typically, when debris becomes trapped between the teeth and along the ridges and in the grooves of the molars. The food rots. It becomes colonized with bacteria. The bacteria feeds off sugars in the mouth and forms an acid that begins to eat away at the enamel of the teeth. Slowly, the bacteria works its way through to the dentin, the inner structure, and from there the cavity begins to blossom three-dimensionally, spreading inward and sideways. When the decay reaches the pulp tissue, the blood vessels, and the nerves that serve the tooth, the pain starts—an insistent throbbing. The tooth turns brown. It begins to lose its hard structure, to the point where a dentist can reach into a cavity with a hand instrument and scoop out the decay. At the base of the tooth, the bacteria mineralizes into tartar, which begins to irritate the gums. They become puffy and bright red and start to recede, leaving more and more of the tooth's root exposed. When the infection works its way down to the bone, the structure holding the tooth in begins to collapse altogether.
Several years ago, two Harvard researchers, Susan Starr Sered and Rushika Fernandopulle, set out to interview people without health-care coverage for a book they were writing, "Uninsured in America." They talked to as many kinds of people as they could find, collecting stories of untreated depression and struggling single mothers and chronically injured laborers—and the most common complaint they heard was about teeth. Gina, a hairdresser in Idaho, whose husband worked as a freight manager at a chain store, had "a peculiar mannerism of keeping her mouth closed even when speaking." It turned out that she hadn't been able to afford dental care for three years, and one of her front teeth was rotting. Daniel, a construction worker, pulled out his bad teeth with pliers. Then, there was Loretta, who worked nights at a university research center in Mississippi, and was missing most of her teeth. "They'll break off after a while, and then you just grab a hold of them, and they work their way out," she explained to Sered and Fernandopulle. "It hurts so bad, because the tooth aches. Then it's a relief just to get it out of there. The hole closes up itself anyway. So it's so much better."
People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you're paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury. It isn't, of course. The loss of teeth makes eating fresh fruits and vegetables difficult, and a diet heavy in soft, processed foods exacerbates more serious health problems, like diabetes. The pain of tooth decay leads many people to use alcohol as a salve. And those struggling to get ahead in the job market quickly find that the unsightliness of bad teeth, and the self-consciousness that results, can become a major barrier. If your teeth are bad, you're not going to get a job as a receptionist, say, or a cashier. You're going to be put in the back somewhere, far from the public eye. What Loretta, Gina, and Daniel understand, the two authors tell us, is that bad teeth have come to be seen as a marker of "poor parenting, low educational achievement and slow or faulty intellectual development." They are an outward marker of caste. "Almost every time we asked interviewees what their first priority would be if the president established universal health coverage tomorrow," Sered and Fernandopulle write, "the immediate answer was 'my teeth.' "
The U. S. health-care system, according to "Uninsured in America," has created a group of people who increasingly look different from others and suffer in ways that others do not. The leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States is unpaid medical bills. Half of the uninsured owe money to hospitals, and a third are being pursued by collection agencies. Children without health insurance are less likely to receive medical attention for serious injuries, for recurrent ear infections, or for asthma. Lung-cancer patients without insurance are less likely to receive surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment. Heart-attack victims without health insurance are less likely to receive angioplasty. People with pneumonia who don't have health insurance are less likely to receive X rays or consultations. The death rate in any given year for someone without health insurance is twenty-five per cent higher than for someone with insur-ance. Because the uninsured are sicker than the rest of us, they can't get better jobs, and because they can't get better jobs they can't afford health insurance, and because they can't afford health insurance they get even sicker. John, the manager of a bar in Idaho, tells Sered and Fernandopulle that as a result of various workplace injuries over the years he takes eight ibuprofen, waits two hours, then takes eight more—and tries to cadge as much prescription pain medication as he can from friends. "There are times when I should've gone to the doctor, but I couldn't afford to go because I don't have insurance," he says. "Like when my back messed up, I should've gone. If I had insurance, I would've went, because I know I could get treatment, but when you can't afford it you don't go. Because the harder the hole you get into in terms of bills, then you'll never get out. So you just say, 'I can deal with the pain.' "
One of the great mysteries of political life in the United States is why Americans are so devoted to their health-care system. Six times in the past century—during the First World War, during the Depression, during the Truman and Johnson Administrations, in the Senate in the nineteen-seventies, and during the Clinton years—efforts have been made to introduce some kind of universal health insurance, and each time the efforts have been rejected. Instead, the United States has opted for a makeshift system of increasing complexity and dysfunction. Americans spend $5,267 per capita on health care every year, almost two and half times the industrialized world's median of $2,193; the extra spending comes to hundreds of billions of dollars a year. What does that extra spending buy us? Americans have fewer doctors per capita than most Western countries. We go to the doctor less than people in other Western countries. We get admitted to the hospital less frequently than people in other Western countries. We are less satisfied with our health care than our counterparts in other countries. American life expectancy is lower than the Western average. Childhood-immunization rates in the United States are lower than average. Infant-mortality rates are in the nineteenth percentile of industrialized nations. Doctors here perform more high-end medical procedures, such as coronary angioplasties, than in other countries, but most of the wealthier Western countries have more CT scanners than the United States does, and Switzerland, Japan, Austria, and Finland all have more MRI machines per capita. Nor is our system more efficient. The United States spends more than a thousand dollars per capita per year—or close to four hundred billion dollars—on health-care-related paperwork and administration, whereas Canada, for example, spends only about three hundred dollars per capita. And, of course, every other country in the industrialized world insures all its citizens; despite those extra hundreds of billions of dollars we spend each year, we leave forty-five million people without any insurance. A country that displays an almost ruthless commitment to efficiency and performance in every aspect of its economy—a country that switched to Japanese cars the moment they were more reliable, and to Chinese T-shirts the moment they were five cents cheaper—has loyally stuck with a health-care system that leaves its citizenry pulling out their teeth with pliers.
America's health-care mess is, in part, simply an accident of history. The fact that there have been six attempts at universal health coverage in the last century suggests that there has long been support for the idea. But politics has always got in the way. In both Europe and the United States, for example, the push for health insurance was led, in large part, by organized labor. But in Europe the unions worked through the political system, fighting for coverage for all citizens. From the start, health insurance in Europe was public and universal, and that created powerful political support for any attempt to expand benefits. In the United States, by contrast, the unions worked through the collective-bargaining system and, as a result, could win health benefits only for their own members. Health insurance here has always been private and selective, and every attempt to expand benefits has resulted in a paralyzing political battle over who would be added to insurance rolls and who ought to pay for those additions.
Policy is driven by more than politics, however. It is equally driven by ideas, and in the past few decades a particular idea has taken hold among prominent American economists which has also been a powerful impediment to the expansion of health insurance. The idea is known as "moral hazard." Health economists in other Western nations do not share this obsession. Nor do most Americans. But moral hazard has profoundly shaped the way think tanks formulate policy and the way experts argue and the way health insurers structure their plans and the way legislation and regulations have been written. The health-care mess isn't merely the unintentional result of political dysfunction, in other words. It is also the deliberate consequence of the way in which American policymakers have come to think about insurance.
"Moral hazard" is the term economists use to describe the fact that insurance can change the behavior of the person being insured. If your office gives you and your co-workers all the free Pepsi you want—if your employer, in effect, offers universal Pepsi insurance—you'll drink more Pepsi than you would have otherwise. If you have a no-deductible fire-insurance policy, you may be a little less diligent in clearing the brush away from your house. The savings-and-loan crisis of the nineteen-eighties was created, in large part, by the fact that the federal government insured savings deposits of up to a hundred thousand dollars, and so the newly deregulated S. & L.s made far riskier investments than they would have otherwise. Insurance can have the paradoxical effect of producing risky and wasteful behavior. Economists spend a great deal of time thinking about such moral hazard for good reason. Insurance is an attempt to make human life safer and more secure. But, if those efforts can backfire and produce riskier behavior, providing insurance becomes a much more complicated and problematic endeavor.
In 1968, the economist Mark Pauly argued that moral hazard played an enormous role in medicine, and, as John Nyman writes in his book "The Theory of the Demand for Health Insurance," Pauly's paper has become the "single most influential article in the health economics literature." Nyman, an economist at the University of Minnesota, says that the fear of moral hazard lies behind the thicket of co-payments and deductibles and utilization reviews which characterizes the American health-insurance system. Fear of moral hazard, Nyman writes, also explains "the general lack of enthusiasm by U.S. health economists for the expansion of health insurance coverage (for example, national health insurance or expanded Medicare benefits) in the U.S."
