The Psychological Damage Of The Red Pen

This story came up on my radar a few months ago, and I'm only now getting to blogging about it. From the Telegraph:

Australian educators are being urged to correct homework in less aggressive colours like green and blue, in an attempt to improve mental health in the classroom.

The plans are part of a package of measures dismissed as "kooky, loony, loopy lefty" by opposition politicians.

Other tips in the Good Mental Health Rocks kit, which was distributed this month to about 30 schools in Queensland state, including apologising to students when necessary and asking pupils to conduct a "personal skills audit" where they focus on their individual strengths rather than their weaknesses.

On the issue of marking, it advises: "Don't mark in red pen (which can be seen as aggressive) - use a different color."

Stephen Robertson, the Queensland health minister, defended the guidelines which were devised by his department, saying that youth suicide was a serious issue.

"If mental health professionals determine that as one of a number of strategies teachers should consider, then I'll support them every day of the week," he said. "This is not a matter for ridicule, this is serious."

Suicide? From too much red pen? I find that hard to swallow. Peer rejection, sure. Bad grades in general, OK. But actual psychological damage from the usage of red pen?

I had teachers who liked to grade with those thick two-toned pencils — orange on one side, green on the other, so it made neat swirly-colored marks on the page. The color didn't change the fact that I missed an answer on my quiz, and only got a 93%. (Yes, I was one of those.)

Granted, I'm not a psychologist, nor do I play one on TV, but this seems a little extreme.

Red marks excessively aggressive? To hell with the color of pen; just make sure you can give me a reasonable explanation as to why you marked my essay off by three points on page two, other than that vague damn question mark you put in the margin.

A Victory For Science

While I don't usually talk about politics / morality / touchy subjects on my blog, I did want to make mention of this:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research.

Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.

I'm not a biologist, or a geneticist, or a scientist of any type. However, I do know enough about cell biology and DNA and related sciences to be strongly supportive of stem cell research. Stem cell research may likely lead to cures for neurological diseases that have plagued my husband's family, and who knows what other good it could lead to.

In my admittedly layman's opinion, this is a huge step in the right direction for science.

Oddly enough, the specific quote I had been hoping to include here has been edited out of CNN's article since I first read it, and has been replaced with Nancy Reagan's thankful statement to President Obama in response to him lifting the ban.

The quote I had intended to include — and would have posted via Twitter earlier today, had it been under 140 characters — referred to the fact that massive numbers of embryos are destroyed in fertility clinics, and that those embryos can now be used to save the lives of others.

This has been one of my own main points in the discussion on stem cell research. Not to sound like I'm belittling human life, but the first comparison that comes to mind is dumpster diving: fetching perfectly good unwanted foodstuffs (and other items) out of someone else's trash, then either using them yourself or donating them to charity. It was going to a landfill somewhere, anyway; isn't it better that it be used for a good cause? It was already at the end of its original presumed usefulness, whether it was a head of cabbage or Ms. Suleman's ninth embryo.

Like I said, I don't usually venture out into sensitive territory, but I felt this deserved mentioning. I welcome your opinion in the comments, whether or not you agree with me on this.

Commentary on Two Snippets of Pop Culture

#1: Britney Spears' "comeback" performance at the VMAs. I'm so out of touch that I wouldn't have even known about this, had I not checked CNN.com yesterday morning. Yesterday evening, I looked up the performance on YouTube (I love the internet!) and saw what everyone had been talking about. She didn't just look like she was "phoning it in" -- she looked like someone who would get absolutely lambasted on American Idol. I wasn't too keen on the song, either, but that's just my personal distaste for modern pop music.

I had no problem with her weight. I was pleasantly surprised that she didn't look anorexic anymore -- I guess having two kids would take care of that, though. I agree that she could have been a little more toned, sure. Jiggly rock stars don't go over too well, especially when the costume leaves so little to the imagination. But her actual size and dimensions? Perfectly fine. Pleasantly curvy.

The performance? Sub-par. Unprofessional. Not MTV calibre. She had to have done better in the dress rehearsal for the show to have gone on as planned. I'm wondering what sorts of chemicals, legal or illicit, may have helped to drag her performance down so far.


#2: Kathy Griffin's Emmy acceptance speech quotable: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god now!"

As an atheist/nontheist, I find everyone's level of taken-aback-ness to be more amusing than Griffin's comments. Everybody knows that Kathy Griffin has a crass and irreverent sense of humor -- or, at least, everyone *should* know that by now. The reaction of the Catholics and the Christians in general just reinforces the assertion of leading atheists like Richard Dawkins: in our society, religion is held on a pedestal, untouchable, and to poke fun at religion is blasphemous and unacceptable. Virtually any other aspect of life is fair game, but to make light of a person's faith is grounds for -- well, for getting your Emmy speech edited for the rebroadcast.

