Scholarly Stuff

Grad school assignments, required readings, etc.

Writing Wednesday: Food scarcity

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I loathe group projects. I’ve never liked them. I cried in the 6th grade when my English teacher made us self-select into groups, and my friends excluded me from their pairings, so I had to work with a BOY. (Oh, the drama.)

If I ever do become a professor one of these days, I will not assign group projects outside of the classroom unless absolutely necessary. I do think collaboration is a useful teaching tool, but when it comes to putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), I think individual work is better.

All that is to say, my graduate professors are keen on group work. It would be different, perhaps, if we were all on-site and had the opportunity to meet at the library, etc., but we are scattered all around the country in different time zones, with different work schedules and home lives. It’s quite frustrating to try to coordinate who does what, when, how, etc. I am thankful that I’m not the team leader this go-round, but still — everyone’s input is necessary, and when I’m away from my laptop for a few hours, then I’m behind on the discussion and feel like I haven’t pulled my weight.

We did manage to finish a group policy paper on food scarcity in the U.S. this week, complete with proposed solutions and a timetable. The ironic piece of this problematic puzzle is that there is actually enough food produced in the world to feed everyone! There are so many interlocking factors that muddy the waters on how to actually get food to people who need it. Delving into this issue makes me appreciate my first-world problems like the grocery mega-store not having enough sugar-free bottled drinks for my kids’ school lunches. Don’t they know I need to buy at least 6 packages at a time?! 😉

Virtual presentation prep

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I have the privilege of giving a guest lecture on Tuesday morning, and I will be speaking on political frameworks in virtual worlds. In other words, there are commonly accepted models to describe politics & economics that I have found to be replicated quite clearly in so-called synthetic environments.

The “virtual” economy of Second Life, for example, has a fluctuating currency exchange rate and generates millions of real USD$ each year in commerce transactions.

Although the topic is one that I’ve spoken on several times, I am particularly excited about this one because we’ve changed up the format a bit. Instead of just talking about how the virtual world of Second Life can be useful as an educational, research and commercial tool, I’m actually giving the presentation inworld (<<that term refers to being “inside” the virtual world). Basically, I converted each of my PowerPoint slides into image files, uploaded them into Second Life, then sorted them into a presentation tool. I will simply click on the picture to advance the slides, just like you would in a normal PowerPoint presentation. I will be there “live” to conduct the presentation, but we could also have set it up where the professor and I both use headsets and communicate through my avatar. Isn’t technology grand?

(This is a snapshot of my Second Life avatar. I made a new t-shirt for her today, in honor of Baylor’s heart-stopping, knuckle-clenching win over TCU last night.)

Writing Wednesday: Backcasting

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In my class on the Culture of Formal Work Organizations, we have a team assignment to apply organizational structure models to our case study: Dune, or more specifically, the futuristic planet Arrakis. My team has decided to use the backcasting model to speculate how the genetically-engineered Mentats could come to be. A Mentat in the world of Frank Herbert’s Dune is a human computer — not technologically enhanced like a robot, but an actual human who has been bred to perform at a very high-level intellectual capacity.

The point is to demonstrate mastery of the forecasting technique (looking from a future point backward to present day, in this case), not necessarily whether we believe it’s truly possible to achieve the end result.

We are going to chart a critical path using historical and scientific information about nanotechnology, gene mapping, etc. within political environs that would encourage the pursuit of human computers. It should be interesting!

Writing Wednesday: The Age of Enlightenment

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I’m reading about the Age of Enlightenment this week in class. It’s moments like these when I wish that I would’ve minored in Political Science instead of Economics as an undergrad, so that I would have a better foundational understanding of key philosophers of political thought.

One thing that struck me as particularly interesting was Thomas Hobbes’ comparison of politics to geometry. Nowadays, we tend to think of politics as highly opinionated and not a topic that lends itself naturally to quantitative research. Early Enlightenment thinkers, however, believed that the hallmark of science is certainty, and the Maker (God, or in this case, the creations of the human mind) has ownership/rights over his creation.

Back to the topic of geometry: because we created definitions for shapes like triangles and circles, they can be mathematically explained. In a similar vein, Hobbes stated, “… civil philosophy is demonstrable, because we make the commonwealth ourselves.” We created the government; therefore, it falls under the same category of “certainty” as mathematical theorems.

I will be curious to see how the Age of Enlightenment unfolds.