What Nyman is saying is that when your insurance company requires that you make a twenty-dollar co-payment for a visit to the doctor, or when your plan includes an annual five-hundred-dollar or thousand-dollar deductible, it's not simply an attempt to get you to pick up a larger share of your health costs. It is an attempt to make your use of the health-care system more efficient. Making you responsible for a share of the costs, the argument runs, will reduce moral hazard: you'll no longer grab one of those free Pepsis when you aren't really thirsty. That's also why Nyman says that the notion of moral hazard is behind the "lack of enthusiasm" for expansion of health insurance. If you think of insurance as producing wasteful consumption of medical services, then the fact that there are forty-five million Americans without health insurance is no longer an immediate cause for alarm. After all, it's not as if the uninsured never go to the doctor. They spend, on average, $934 a year on medical care. A moral-hazard theorist would say that they go to the doctor when they really have to. Those of us with private insurance, by contrast, consume $2,347 worth of health care a year. If a lot of that extra $1,413 is waste, then maybe the uninsured person is the truly efficient consumer of health care.
The moral-hazard argument makes sense, however, only if we consume health care in the same way that we consume other consumer goods, and to economists like Nyman this assumption is plainly absurd. We go to the doctor grudgingly, only because we're sick. "Moral hazard is overblown," the Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt says. "You always hear that the demand for health care is unlimited. This is just not true. People who are very well insured, who are very rich, do you see them check into the hospital because it's free? Do people really like to go to the doctor? Do they check into the hospital instead of playing golf?"
For that matter, when you have to pay for your own health care, does your consumption really become more efficient? In the late nineteen-seventies, the rand Corporation did an extensive study on the question, randomly assigning families to health plans with co-payment levels at zero per cent, twenty-five per cent, fifty per cent, or ninety-five per cent, up to six thousand dollars. As you might expect, the more that people were asked to chip in for their health care the less care they used. The problem was that they cut back equally on both frivolous care and useful care. Poor people in the high-deductible group with hypertension, for instance, didn't do nearly as good a job of controlling their blood pressure as those in other groups, resulting in a ten-per-cent increase in the likelihood of death. As a recent Commonwealth Fund study concluded, cost sharing is "a blunt instrument." Of course it is: how should the average consumer be expected to know beforehand what care is frivolous and what care is useful? I just went to the dermatologist to get moles checked for skin cancer. If I had had to pay a hundred per cent, or even fifty per cent, of the cost of the visit, I might not have gone. Would that have been a wise decision? I have no idea. But if one of those moles really is cancerous, that simple, inexpensive visit could save the health-care system tens of thousands of dollars (not to mention saving me a great deal of heartbreak). The focus on moral hazard suggests that the changes we make in our behavior when we have insurance are nearly always wasteful. Yet, when it comes to health care, many of the things we do only because we have insurance—like getting our moles checked, or getting our teeth cleaned regularly, or getting a mammogram or engaging in other routine preventive care—are anything but wasteful and inefficient. In fact, they are behaviors that could end up saving the health-care system a good deal of money.
Sered and Fernandopulle tell the story of Steve, a factory worker from northern Idaho, with a "grotesquelooking left hand—what looks like a bone sticks out the side." When he was younger, he broke his hand. "The doctor wanted to operate on it," he recalls. "And because I didn't have insurance, well, I was like 'I ain't gonna have it operated on.' The doctor said, 'Well, I can wrap it for you with an Ace bandage.' I said, 'Ahh, let's do that, then.' " Steve uses less health care than he would if he had insurance, but that's not because he has defeated the scourge of moral hazard. It's because instead of getting a broken bone fixed he put a bandage on it.
At the center of the Bush Administration's plan to address the health-insurance mess are Health Savings Accounts, and Health Savings Accounts are exactly what you would come up with if you were concerned, above all else, with minimizing moral hazard. The logic behind them was laid out in the 2004 Economic Report of the President. Americans, the report argues, have too much health insurance: typical plans cover things that they shouldn't, creating the problem of overconsumption. Several paragraphs are then devoted to explaining the theory of moral hazard. The report turns to the subject of the uninsured, concluding that they fall into several groups. Some are foreigners who may be covered by their countries of origin. Some are people who could be covered by Medicaid but aren't or aren't admitting that they are. Finally, a large number "remain uninsured as a matter of choice." The report continues, "Researchers believe that as many as one-quarter of those without health insurance had coverage available through an employer but declined the coverage. . . . Still others may remain uninsured because they are young and healthy and do not see the need for insurance." In other words, those with health insurance are overinsured and their behavior is distorted by moral hazard. Those without health insurance use their own money to make decisions about insurance based on an assessment of their needs. The insured are wasteful. The uninsured are prudent. So what's the solution? Make the insured a little bit more like the uninsured.
Under the Health Savings Accounts system, consumers are asked to pay for routine health care with their own money—several thousand dollars of which can be put into a tax-free account. To handle their catastrophic expenses, they then purchase a basic health-insurance package with, say, a thousand-dollar annual deductible. As President Bush explained recently, "Health Savings Accounts all aim at empowering people to make decisions for themselves, owning their own health-care plan, and at the same time bringing some demand control into the cost of health care."
The country described in the President's report is a very different place from the country described in "Uninsured in America." Sered and Fernandopulle look at the billions we spend on medical care and wonder why Americans have so little insurance. The President's report considers the same situation and worries that we have too much. Sered and Fernandopulle see the lack of insurance as a problem of poverty; a third of the uninsured, after all, have incomes below the federal poverty line. In the section on the uninsured in the President's report, the word "poverty" is never used. In the Administration's view, people are offered insurance but "decline the coverage" as "a matter of choice." The uninsured in Sered and Fernandopulle's book decline coverage, but only because they can't afford it. Gina, for instance, works for a beauty salon that offers her a bare-bones health-insurance plan with a thousand-dollar deductible for two hundred dollars a month. What's her total income? Nine hundred dollars a month. She could "choose" to accept health insurance, but only if she chose to stop buying food or paying the rent.
The biggest difference between the two accounts, though, has to do with how each views the function of insurance. Gina, Steve, and Loretta are ill, and need insurance to cover the costs of getting better. In their eyes, insurance is meant to help equalize financial risk between the healthy and the sick. In the insurance business, this model of coverage is known as "social insurance," and historically it was the way health coverage was conceived. If you were sixty and had heart disease and diabetes, you didn't pay substantially more for coverage than a perfectly healthy twenty-five-year-old. Under social insurance, the twenty-five-year-old agrees to pay thousands of dollars in premiums even though he didn't go to the doctor at all in the previous year, because he wants to make sure that someone else will subsidize his health care if he ever comes down with heart disease or diabetes. Canada and Germany and Japan and all the other industrialized nations with universal health care follow the social-insurance model. Medicare, too, is based on the social-insurance model, and, when Americans with Medicare report themselves to be happier with virtually every aspect of their insurance coverage than people with private insurance (as they do, repeatedly and overwhelmingly), they are referring to the social aspect of their insurance. They aren't getting better care. But they are getting something just as valuable: the security of being insulated against the financial shock of serious illness.
There is another way to organize insurance, however, and that is to make it actuarial. Car insurance, for instance, is actuarial. How much you pay is in large part a function of your individual situation and history: someone who drives a sports car and has received twenty speeding tickets in the past two years pays a much higher annual premium than a soccer mom with a minivan. In recent years, the private insurance industry in the United States has been moving toward the actuarial model, with profound consequences. The triumph of the actuarial model over the social-insurance model is the reason that companies unlucky enough to employ older, high-cost employees—like United Airlines—have run into such financial difficulty. It's the reason that automakers are increasingly moving their operations to Canada. It's the reason that small businesses that have one or two employees with serious illnesses suddenly face unmanageably high health-insurance premiums, and it's the reason that, in many states, people suffering from a potentially high-cost medical condition can't get anyone to insure them at all.
Health Savings Accounts represent the final, irrevocable step in the actuarial direction. If you are preoccupied with moral hazard, then you want people to pay for care with their own money, and, when you do that, the sick inevitably end up paying more than the healthy. And when you make people choose an insurance plan that fits their individual needs, those with significant medical problems will choose expensive health plans that cover lots of things, while those with few health problems will choose cheaper, bare-bones plans. The more expensive the comprehensive plans become, and the less expensive the bare-bones plans become, the more the very sick will cluster together at one end of the insurance spectrum, and the more the well will cluster together at the low-cost end. The days when the healthy twenty-five-year-old subsidizes the sixty-year-old with heart disease or diabetes are coming to an end. "The main effect of putting more of it on the consumer is to reduce the social redistributive element of insurance," the Stanford economist Victor Fuchs says. Health Savings Accounts are not a variant of universal health care. In their governing assumptions, they are the antithesis of universal health care.