With that said... there is a time and a place for crass humor. An Emmy acceptance speech may not necessarily be that time or place. Were she to have included that excerpt in her stand-up routine, I'd find it hilarious and totally in line. This is why I don't consider myself a militant New Atheist: I play the game. At the risk of exaggerating, I'll say that I can empathize with the dilemmas faced by gays as to how "out" to be. Especially here in the Midwest, where the majority of my co-workers are Christian and strongly so, I would be asking for trouble if I told everyone that I don't believe in God. If it comes up, I judge whether I'm safe to expose myself as an atheist, but I certainly don't volunteer the information.

Funny, isn't it? I'll tell the entire internet, but not the Catholic woman who sits in the next cube.

Goodbye, Saddlemire

Courtesy of the BG News: University says farewell to Saddlemire

This was the building where I bought my books every semester. This was the building where I sold those same books back every semester. This was the building that was supposedly shaped like a slide projector.

Apparently, the Saddlemire Student Services Building is being demolished, in preparation for an addition to the theater department. I'll grant the theater department that they could use some more space, that's for sure. An additional 500-seat theater, among other facilities, will definitely be a welcome addition to campus.

Still, though... it's weird, watching my university change over time. Granted, it's all for the better, but it's still unsettling.

Dr. Timothy D. King, 1949-2007

Timothy D. King 57, of Bowling Green, Ohio died Friday (February 9, 2007) at Wood County Hospital. He was born July 3, 1949 in Cheverly, Maryland to Thomas & Annie (Kilburn) King. He was married to Patricia (Brown) on December 19, 1970; they were married for thirty years.

He is survived by his sons, David (Hillary) of Chicago and Brian of Denver; daughter, Ellen King of Bowling Green; former wife and close friend Patricia; brother, William (Patty) of Piedmont, Ca.; and special friend Carol Berman of Orchard Park, N.Y.

Mr. King was the Associate Director of Residence Life at B.G.S.U. He received his BA from Macalester College, Master's (1973) & PHD (1978) from the University of Minnesota. He was a leader with Cub Scout pack #358 and a member of the Maumee Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation. He was an avid cook, a loving father and was known throughout the community for his generosity and witty humor.

(read the full obituary at Dunn Funeral Homes)

read more...

Un-American

Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi is dead.

I'm not sure how to react to my reaction. Yes, I understand that he killed innocent people. And I do realize that he was an important ringleader in terrorist activities in Iraq.

But I just can't make myself happy about someone's death, no matter how many people they themselves have killed.

I felt the same way when Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed by the military. I just can't be jubilant about another human being's death. Maybe this makes me un-American. Maybe this makes me a goddamn hippie, or a left-wing nutjob, or something worse. I just can't make myself say about anyone, "I'm glad they're dead."

Of course, none of my friends or family were victims of Al-Zarqawi. Were I in that situation, I'll grant that my reaction may have been different. I honestly can't say for sure.

Even if I hadn't had an initial reaction of not-happiness, I would have been made even more not-happy — no, make that "disgusted" — when the media began showing images of Al-Zarqawi's bloated corpse. Honestly, that was unnecessary. The one main identification image was bad enough, with his eyes closed and his face all slack in death. But then I saw another, worse image, even more disturbing, showing his swollen lips and protruding tongue... that just took the cake for me.

There's a line of decency to be observed here. I've seen too many REAL CORPSES on the news lately, without any advance warning of graphic content. I doubt that the media would be so casual about showing the corpses of American soldiers on national television.

I could go into a full-blown rant, but I think it's probably best if I just end here and go to bed.

Group seeks halt to latest Sky acquisition

by Mary-Beth McLaughlin
Toledo Blade Business Writer

A New York City consumer advocacy group wants the Federal Reserve Board to deny the latest acquisition request by Sky Financial Group Inc., alleging the Bowling Green company does not make enough loans to minorities or issues them at higher rates than those for whites.

read more »

Despite the fact that I work for Sky (and am a caucasian to boot), they turned me down for a car loan in 2003 and a mortgage in 2004. Guess I'm in good company, anyway.

Fort Worth is OK = Mom is OK

I was worried about Mom and Gary for a while there, being that they live in Texas and were potentially in the path of Hurrican Rita, albeit several hundred miles inland. After all, a crazy-ass thunderstorm can be just as bad as an all-out hurricane. After checking weather.com this morning, though, I figured they'd be OK:

I added Fort Worth on the map, for all of us non-Texans who have no effing clue where anything is down there.

So, Mom, Gary, I'm glad y'all're OK. Sorry I haven't called to check on you, but I figured I'd better not call during a thunderstorm. ;-)

Kilties Member Dies During Preliminary Competition

By Drum Corps Planet
Sep 3, 2005, 19:37

Joel "Lothar" Magnuson, mellophone player with the Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps, tragically passed away this evening after collapsing on the field during the corps' performance at the Drum Corps Associates' preliminary competition.

Following his collapse, the Kilties cleared the field mid-performance while medical personnel attended to him. The corps then restarted its performance after Joel was taken by ambulance toward a nearby hospital. Following the corps' official photograph, they were told of Joel's untimely death.