Foodie Friday: Travel snacks

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I’m on the road, as we speak (or read, as the case may be). At the beginning of each semester, I have a Residency Weekend to attend in Georgia on-site at my university. I enjoy going, because I get to meet and reconnect with the classmates I normally only converse with online.

The past couple of times that I’ve gone, I flew, but airline tickets are so expensive these days, I decided to take a road trip. That leads me to this week’s topic: travel snacks. What to bring on the road to keep from eating junk all weekend?

As a low-carber, I like to munch on beef jerky and nuts. Beef jerky is pretty low in carbs (unless you eat the whole bag, which I admit that I’ve done before). Nuts are a good choice, as well, but the same caveat applies. I’m not a big snacker, in the first place, so I don’t usually take much food on trips, but it’s good to have some on hand, in a pinch.

The thing that gets me when I’m traveling is breakfast. Most continental breakfasts at hotels consist of: muffins, donuts, waffles, bananas, orange juice and coffee. Hmm, looks like coffee for me! 😦  So, I like to bring (or buy, if there’s a grocery store nearby) microwavable frozen omelets. They taste good, are very low-carb, packed with protein and super easy on the go. When everyone else is having a sugar crash at 10am, I’ll still be awake! 😉

Writing Wednesday: Stage play

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I started working on my first script a couple of years ago, and I regret that I’m still working on it. I keep telling myself that when I finish school (for real finish … because I’m not going back for more!), then I’ll have time to complete these lingering projects.

I have had the idea for the story for several years, and I actually started writing it in prose form about 10 years ago, but my computer crashed, and I was so disappointed to lose all that work that I put the idea aside. I considered it again when I read about a playwriting contest through NaNoWriMo, called Script Frenzy. I didn’t make the 100-page goal by any stretch, but it did encourage me to dust off the cobwebs from my imagination and put my tale into words again.

My writing style veers toward stream-of-consciousness more so than strict outlines, so I could not tell you today how the play will end. I have a general idea of certain plot elements, but I’m letting it fall together as I write. With no further ado, I present to you the teaser for my play, Daughter of Prejudice:

Daddy’s girl is engaged to be married. His precious, treasured Hyacinthe – his Cindy – is no longer the little girl of his mind’s eye. She has bloomed into a confident young woman, and it is time for her to learn the secret of her namesake. Cliff remembers it all: the broken flower pot, the missing person, the investigation, the conviction – like it was yesterday. She needs to know the story that has haunted him all these years.

Daughter of Prejudice is a coming-of-age tale about a newly engaged young woman who must come to terms with a family secret and learn how to overcome generations of mistrust. It is different from anything else I have ever written, and parts of it are very difficult because of the controversial subject matter, but it is an exciting project that I hope to devote more time to in the not-too-distant future.

Book reports

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My soon-to-be 6th grader was quite disappointed to learn that you still have to do book reports even in doctoral studies. I love reading, but I must admit that I do not enjoy book reports. I like talking about books. I like telling others what I think about books. I do not particularly like cross-referencing other people’s insights about books and putting my two cents into 12 pages’ worth.

Ugh.

So, I have procrastinated. I’ve put it off as long as possible, but it is due on Friday, and since we’re going out of town tomorrow and Thursday night is the big Harry Potter premiere (!!), I must finish it by Wednesday night. My senior English teacher in high school once said that Honors students are the worst procrastinators, because they know that they can still get it done at the last minute. With chagrin, I admit that it’s true. At least, it used to be true. I don’t have the wherewithal to pull all-nighters anymore, so I have to carve out time to finish my work.

To my credit (for what it’s worth), I actually started on this assignment the second week of class, with the great intention of finishing well in advance. Ha! We see how well that plan worked out, eh? Anyway … I’ve got my work cut out for me this week. I only have about two pages written so far. D’oh!

Monkeys like cash more than bananas

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I’m shifting from a dictatorship to a capitalist society, on the home front. Starting yesterday, the boys have a new chore chart with an incentive plan. They’ve had the chore chart for a while, but there were no prizes for completing them, just that they had to do them. I decided to up the ante a bit and take advantage of their competitive streaks.

There are still taxes to pay, as it were (in keeping with any capitalist society)–there are chores that have to be completed, whether a reward is earned or not. The reward comes when the chores are finished without having to be hounded about it. (In other words, they still have to do their daily chores* and practice music, but if I have to remind them over & over, then they don’t get to mark that day as completed.)