The issue about what to do with the health-care system is sometimes presented as a technical argument about the merits of one kind of coverage over another or as an ideological argument about socialized versus private medicine. It is, instead, about a few very simple questions. Do you think that this kind of redistribution of risk is a good idea? Do you think that people whose genes predispose them to depression or cancer, or whose poverty complicates asthma or diabetes, or who get hit by a drunk driver, or who have to keep their mouths closed because their teeth are rotting ought to bear a greater share of the costs of their health care than those of us who are lucky enough to escape such misfortunes? In the rest of the industrialized world, it is assumed that the more equally and widely the burdens of illness are shared, the better off the population as a whole is likely to be. The reason the United States has forty-five million people without coverage is that its health-care policy is in the hands of people who disagree, and who regard health insurance not as the solution but as the problem.
Here are some particulars about assignment #2:
Length of rough draft: 3-6 pages, double spaced
topic: a significant event in your life.
Please combine your freewrites if that works for you, or write fresh material. The catch with this assignment is that you need to write a second conclusion or analysis of your event that draws different conclusions.
Please bring in a paper copy and upload an electronic version, in class Friday, to webct (I am creating the space to do that right now).
email me if you have any questions: Misterlanguage@gmail.com
Length of rough draft: 3-6 pages, double spaced
topic: a significant event in your life.
Please combine your freewrites if that works for you, or write fresh material. The catch with this assignment is that you need to write a second conclusion or analysis of your event that draws different conclusions.
Please bring in a paper copy and upload an electronic version, in class Friday, to webct (I am creating the space to do that right now).
email me if you have any questions: Misterlanguage@gmail.com
Author Applies Tools of Linguistics to Mend Mother-Daughter Divide - New York Times: "By the early 1990's, Dr. Tannen was taking her ideas to a wider audience. Her overwhelmingly successful book 'You Just Don't Understand' focused on communication (or lack of it) between men and women. It was on best-seller lists from 1990 through 1994. Now, Dr. Tannen, a professor at Georgetown University, is back on the list with her just-released 'You're Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation.' It appeared at No. 9 on the New York Times best-seller list on Sunday, within days of its publication."
Your #2 assignment, "A Significant Event that I'm Probably Making Up" is due on Friday--the rough draft that is. Bring an electronic and paper copy, 3-5 pages. The final draft will be due on Feb. 24th, a week later, and should be 5 pages long.
This is a blank post whose sole purpose is to drive the other irrelevant posts off the bottom of the screen.
The spoils (kottke.org): "On our first night in Saigon, we ran across a little shop that offered for sale, among other things, lots of 60s/70s-era Zippo lighters.
Me: How do you suppose they came to have those?
Meg: I don't want to know."
Me: How do you suppose they came to have those?
Meg: I don't want to know."
Class: I'm kinda sick right now and behind on the grading. My lungs are trying to meet their yearly phlegm production quota in 24 hours. I will get caught up soon, hang in there. And send me your favorite cold remedies!
rodcorp: How we work: Neil Gaiman, author: "'One reason I like writing by hand is it slows me down a little, but it also forces me to keep going: I'm never going to spend half a day noodling with a sentence to try and get it just right, if I'm using a pen. I'll do all that when I start typing.
"
"
rodcorp: How we work: James Ellroy, author
On what to write: "Don’t follow that bullshit of 'Write what you know.' Write what you like to read. Write what you want to read but no one else is writing."
On what to write: "Don’t follow that bullshit of 'Write what you know.' Write what you like to read. Write what you want to read but no one else is writing."
Your portfolio is due Friday, December 10th at noon. Please place it in the box outside my office (LA 109h).
It should be in a folder or *narrow* three ring binder. You should include your best three drafts of our assignment, and a letter of introduction. The letter of introduction should not exceed two pages (unless you absolutely *have* to write more) and address the following:
1. What is your favorite paper, and why?
2. How did you initially write your papers?
3. How did you revise them, and why?
4. Anything else I should know about your writing in this class.
Thanks!
It should be in a folder or *narrow* three ring binder. You should include your best three drafts of our assignment, and a letter of introduction. The letter of introduction should not exceed two pages (unless you absolutely *have* to write more) and address the following:
1. What is your favorite paper, and why?
2. How did you initially write your papers?
3. How did you revise them, and why?
4. Anything else I should know about your writing in this class.
Thanks!
KAYA
Speaking of images, KAYA is a completely computer-generated person. It's quite creepy--check it out. Now, instead of airbrushing real people, which we have discussed before, "they" can generate completely artificial people that seem completely real. Almost. What do you think of that?
Speaking of images, KAYA is a completely computer-generated person. It's quite creepy--check it out. Now, instead of airbrushing real people, which we have discussed before, "they" can generate completely artificial people that seem completely real. Almost. What do you think of that?
The Age of the Essay: "No Defense
The other big difference between a real essay and the things they make you write in school is that a real essay doesn't take a position and then defend it. That principle, like the idea that we ought to be writing about literature, turns out to be another intellectual hangover of long forgotten origins."
The other big difference between a real essay and the things they make you write in school is that a real essay doesn't take a position and then defend it. That principle, like the idea that we ought to be writing about literature, turns out to be another intellectual hangover of long forgotten origins."
Download :: Portable Firefox 1.0 (USB Drive-Friendly) :: Mozilla Stuff :: JohnHaller.com
Nice if you want to use firefox in a lab setting.
Nice if you want to use firefox in a lab setting.
The Age of the Essay: "One of the keys to coolness is to avoid situations where inexperience may make you look foolish. If you want to find surprises you should do the opposite. Study lots of different things, because some of the most interesting surprises are unexpected connections between different fields. For example, jam, bacon, pickles, and cheese, which are among the most pleasing of foods, were all originally intended as methods of preservation. And so were books and paintings."
The Age of the Essay: "September 2004
Remember the essays you had to write in high school? Topic sentence, introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs, conclusion. The conclusion being, say, that Ahab in Moby Dick was a Christ-like figure.
Oy. So I'm going to try to give the other side of the story: what an essay really is, and how you write one. Or at least, how I write one.
"
Remember the essays you had to write in high school? Topic sentence, introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs, conclusion. The conclusion being, say, that Ahab in Moby Dick was a Christ-like figure.
Oy. So I'm going to try to give the other side of the story: what an essay really is, and how you write one. Or at least, how I write one.
"
We'll spend part of Friday's class talking about the portfolio requirements and the letter of introduction. Plus much, much more!
Barking in Dogs: "I took ten adult dogs of six different breeds and recorded barking in three different test situations-a disturbance situation where a stranger rang the doorbell, an isolation situation where the dog was locked outside isolated from its owner, and a play situation where either two dogs or human and dog played together. "
English 1010
Image analysis
The majority of advertisements have most things in common, for example very seldom will you find an ad where ugly people are representing the product being sold. The four companies that I have selected to look at are the epitome of misrepresentation. From what I already know about the three and the types of people that purchase their products the four companies that are being looked at are Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Eddie Bauer.
Gap- The advertisement that I decided on is an image of a woman dressed in winter clothing and wearing a rather large hat with two men, one in front and one in back. The man in back is black and the man upfront is white. The woman is sitting in the middle and it appears as though the she is in a wind tunnel, her hair is blowing and she has to hold her hat on. The men on the other hand seem to be rather unaffected by the wind storm that is blowing through. The woman also has her mouth open and seems to be falling backwards. The man in back is the only person looking into the camera while like I said the woman is falling backward so she is looking at the ceiling and I get the impression that the gentleman in front is in deep thought about something. The color in this image is very dull and mostly white and grey.
What I perceived from this image is that the woman in the middle is in her own little world and she does not seem to notice what is going on around her even though there are two very attractive men sitting around her she is in charge of the situation and she has some sort of strange power over these two men. I am guessing that the two men in the picture are probably gay but that is my opinion. Gap targets a huge variety of people, I would be willing to say that over 70 percent of Americans own or have bought something from Gap. This image tells me that yes it is possible to be good attractive no matter what color or sexual preference you may be. I do know that this clothing is some what affordable and fits all sizes, which is why they get such a wide variety of costumers.
Old Navy- Image, this is a picture of a young girl wearing winter clothing she has her hair done in two long pony tails like Pippy Long Stocking. She is jumping in the air with her legs kicked back behind her and her arms are thrown straight out from her body. It looks as if this young lady is extremely happy to be doing what she is doing, smiling the way she is. The colors in this image are remarkable. Very bright, brilliant and vivid she has a dazzling white smile and her boots are even pink.
One might get the impression that these cloths not only provide you with protection from the elements but freedom from the world. They seem show that one can wear their personality on the outside and show off to everyone that I am a cheerful person. I also get the impression that these cloths might make me young again that these cloths will some how turn back the hands of time and I will be a child again. Old navy is very bold in their advertising and clothing, everything is so brightly colored that I would be embarrassed to walk down the street in one of their sweaters for fear that someone might mistake me for some kind of exotic bird. The product targeting for old navy is more for the average middle class mother who thinks she is buying her children something nice but in reality she is buying them a free ticket to get beat up at school.
Banana Republic- Picture this, a young Asian woman of about 25 years who seems to be strutting down the street. She is wearing high heeled black leather boots that go up to about her knee. A long white coat flows behind her as she strides her glossy dark hair is streams off her head. Her clothing is casual yet professional, the coloration is especially noticeable. the look on her face shows that she can be sexy and still in charge.
When I see this picture it reminds me of all those girls in high school who knew they were good looking and would use it to their advantage. When I hear the name Banana Republic for some reason I think BYU I do not know why this is maybe it is because BYU is all about competition everyone has to be better than everyone else. The type of ads this company puts out are defiantly directed toward people who are looking for the more casual yet sophisticated look. There is one catch though this clothing is pretty pricy.
Eddie Bauer- The weather is cold and you need a coat to wear that will keep you all warm and cozy. The image on the front cover of the Eddie Bauer catalog is of a woman standing outside in the cold buttoning up her down coat and holding a pair of gloves in her hand. She is staring directly into the camera with her big blue eyes. Her coat is a faded whit color that contrasts with the surrounding snow.
What this image says to me is that not only that this coat will keep me warm but it also offers a sense of protection and security. The woman in the picture is not young she is a middle aged woman still very beautiful but more mature than the other models. I can see why people would want to buy clothing from this company; it is a more stylish grown up look. Eddie Bauer is more than just a line of clothing it is an entire image, the type of people that are targeted in the majority of their ads are upper middle class middle aged people. The clothing itself is not flashy it does not stand out as something different, the fact that you are wearing the name Eddie Bauer offers all the comfort you will need. When you have on a pear of Eddie Bauer jeans you can walk down the street feeling much better about yourself. Style is all in the name.
Image analysis
The majority of advertisements have most things in common, for example very seldom will you find an ad where ugly people are representing the product being sold. The four companies that I have selected to look at are the epitome of misrepresentation. From what I already know about the three and the types of people that purchase their products the four companies that are being looked at are Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Eddie Bauer.
Gap- The advertisement that I decided on is an image of a woman dressed in winter clothing and wearing a rather large hat with two men, one in front and one in back. The man in back is black and the man upfront is white. The woman is sitting in the middle and it appears as though the she is in a wind tunnel, her hair is blowing and she has to hold her hat on. The men on the other hand seem to be rather unaffected by the wind storm that is blowing through. The woman also has her mouth open and seems to be falling backwards. The man in back is the only person looking into the camera while like I said the woman is falling backward so she is looking at the ceiling and I get the impression that the gentleman in front is in deep thought about something. The color in this image is very dull and mostly white and grey.
What I perceived from this image is that the woman in the middle is in her own little world and she does not seem to notice what is going on around her even though there are two very attractive men sitting around her she is in charge of the situation and she has some sort of strange power over these two men. I am guessing that the two men in the picture are probably gay but that is my opinion. Gap targets a huge variety of people, I would be willing to say that over 70 percent of Americans own or have bought something from Gap. This image tells me that yes it is possible to be good attractive no matter what color or sexual preference you may be. I do know that this clothing is some what affordable and fits all sizes, which is why they get such a wide variety of costumers.
Old Navy- Image, this is a picture of a young girl wearing winter clothing she has her hair done in two long pony tails like Pippy Long Stocking. She is jumping in the air with her legs kicked back behind her and her arms are thrown straight out from her body. It looks as if this young lady is extremely happy to be doing what she is doing, smiling the way she is. The colors in this image are remarkable. Very bright, brilliant and vivid she has a dazzling white smile and her boots are even pink.
One might get the impression that these cloths not only provide you with protection from the elements but freedom from the world. They seem show that one can wear their personality on the outside and show off to everyone that I am a cheerful person. I also get the impression that these cloths might make me young again that these cloths will some how turn back the hands of time and I will be a child again. Old navy is very bold in their advertising and clothing, everything is so brightly colored that I would be embarrassed to walk down the street in one of their sweaters for fear that someone might mistake me for some kind of exotic bird. The product targeting for old navy is more for the average middle class mother who thinks she is buying her children something nice but in reality she is buying them a free ticket to get beat up at school.
Banana Republic- Picture this, a young Asian woman of about 25 years who seems to be strutting down the street. She is wearing high heeled black leather boots that go up to about her knee. A long white coat flows behind her as she strides her glossy dark hair is streams off her head. Her clothing is casual yet professional, the coloration is especially noticeable. the look on her face shows that she can be sexy and still in charge.
When I see this picture it reminds me of all those girls in high school who knew they were good looking and would use it to their advantage. When I hear the name Banana Republic for some reason I think BYU I do not know why this is maybe it is because BYU is all about competition everyone has to be better than everyone else. The type of ads this company puts out are defiantly directed toward people who are looking for the more casual yet sophisticated look. There is one catch though this clothing is pretty pricy.
Eddie Bauer- The weather is cold and you need a coat to wear that will keep you all warm and cozy. The image on the front cover of the Eddie Bauer catalog is of a woman standing outside in the cold buttoning up her down coat and holding a pair of gloves in her hand. She is staring directly into the camera with her big blue eyes. Her coat is a faded whit color that contrasts with the surrounding snow.
What this image says to me is that not only that this coat will keep me warm but it also offers a sense of protection and security. The woman in the picture is not young she is a middle aged woman still very beautiful but more mature than the other models. I can see why people would want to buy clothing from this company; it is a more stylish grown up look. Eddie Bauer is more than just a line of clothing it is an entire image, the type of people that are targeted in the majority of their ads are upper middle class middle aged people. The clothing itself is not flashy it does not stand out as something different, the fact that you are wearing the name Eddie Bauer offers all the comfort you will need. When you have on a pear of Eddie Bauer jeans you can walk down the street feeling much better about yourself. Style is all in the name.
Today in class we will talk about portfolio requirements, discuss your last paper, read a student paper in class, do a self-assessment exercise, and much, much more!!!
This is really a great article on plagiarism and art. Please read it for class on Monday.
The New Yorker
Not long after I learned about “Frozen,” I went to see a friend of mine who works in the music industry. We sat in his living room on the Upper East Side, facing each other in easy chairs, as he worked his way through a mountain of CDs. He played “Angel,” by the reggae singer Shaggy, and then “The Joker,” by the Steve Miller Band, and told me to listen very carefully to the similarity in bass lines. He played Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and then Muddy Waters’s “You Need Love,” to show the extent to which Led Zeppelin had mined the blues for inspiration. He played “Twice My Age,” by Shabba Ranks and Krystal, and then the saccharine seventies pop standard “Seasons in the Sun,” until I could hear the echoes of the second song in the first. He played “Last Christmas,” by Wham!, followed by Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” to explain why Manilow might have been startled when he first heard that song, and then “Joanna,” by Kool and the Gang, because, in a different way, “Last Christmas” was an homage to Kool and the Gang as well. “That sound you hear in Nirvana,” my friend said at one point, “that soft and then loud, kind of exploding thing, a lot of that was inspired by the Pixies. Yet Kurt Cobain”—Nirvana’s lead singer and songwriter—“was such a genius that he managed to make it his own. And ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’?”—here he was referring to perhaps the best-known Nirvana song. “That’s Boston’s ‘More Than a Feeling.’” He began to hum the riff of the Boston hit, and said, “The first time I heard ‘Teen Spirit,’ I said, ‘That guitar lick is from “More Than a Feeling.”’ But it was different—it was urgent and brilliant and new.”
He played another CD. It was Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” a huge hit from the nineteen-seventies. The chorus has a distinctive, catchy hook—the kind of tune that millions of Americans probably hummed in the shower the year it came out. Then he put on “Taj Mahal,” by the Brazilian artist Jorge Ben Jor, which was recorded several years before the Rod Stewart song. In his twenties, my friend was a d.j. at various downtown clubs, and at some point he’d become interested in world music. “I caught it back then,” he said. A small, sly smile spread across his face. The opening bars of “Taj Mahal” were very South American, a world away from what we had just listened to. And then I heard it. It was so obvious and unambiguous that I laughed out loud; virtually note for note, it was the hook from “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.” It was possible that Rod Stewart had independently come up with that riff, because resemblance is not proof of influence. It was also possible that he’d been in Brazil, listened to some local music, and liked what he heard."