Here’s the deal … There is a paper on the fridge with five blank tables (the big three have five daily categories, and the little pair have four), which are labeled as follows:

  1. Read for 30 minutes
  2. 30 minutes of physical activity (including, but not limited to: bicycling, jogging, trampoline, punching bag and Wii Fit or Wii Sports Resort – such as boxing)
  3. Art/craft/QUIET activity for 30 minutes (LEGO blocks count, for instance)
  4. Complete daily chores (these rotate each week … more on that in a bit)*
  5. Practice music for 30 min (big three – piano &/or guitar)

Here’s a sample table:

Physical activity for 30 minutes:

Ry

Ri

D

J

A
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat

Each full table is worth $1 (so, up to $5 and $4/week, respectively). That’s a new pack of Pokemon cards in just two weeks! 😉

So far, it is working great, and everyone is stoked about it! In fact, the younger two wanted to bring books in the car on the way to day camp today, so they could add to the 10 min that they read with No. 3 on the couch this morning. Did you catch that? The three of them sat on the couch TOGETHER and didn’t fight. It’s a Christmas miracle.

* The “daily chores” are divided as follows, and they rotate every week:

Younger three:

1)      Feed & water pets
2)      Set table for dinner (which is really just passing out drinks) & sweep floor after dinner
3)      Wipe table after dinner

Older two:

1)      Trash (empty as needed; take to curb on Thursday p.m.) and mail (check & sort mail)
2)      Dishes (help unload & load) and phone (check voicemail; record messages)

Besides helping them learn responsibility, I’m also pleased that they are getting back in the mode of concentration/reading/etc. so that the new school year won’t be such a shock to the summer lazies!

Writing Wednesday: Grants

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I am not reading anything new right now, whether for school or pleasure. I am on p. 492 out of 873 in A Clash of Kings, which is difficult to put down to concentrate on my required reading concerning education policy, but I’m managing my time ok right now. Things at work have been pretty busy lately, so I thought I would talk this week about writing grants. Grantwriting (yes, I prefer it as one word, though I’ve seen it both ways … I think either is acceptable) can be intimidating. Then again, asking for money face-to-face is intimidating, too!

I have worked with grants in some way, shape or fashion for about 12 years. I’ve experienced the process from start to finish: researching prospective funders, writing the proposal, editing and submitting the proposal, stewarding the funder and administering the budget. My favorite part of the whole process is writing the proposal. It may sound like a no-brainer, but the key to success in grantwriting is to follow directions. If the funder says to use Times New Roman 12pt font with 1″ margins and no more than three pages, then by golly, don’t ramble on for five pages in Arial, for cryin’ out loud.

Before you start writing, research what the foundation/agency has funded in the past. If they don’t have a website, look up their IRS Form 990 — they have to report earnings and distributions. It isn’t always necessary to apply for the same thing as another organization, but you do need to be mindful of the funder’s interests and priorities. If they have a website, be sure to look at the president’s bio or welcome page. There are often nuggets of very helpful information about the funder’s strategic plan or vision.

When I first began writing grants, it reminded me a lot of scholarship applications that I submitted my senior year of high school. There are standard tidbits of info that you ought to include about yourself, yet you want to make yourself stand out, so you pick a couple of accomplishments or interests that might make your application resonate with the reader. The same goes for grants–you must be keenly aware of their funding priorities, yet you need to paint a word picture of how your project/program is different from the [many, many] others that they will read.

No matter what the result of the proposal, send an acknowledgement letter. In my office, we refer to the “Thank you for rejecting us letter” that we send when a proposal has been declined. We thank the foundation for considering our request, acknowledge that we realize not all requests can be funded, and end with a positive sentence about how we look forward to finding future opportunities of mutual interest. It never hurts to be gracious, even when you’ve been rejected. It might just be that same program officer who reads your next proposal and is more willing to give it a second chance.

Writing Wednesday: A Clash of Kings

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I am getting a bit spoiled to the less-hectic pace of the summer semester. Even though I’m taking two classes, the reading load is much less than a normal semester. That said, I’ve given myself some leeway to begin the second book in the Game of Thrones series, A Clash of Kings.

Continuing to build upon the strong character development in the first installment, this book begs to be read until my eyes begin to cross from fatigue. My two favorite characters are still Ayra Stark and Jon Snow, though I’ve taken a liking to the young blacksmith nicknamed “the Bull” and can’t wait to see what transpires as he discovers his true identity. I have a couple of theories, but I will reserve them for later, because I don’t want to give any spoilers.

As for that book review due next month … yeah, I should probably start working on it soon. 😉