The New Yorker
Not long after I learned about “Frozen,” I went to see a friend of mine who works in the music industry. We sat in his living room on the Upper East Side, facing each other in easy chairs, as he worked his way through a mountain of CDs. He played “Angel,” by the reggae singer Shaggy, and then “The Joker,” by the Steve Miller Band, and told me to listen very carefully to the similarity in bass lines. He played Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and then Muddy Waters’s “You Need Love,” to show the extent to which Led Zeppelin had mined the blues for inspiration. He played “Twice My Age,” by Shabba Ranks and Krystal, and then the saccharine seventies pop standard “Seasons in the Sun,” until I could hear the echoes of the second song in the first. He played “Last Christmas,” by Wham!, followed by Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” to explain why Manilow might have been startled when he first heard that song, and then “Joanna,” by Kool and the Gang, because, in a different way, “Last Christmas” was an homage to Kool and the Gang as well. “That sound you hear in Nirvana,” my friend said at one point, “that soft and then loud, kind of exploding thing, a lot of that was inspired by the Pixies. Yet Kurt Cobain”—Nirvana’s lead singer and songwriter—“was such a genius that he managed to make it his own. And ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’?”—here he was referring to perhaps the best-known Nirvana song. “That’s Boston’s ‘More Than a Feeling.’” He began to hum the riff of the Boston hit, and said, “The first time I heard ‘Teen Spirit,’ I said, ‘That guitar lick is from “More Than a Feeling.”’ But it was different—it was urgent and brilliant and new.”
He played another CD. It was Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” a huge hit from the nineteen-seventies. The chorus has a distinctive, catchy hook—the kind of tune that millions of Americans probably hummed in the shower the year it came out. Then he put on “Taj Mahal,” by the Brazilian artist Jorge Ben Jor, which was recorded several years before the Rod Stewart song. In his twenties, my friend was a d.j. at various downtown clubs, and at some point he’d become interested in world music. “I caught it back then,” he said. A small, sly smile spread across his face. The opening bars of “Taj Mahal” were very South American, a world away from what we had just listened to. And then I heard it. It was so obvious and unambiguous that I laughed out loud; virtually note for note, it was the hook from “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.” It was possible that Rod Stewart had independently come up with that riff, because resemblance is not proof of influence. It was also possible that he’d been in Brazil, listened to some local music, and liked what he heard."
Please post your responses to "The Persuaders" in the comments section below. And thanks for coming to class with your drafts!
Harvard Gazette: Freedom squelches terrorist violence: "A John F. Kennedy School of Government researcher has cast doubt on the widely held belief that terrorism stems from poverty, finding instead that terrorist violence is related to a nation's level of political freedom.
Associate Professor of Public Policy Alberto Abadie examined data on terrorism and variables such as wealth, political freedom, geography, and ethnic fractionalization for nations that have been targets of terrorist attacks.
Abadie, whose work was published in the Kennedy School's Faculty Research Working Paper Series, included both acts of international and domestic terrorism in his analysis.
Though after the 9/11 attacks most of the work in this area has focused on international terrorism, Abadie said terrorism originating within the country where the attacks occur actually makes up the bulk of terrorist acts each year. According to statistics from the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base for 2003, which Abadie cites in his analysis, there were 1,536 reports of domestic terrorism worldwide, compared with just 240 incidents of international terrorism."
Associate Professor of Public Policy Alberto Abadie examined data on terrorism and variables such as wealth, political freedom, geography, and ethnic fractionalization for nations that have been targets of terrorist attacks.
Abadie, whose work was published in the Kennedy School's Faculty Research Working Paper Series, included both acts of international and domestic terrorism in his analysis.
Though after the 9/11 attacks most of the work in this area has focused on international terrorism, Abadie said terrorism originating within the country where the attacks occur actually makes up the bulk of terrorist acts each year. According to statistics from the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base for 2003, which Abadie cites in his analysis, there were 1,536 reports of domestic terrorism worldwide, compared with just 240 incidents of international terrorism."
frontline: the persuaders: neuromarketing | PBS: "Getting an update on research is one thing; for decades, marketers have relied on behavioral studies for guidance. But some companies are taking the practice several steps further, commissioning their own fMRI studies � la Montague's test. In a study of men's reactions to cars, Daimler-Chrysler has found that sportier models activate the brain's reward centers -- the same areas that light up in response to alcohol and drugs -- as well as activating the area in the brain that recognizes faces, which may explain people's tendency to anthropomorphize their cars. Steven Quartz, a scientist at Stanford University, is currently conducting similar research on movie trailers. And in the age of poll-taking and smear campaigns, political advertising is also getting in on the game. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have found that Republicans and Democrats react differently to campaign ads showing images of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. Those ads cause the part of the brain associated with fear to light up more vividly in Democrats than in Republicans."
onfocus.com | the persuaders: "Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don't really have any rights left. Leasing our eyes and ears and nerves to commerical interests is like handing over the common speech to a private corporation, or like giving the earth's atmosphere to a company as a monopoly."
gladwell dot com: Tipping Point - The Mysteries of Mind-Reading: "Much of our understanding of mind-reading from two remarkable scientists, a teacher and his pupil: Silvan Tomkins and Paul Ekman. Tomkins was the teacher. He was born in Philadelphia, at the turn of the last century, the son of a dentist from Russia. He was short, and thick around the middle, with a wild mane of white hair and huge black plastic-rimmed glasses. He taught psychology at Princeton and Rutgers, and was the author of 'Affect, Imagery, Consciousness,' a four-volume work so dense that its readers were evenly divided between those who understood it and thought it was brilliant and those who did not understand it and thought it was brilliant."
gladwell dot com: Tipping Point - Why do we love tall men?: "On a conscious level, I'm sure that all of us don't think that we treat tall people any differently from short people. But there's plenty of evidence to suggest that height--particularly in men--does trigger a certain set of very positive, unconscious associations. I polled about half of the companies on the Fortune 500 list--the largest corporations in the United States--asking each company questions about its CEOs. The heads of big companies are, as I'm sure comes as no surprise to anyone, overwhelmingly white men, which undoubtedly reflects some kind of implicit bias. But they are also virtually all tall: In my sample, I found that on average CEOs were just a shade under six feet. Given that the average American male is 5'9 that means that CEOs, as a group, have about three inches on the rest of their sex."
gladwell dot com: Blink: "Where did you get the idea for 'Blink'?
Believe it or not, it's because I decided, a few years ago, to grow my hair long. If you look at the author photo on my last book, 'The Tipping Point,' you'll see that it used to be cut very short and conservatively. But, on a whim, I let it grow wild, as it had been when I was teenager. Immediately, in very small but significant ways, my life changed. I started getting speeding tickets all the time--and I had never gotten any before. I started getting pulled out of airport security lines for special attention. And one day, while walking along 14th Street in downtown Manhattan, a police van pulled up on the sidewalk, and three officers jumped out. "
Believe it or not, it's because I decided, a few years ago, to grow my hair long. If you look at the author photo on my last book, 'The Tipping Point,' you'll see that it used to be cut very short and conservatively. But, on a whim, I let it grow wild, as it had been when I was teenager. Immediately, in very small but significant ways, my life changed. I started getting speeding tickets all the time--and I had never gotten any before. I started getting pulled out of airport security lines for special attention. And one day, while walking along 14th Street in downtown Manhattan, a police van pulled up on the sidewalk, and three officers jumped out. "
English 1010
Visual Assignment
Rough draft due: Friday, Nov. 11
Final draft due: Wednesday Nov. 16
Purpose: the purpose of this assignment is to look at images critically, and to practice writing about abstract concepts.
Overview: Your primary task is to compare related images, describing them in detail, and then providing us with a conclusion that creates a synthesis of your observations.
Here are some possible applications:
- Compare images used by different parties of a particular campaign
- Analyze album covers for a specific band, over time
- Analyze the use of images in advertising. Specifically:
How are ads targeted towards different audiences?
How do the advertisements in a particular magazine reflect their target demographic?
How is the same product presented in different magazines?
You may also analyze a website, using the same methods. For example, you could look at a website for a corporation and try to determine who their imagined audience is, based on the images used on their site.
Another possibility: Look at ads for a particular product, then create your own advertisement that breaks with conventions.
Page 226 has a checklist for analyzing images. You may also find the discussion of marketing segments on page 228 useful.
Please put all of your notes, images and drafts on your weblog as you work on this paper.
Visual Assignment
Rough draft due: Friday, Nov. 11
Final draft due: Wednesday Nov. 16
Purpose: the purpose of this assignment is to look at images critically, and to practice writing about abstract concepts.
Overview: Your primary task is to compare related images, describing them in detail, and then providing us with a conclusion that creates a synthesis of your observations.
Here are some possible applications:
- Compare images used by different parties of a particular campaign
- Analyze album covers for a specific band, over time
- Analyze the use of images in advertising. Specifically:
How are ads targeted towards different audiences?
How do the advertisements in a particular magazine reflect their target demographic?
How is the same product presented in different magazines?
You may also analyze a website, using the same methods. For example, you could look at a website for a corporation and try to determine who their imagined audience is, based on the images used on their site.
Another possibility: Look at ads for a particular product, then create your own advertisement that breaks with conventions.
Page 226 has a checklist for analyzing images. You may also find the discussion of marketing segments on page 228 useful.
Please put all of your notes, images and drafts on your weblog as you work on this paper.
news @ nature.com - Electric currents boost brain powerbreaking science news headlines: "Connecting a battery across the front of the head can boost verbal skills, says a team from the US National Institutes of Health.
A current of two thousandths of an ampere (a fraction of that needed to power a digital watch) applied for 20 minutes is enough to produce a significant improvement, according to data presented this week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego. And apart from an itchy sensation around the scalp electrode, subjects in the trials reported no side-effects.
Meenakshi Iyer of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, ran the current through 103 initially nervous volunteers. 'I had to explain it in detail to the first one or two subjects,' she says. But once she had convinced them that the current was harmless, Iyer says, recruitment was not a problem.
"
frontline: coming soon: the persuaders | PBS: "FRONTLINE takes an in-depth look at the multibillion-dollar 'persuasion industries' of advertising and public relations and how marketers have developed new ways of integrating their messages deeper into the fabric of our lives. Through sophisticated market research methods to better understand consumers and by turning to the little-understood techniques of public relations to make sure their messages come from sources we trust, marketers are crafting messages that resonate with an increasingly cynical public. In this documentary essay, correspondent Douglas Rushkoff (correspondent for FRONTLINE's 'The Merchants of Cool') also explores how the culture of marketing has come to shape the way Americans understand the world and themselves and how the techniques of the persuasion industries have migrated to politics, shaping the way our leaders formulate policy, influence public opinion, make decisions, and stay in power."
How to think about prescription drugs. | Metafilter: "Malcolm Gladwell's latest piece in The New Yorker
The emphasis of the prescription-drug debate is all wrong. We've been focussed on the drug manufacturers. But decisions about prevalence, therapeutic mix, and intensity aren't made by the producers of drugs. They’re made by the consumers of drugs.
"
The emphasis of the prescription-drug debate is all wrong. We've been focussed on the drug manufacturers. But decisions about prevalence, therapeutic mix, and intensity aren't made by the producers of drugs. They’re made by the consumers of drugs.
"
Stuck? Change Context, by Michael Knowles: "I know writers who panic when they become stuck. But I know a secret they don't know: There's no such thing as writer's block. There's only digging the same hole, or choosing to dig new ones. You CAN choose a different path. Successful writers do just that. How? By understanding what stuckness really is, and being ready to honor it."
List Your Way Out Of Stuckness: "You're stuck. You can't go forward. You refuse to go forward. You're procrastinating like crazy.
Here's a list method you can use to avoid stuckness of the kind described above"
Here's a list method you can use to avoid stuckness of the kind described above"
Just a reminder that we are going to have a massive quiz on Monday. Chapter 10. There will be specific questions dealing with the section on "methods for analyzing images."
Accelerate Your Macintosh! News Story - Tweaked Canon Digital Rebel/300D Firmware Unlocks some 10D Features: "Tweaked Canon Digital Rebel/300D Firmware Unlocks some 10D Features"
We're only in class Monday and Wednesday!
On Monday we are going to talk about sentence tone and style. I can sense your eager anticipation of this discussion.
For Wednesday, you [++ MUST ++] read Chapter 10, analyzing images. Be prepared for surprise quiz as well!!!
(But wait, if he tells us about it, it's not a surprise...)
On Monday we are going to talk about sentence tone and style. I can sense your eager anticipation of this discussion.
For Wednesday, you [++ MUST ++] read Chapter 10, analyzing images. Be prepared for surprise quiz as well!!!
(But wait, if he tells us about it, it's not a surprise...)
Amendment 3 Debate and Q&A
October 18, Monday
1 2pm
UVSC Liberal Arts Building Room 101
Gayle Ruzicka: President, Utah Eagle Forum
Scott Mc Coy?: Campaign Manager, Don’t Amend Alliance
October 18, Monday
1 2pm
UVSC Liberal Arts Building Room 101
Gayle Ruzicka: President, Utah Eagle Forum
Scott Mc Coy?: Campaign Manager, Don’t Amend Alliance
Peter Shor: "Peter Shor (born August 14, 1959) is an American theoretical computer scientist most famous for his work on quantum computation, in particular for devising Shor's algorithm for factoring while working at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1994. He was the recipient of the Nevanlinna Prize in 1998, a MacArthur Fellowship in 1999, and a G�del prize in 1999 among other prizes. Currently, he is a professor of applied mathematics at MIT, and he is affiliated with CSAIL.
He received his B.S. in Mathematics in 1981 for undergraduate work at Caltech, and was a Putnam Fellow in 1978. He then earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from MIT in 1985. His doctoral advisor was Tom Leighton, and his thesis was on probabilistic analysis of bin-packing algorithms. After graduating, he spent one year in a post-doctoral position at Berkeley, and then accepted a position at Bell Laboratories. Shor began his current MIT position in 2003. "
He received his B.S. in Mathematics in 1981 for undergraduate work at Caltech, and was a Putnam Fellow in 1978. He then earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from MIT in 1985. His doctoral advisor was Tom Leighton, and his thesis was on probabilistic analysis of bin-packing algorithms. After graduating, he spent one year in a post-doctoral position at Berkeley, and then accepted a position at Bell Laboratories. Shor began his current MIT position in 2003. "
Register to vote before 10/13!!! That's the Utah deadline.
click here for more information and to be entered in a drawing for $100,000. This is not a drill.
click here for more information and to be entered in a drawing for $100,000. This is not a drill.
Don't forget to register to vote!. You have until October 13th. If you register to vote, prove to me that you have, and write up a paragraph or two about the voting process, you'll get extra credit.
Don't forget to register to vote!. You have until October 13th. If you register to vote, prove to me that you have, and write up a paragraph or two about the voting process, you'll get extra credit.
Don't forget to register to vote!. You have until October 13th. If you register to vote, prove to me that you have, and write up a paragraph or two about the voting process, you'll get extra credit.
cfarivar.org: What if half of the adult male population were charged with sexual assault?: "'Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet.'"
What's on my mind lately:
The possibility of Bush winning
Job opportunities in Switzerland
Air pistol modifications
Modding the Crosman .357
David Allen's "Getting Things Done"
A ton of committee work
Putting together a PBA for my 1:30 meeting
Relationship with spouse--improving
What's going on with Ezra?
The Wexler IQ test
Home Schooling
Ritalin--it's not just for breakfast anymore
Why do all of my students write papers that would do well in 2010, in the first two weeks of 1010? Is there any real progression taking place or are they just tricking us?
How to make 1010 more of an intellectually rewarding experience
Would it be possible to attach a liquid food IV to myself so I would never have to eat again? Would my teeth eventuall fall out?
How do I consolidate all of my personal data in a useful way?
What are some examples of people who have radically transformed themselves after age 40? (in a good way)
Is it to late for me to become a world class athlete, even if it's just curling?
How many of my students are on the verge of a complete mental breakdown but are hiding it?
Why bother learning to write?
How to get 1010-ers intrinsically motivated to want to write.
How can I mod the C-357 so it will shoot 550 fps with a 14" barrel and a biathlon stock?
What is motivating my desire to purchase weapons used by Robot Assassins from the Future? Is this a midlife crisis thing?
The possibility of Bush winning
Job opportunities in Switzerland
Air pistol modifications
Modding the Crosman .357
David Allen's "Getting Things Done"
A ton of committee work
Putting together a PBA for my 1:30 meeting
Relationship with spouse--improving
What's going on with Ezra?
The Wexler IQ test
Home Schooling
Ritalin--it's not just for breakfast anymore
Why do all of my students write papers that would do well in 2010, in the first two weeks of 1010? Is there any real progression taking place or are they just tricking us?
How to make 1010 more of an intellectually rewarding experience
Would it be possible to attach a liquid food IV to myself so I would never have to eat again? Would my teeth eventuall fall out?
How do I consolidate all of my personal data in a useful way?
What are some examples of people who have radically transformed themselves after age 40? (in a good way)
Is it to late for me to become a world class athlete, even if it's just curling?
How many of my students are on the verge of a complete mental breakdown but are hiding it?
Why bother learning to write?
How to get 1010-ers intrinsically motivated to want to write.
How can I mod the C-357 so it will shoot 550 fps with a 14" barrel and a biathlon stock?
What is motivating my desire to purchase weapons used by Robot Assassins from the Future? Is this a midlife crisis thing?
1. What's on your mind lately?
2. Take one idea or topic out of your "what's on your mind" post and list or write as much as you can about that topic.
2. Take one idea or topic out of your "what's on your mind" post and list or write as much as you can about that topic.
The Economically Efficient NBA Team | HOOPSWORLD.com | NBA News and Information: "In theory, above-max players and players on rookie contracts are the only players in the league that should be underpaid. Everyone else should be bid up to market in free agency. Quite obviously, that's not realistic. Players are overpaid or underpaid for any number of reasons. Injuries are a huge one. Not developing the way they were expected to, whether breaking out, busting, aging early, or displaying surprising longevity. Sometimes the market -- or one team, since that's all that is necessary to create market value -- is just wrong. "
College Student Journal: Religiosity and depression in intercollegiate athletes: "The present study examined the relationship between organizational, non-organizational, and intrinsic religiosity, and symptoms of depression in intercollegiate athletes. The Duke Religion Index and the Depression subscale of the Personality Assessment Inventory were completed by 105 athletes. Results showed that only intrinsic religiosity was negatively associated with affective symptoms of depression. Implications of these findings on the potential protective effects of religiosity against affective symptoms of depression are discussed."
An Integrative Approach to Depression: Part 2--Assessment and Treatment -- Zuess 8 (2): 99 -- Complementary Health Practice Review: "McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. (1999). Religion and depression: A review of the literature. Twin Research, 2(2), 126-136.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve] "
Latter-day Saint Demographics/LDS Statistics/ Mormon statistics: "In 2000 Self magazine ranked Provo, Utah as the number 1 healthiest city in the country for women. The article said that the Mormon influence is the reason women in Provo experience such low incidents of cancer, smoking, drinking, violence, depression, etc. [Source: MSNBC] "
: "JULIE CART, Times Staff Writer
SALT LAKE CITY -- Doctors here have for years talked about the widespread use of antidepressants in the state. But there was no hard evidence until a national study that tracked drug prescriptions came to an unexpected conclusion:
Antidepressant drugs are prescribed in Utah more often than in any other state, at a rate nearly twice the national average. "
SALT LAKE CITY -- Doctors here have for years talked about the widespread use of antidepressants in the state. But there was no hard evidence until a national study that tracked drug prescriptions came to an unexpected conclusion:
Antidepressant drugs are prescribed in Utah more often than in any other state, at a rate nearly twice the national average. "
USATODAY.com - Expert: Mormon women less depressed: "SALT LAKE CITY (AP) � A Brigham Young University sociologist says data from national surveys show Mormon women are less likely to be depressed than American women in general and show no major differences in overall life satisfaction compared to women nationwide but do score lower on measures of self-esteem"
The Economically Efficient NBA Team | HOOPSWORLD.com | NBA News and Information: "Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball, points out that in 2002, when Zito won the American League's Cy Young Award, the A's paid him just $295,000 -- less than the NBA's minimum salary at any point since the start of the 21st century. Zito didn't pick the wrong sport, as he'll be making up for lost salary time when he hits the free-agent market in a couple of years, but, for the time being, his loss is the A's gain. "
ATF Online: Dallas Field Division - Man Sentenced: "Keller, Texas, Resident Sentenced to Federal Prison For Possessing Grenade Launchers"
So--
What are some of the topics you are thinking of writing about? What are your questions? If you don't have any, make one up right now.
What are some of the topics you are thinking of writing about? What are your questions? If you don't have any, make one up right now.
Discussion question:
What makes a good question or topic for writing in an academic paper?
Please include examples of good questions that you've brought to class with you today.
Use the discussion link below.
What makes a good question or topic for writing in an academic paper?
Please include examples of good questions that you've brought to class with you today.
Use the discussion link below.
The New York Times > Opinion > EDITORIAL: Grokster and the Information Exchange: "the broader issue is the distribution of information. Software like Grokster creates a network of independent Internet users who can access one another's computer files without going through a central server. (Napster maintained a central server, which made it legally liable in very different ways.) Grokster can certainly be used to swap music illegally. But it can also be used to exchange electronic copies of books already in the public domain, transcripts of Congressional hearings or any number of other legitimate types of information. Much like a VCR that does not distinguish between a pirated tape and one legally acquired, the technology does not care what is shared. It is impossible to strike down software like Grokster for its use in illegal file-sharing without also destroying its capacity for legal and socially beneficial activities."
Hi, I apologize for being at jury duty.
For today's class, please read pages 1-15. Share books if you have to. Then, do the exercise on pages 11-12 in small groups.
Post the results to each of your weblogs so I can see your work.
Please email me ( craniac@gmail.com) or leave comments.
Thanks!
For today's class, please read pages 1-15. Share books if you have to. Then, do the exercise on pages 11-12 in small groups.
Post the results to each of your weblogs so I can see your work.
Please email me ( craniac@gmail.com) or leave comments.
Thanks!
Please bring copies of your third paper, even if you only have rough notes, to class today (Monday).
In case you didn't notice from reading the assignment sheet for #3, you need to read chapter five for class on Wednesday. Thanks. And thanks to the five students who came to class on Monday!
Just a reminder: Please send me the latest version of your second paper to: craniac@gmail.com
In the subject of the message put: "second paper sock monkey" so I can sort the incoming email. Thanks.
In the subject of the message put: "second paper sock monkey" so I can sort the incoming email. Thanks.
For your third assignment: Angle of Vision
It's based on chapter five, so re-read that chapter in Allyn and Bacon's Guide to Writing if you need a refresher. Specifically, your assignment is to
(1) locate a research site with people in it: work, school, library, car wash, meeting, club, church, health club, and
(2) observe that site for at least a solid hour. You can break that down into several visits of 20 minutes each, or one single visit of 60+ minutes. You need to then
(3) take detailed, descriptive notes of everything you see. It's not uncommon to get 3-5 pages of notes from a single observation. Next, you should
(4) Expand those notes with even more descriptive detail, then
(5) write an essay in which you describe the scenario you witnessed, first with a negative angle of vision, then with a positive angle of vision. Again, refer to chapter five for numerous examples of this. Each description should be at least 250 words long. Finally,
(6) write a conclusion of 400 words or so, describing what you learned from writing from these two perspectives.
PLEASE BRING YOUR OBSERVATION NOTES TO CLASS
It's based on chapter five, so re-read that chapter in Allyn and Bacon's Guide to Writing if you need a refresher. Specifically, your assignment is to
(1) locate a research site with people in it: work, school, library, car wash, meeting, club, church, health club, and
(2) observe that site for at least a solid hour. You can break that down into several visits of 20 minutes each, or one single visit of 60+ minutes. You need to then
(3) take detailed, descriptive notes of everything you see. It's not uncommon to get 3-5 pages of notes from a single observation. Next, you should
(4) Expand those notes with even more descriptive detail, then
(5) write an essay in which you describe the scenario you witnessed, first with a negative angle of vision, then with a positive angle of vision. Again, refer to chapter five for numerous examples of this. Each description should be at least 250 words long. Finally,
(6) write a conclusion of 400 words or so, describing what you learned from writing from these two perspectives.
PLEASE BRING YOUR OBSERVATION NOTES TO CLASS
responses to first paper
If your paper isn't in here, please contact me to set up an appointment to look at it together.
If your paper isn't in here, please contact me to set up an appointment to look at it together.
Please read this before Friday, thanks
gladwell dot com / The Coolhunt:
"Baysie Wightman met DeeDee Gordon, appropriately enough, on a coolhunt. It was 1992. Baysie was a big shot for Converse, and DeeDee, who was barely twenty-one, was running a very cool boutique called Placid Planet, on Newbury Street in Boston. Baysie came in with a camera crew-one she often used when she was coolhunting-and said, 'I've been watching your store, I've seen you, I've heard you know what's up,' because it was Baysie's job at Converse to find people who knew what was up and she thought DeeDee was one of those people. DeeDee says that she responded with reserve-that 'I was like, 'Whatever' '-but Baysie said that if DeeDee ever wanted to come and work at Converse she should just call, and nine months later DeeDee called. This was about the time the cool kids had decided they didn't want the hundred-and-twenty- five-dollar basketball sneaker with seventeen different kinds of high-technology materials and colors and air-cushioned heels anymore. They wanted simplicity and authenticity, and Baysie picked up on that. "
gladwell dot com / The Coolhunt:
"Baysie Wightman met DeeDee Gordon, appropriately enough, on a coolhunt. It was 1992. Baysie was a big shot for Converse, and DeeDee, who was barely twenty-one, was running a very cool boutique called Placid Planet, on Newbury Street in Boston. Baysie came in with a camera crew-one she often used when she was coolhunting-and said, 'I've been watching your store, I've seen you, I've heard you know what's up,' because it was Baysie's job at Converse to find people who knew what was up and she thought DeeDee was one of those people. DeeDee says that she responded with reserve-that 'I was like, 'Whatever' '-but Baysie said that if DeeDee ever wanted to come and work at Converse she should just call, and nine months later DeeDee called. This was about the time the cool kids had decided they didn't want the hundred-and-twenty- five-dollar basketball sneaker with seventeen different kinds of high-technology materials and colors and air-cushioned heels anymore. They wanted simplicity and authenticity, and Baysie picked up on that. "
Just a reminder if you missed class on Wednesday. Please do the following:
1. post your second paper rough draft to your weblog. If your weblog is not listed on the right side of this page, post the address in the comments below.
2. respond to the rough draft that is directly below yours in the list using the extended prompts on page 107 of allyn and bacon. Keep in mind how useful it is to get good feedback, and that feedback is 20% of your grade.
Please contact me with any questions!
1. post your second paper rough draft to your weblog. If your weblog is not listed on the right side of this page, post the address in the comments below.
2. respond to the rough draft that is directly below yours in the list using the extended prompts on page 107 of allyn and bacon. Keep in mind how useful it is to get good feedback, and that feedback is 20% of your grade.
Please contact me with any questions!
gladwell dot com / Big and Bad: "Over the past decade, a number of major automakers in America have relied on the services of a French-born cultural anthropologist, G. Clotaire Rapaille, whose speciality is getting beyond the rational--what he calls 'cortex'--impressions of consumers and tapping into their deeper, 'reptilian' responses. And what Rapaille concluded from countless, intensive sessions with car buyers was that when S.U.V. buyers thought about safety they were thinking about something that reached into their deepest unconscious. 'The No. 1 feeling is that everything surrounding you should be round and soft, and should give,' Rapaille told me. 'There should be air bags everywhere. Then there's this notion that you need to be up high. That's a contradiction, because the people who buy these S.U.V.s know at the cortex level that if you are high there is more chance of a rollover. But at the reptilian level they think that if I am bigger and taller I'm safer. You feel secure because you are higher and dominate and look down. That you can look down is psychologically a very powerful notion. And what was the key element of safety when you were a child? It was that your mother fed you, and there was warm liquid. That's why cupholders are absolutely crucial for safety. If there is a car that has no cupholder, it is not safe."
One more reading!
Please have this essay read by class on Wednesday, July 14th.
gladwell dot com / Big and Bad: "Ford had planned to sell the Expedition for thirty-six thousand dollars, and its best estimate was that it could build one for twenty-four thousand--which, in the automotive industry, is a terrifically high profit margin. Sales, the company predicted, weren't going to be huge. After all, how many Americans could reasonably be expected to pay a twelve-thousand-dollar premium for what was essentially a dressed-up truck? But Ford executives decided that the Expedition would be a highly profitable niche product. They were half right. The 'highly profitable' part turned out to be true. Yet, almost from the moment Ford's big new S.U.V.s rolled off the assembly line in Wayne, there was nothing 'niche' about the Expedition.
Ford had intended to split the assembly line at the Michigan Truck Plant between the Expedition and the Ford F-150 pickup. But, when the first flood of orders started coming in for the Expedition, the factory was entirely given over to S.U.V.s. The orders kept mounting."
Please have this essay read by class on Wednesday, July 14th.
gladwell dot com / Big and Bad: "Ford had planned to sell the Expedition for thirty-six thousand dollars, and its best estimate was that it could build one for twenty-four thousand--which, in the automotive industry, is a terrifically high profit margin. Sales, the company predicted, weren't going to be huge. After all, how many Americans could reasonably be expected to pay a twelve-thousand-dollar premium for what was essentially a dressed-up truck? But Ford executives decided that the Expedition would be a highly profitable niche product. They were half right. The 'highly profitable' part turned out to be true. Yet, almost from the moment Ford's big new S.U.V.s rolled off the assembly line in Wayne, there was nothing 'niche' about the Expedition.
Ford had intended to split the assembly line at the Michigan Truck Plant between the Expedition and the Ford F-150 pickup. But, when the first flood of orders started coming in for the Expedition, the factory was entirely given over to S.U.V.s. The orders kept mounting."
For class on Wednesday, July 14:
1. Be sure to have read chapters 19 and 20, and answer the questions that I'll post on this blog.
2. Be sure to email me a copy of your rough draft of your second paper before class. Use the secret code phrase, "cheese whiz" in your email subject so I can easily sort your papers out from my other correspondence
Unrelated to class (so far) but interesting: 3hive.com, free, legal mp3s.
1. Be sure to have read chapters 19 and 20, and answer the questions that I'll post on this blog.
2. Be sure to email me a copy of your rough draft of your second paper before class. Use the secret code phrase, "cheese whiz" in your email subject so I can easily sort your papers out from my other correspondence
Unrelated to class (so far) but interesting: 3hive.com, free, legal mp3s.
A course weblog for English 1010 at Utah Valley State College.
About Me
- Name: craniac
- Location: Orem, Utah, United States
My biggest problem in life is anxiety and insomnia, which seems to get worse as I get older.
Links
- WebCt Link
- Anonymous Feedback
- Latest assignment schedule
- News
- UVSC online writing center
- Geoff Stanley
- Markus Jessup
- Cameron Avery
- John Ellsworth
- Matt Mason
- Katrina Olsen
- Tamie Broderick
- Eric Martin
- Omar Ara
- Jared Crockett
- Lindy Hager
- R.S. Armstrong
- J. Boren
- Cody Forsyth.
- N. Sheffer
- Creations Written
- Brian T Malone
- Poodle Streudle
- Put Down the Butcher's Knife
- Obaka
- Fat2Ack
- tjleng1010
- Ray Scott
- Technoliteracy
- Cheese Whiz
- Mandy
- Melissa
- Brigham
- Aimee
- Afton
- Isaiah
- Shaun
- Lauren
- Johnathan
- John S.
- Jon Hunt
- Ben H.
- Michael F.
- Annie P.
- Kirsten O.
- Jennifer C.
- Diego P.
- Adam B.
- Chris T.
- J. Martin
Course weblogs
Even older Weblogs
Previous Posts
- GeekList: Free Computer Artificial Intelligence Op...
- I will be in my office (or down in the classroom) ...
- research papers are due today at 8 a.m., the end o...
- McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Nihilist Job R�sum�.
- When commenting takes over your life. | Blogging P...
- Today: discuss chapter 22April 7th, Friday: Annota...
- UCSC Library - How To Write an Annotated Bibliogra...
- Lawyer Blog (?) | MetaFilter
- Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground: What Do You Li...
- April 5th: Please bring one bibliography entry to ...
Archives
- May 02, 2004
- May 09, 2004
- May 16, 2004
- May 23, 2004
- May 30, 2004
- June 06, 2004
- June 13, 2004
- June 20, 2004
- June 27, 2004
- July 04, 2004
- July 11, 2004
- July 18, 2004
- July 25, 2004
- August 01, 2004
- August 22, 2004
- August 29, 2004
- September 05, 2004
- September 12, 2004
- September 26, 2004
- October 03, 2004
- October 10, 2004
- October 17, 2004
- October 24, 2004
- October 31, 2004
- November 07, 2004
- November 14, 2004
- November 21, 2004
- November 28, 2004
- December 05, 2004
- January 09, 2005
- June 19, 2005
- November 20, 2005
- February 12, 2006
- February 19, 2006
- February 26, 2006
- March 05, 2006
- March 12, 2006
- March 19, 2006
- March 26, 2006
- April 02, 2006
- April 09, 2006
- April 16, 2006