Joel was a charter member of the Kilties, from Racine, WI, when they reformed as a Senior corps in 1993. When not marching with the corps, "Lothar" worked as a chef at Amelia's Restaurant in Milwaukee, WI.

The entire Drum Corps Planet family extends our thoughts & prayers to the Joel's family, friends, and the Kiltie organization during this difficult time.

And I was there.

read more...

Gay... Madrid?

First, Canada:

OTTAWA, Ontario (Reuters) -- Canada's Parliament Tuesday approved legislation to allow same sex-marriages across the country, despite fierce opposition from conservative politicians and religious groups.

Legislators voted by 158-133 to support the bill, which makes Canada only the third country in the world after Belgium and the Netherlands to permit gay marriages.

Most Canadian provinces already allow same-sex marriages, and Canada has become a popular destination for gay and lesbian couples from countries where these unions are banned.

The minority Liberal government said it had to draw up the legislation after courts in eight of the country's 10 provinces ruled that a ban same-sex marriages was unconstitutional because it violated Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Next, Spain:

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Parliament legalized gay marriage Thursday, defying conservatives and clergy who opposed making traditionally Roman Catholic Spain the third country in the world to officially recognize same-sex unions. Gay rights activists cheered lawmakers and blew them kisses.

The measure passed the 350-seat Congress of Deputies by a vote of 187-147 with four abstentions. The bill, part of the ruling Socialists' aggressive agenda for social reform, also lets gay couples adopt children and inherit each others' property.

The bill is now law. The Senate, where conservatives hold the largest number of seats, rejected the bill last week, but the Senate is an advisory body and final say on legislation rested with the Congress of Deputies.

Gay couples will be allowed to marry as soon as the law is published in the official government registry, the Boletin Oficial del Estado. This could come as early as Friday or within two weeks at the latest, the parliament's press office said.

The Netherlands and Belgium were already up in this whole gay marriage thing. The U.S.? Well, it's no secret that Dubya supports an amendment to ban gay marriage.

My question is, where in this whole "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" thing does it say that... oh, forget it. I'm so annoyed with the general intolerance of the right wing that I can't even formulate a proper argument.

I just hope that lots of gay American couples have at least one partner who meets the Employment Requirements of Canadian Immigration and Citizenship.

Elephant Riders From The Northwest Bring... A New Album

CLUTCH SET TO RELEASE THEIR SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM ?ROBOT HIVE / EXODUS? ON JUNE 21, 2005

Co-Headlining Sounds of the Underground Tour Beginning June 24

New York, NY — DRT recording artist Clutch are set to release their sixth studio album titled, Robot Hive / Exodus. The album was prodcued by J. Robbins (Jawbox, The Dismemberment Plan) and recorded at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, NY, and mixed at Water Music in Hoboken, NJ.

The follow-up to the acclaimed Blast Tyrant, Robot Hive / Exodus firmly implants Clutch as one of the most talented hard rock bands making music today. With wildly creative songs that feature amazing musicianship and thought-provoking lyrics, Robot Hive / Exodus solidifies Clutch?s hard rock legend status. The band will showcase their new material on the upcoming ?Sounds of the Underground? tour which they are co-headlining along with Lamb of God. The tour begins June 24th in Lowell, MA, and will cross the entire country through the first week of August.

All The News That's Fit To Blog

A lot has happened in the world in the past week or so, and I've been pretty slow on the uptake. Strangely enough, a lot of the newsworthy items lately have been ones on which I have an opinion—which, honestly, is kind of strange. Sure, the ABC Evening News at my house can seem like MST3K, even though I watch it alone... but most of it isn't worth blogging about, IMO.

So, in this marathon blog post, I plan to address Terri Schiavo, Pope John Paul II, and Peter Jennings. Perhaps some other things as they occur to me. Feel free to ignore this post if you're sick of hearing about any or all of these topics; I won't know any different, so I won't be offended.

read more...

High School Teacher Goes Ballistic

Holy shit. I never had a teacher go off like this in high school, thank goodness. When Mr. Mantel wants you to stand up for the National Anthem, you're damn well gonna stand up, or you'll get your chair pulled out from underneath you.

Teacher freaks out about National Anthem, with Video

Edit: If you'd like to download the video, there's a torrent here. Apparently all the sites hosting the video are starting to get bogged down. (Go figure.)

Hunter S. Thompson, 1937-2005

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hunter S. Thompson, a renegade journalist whose "gonzo" style threw out any pretense at objectivity and established the hard-living writer as a counter-culture icon, fatally shot himself at his Colorado home on Sunday night, police said. He was 67.

Thompson's son, Juan, released a statement saying he had found his father dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at the writer's Owl Creek farm near Aspen.

Thompson, famed for such adrenaline-packed narratives as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," turned his drug and alcohol-fueled clashes with authority into a central theme of his work, challenging the quieter norms of established journalism in the process.

I'd never even heard of Hunter S. Thompson before that Fantasy Lit class that Amy and I took back in... '97? '98? Anyway, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was on our reading list when we first bought our books for the semester, although we weren't slated to actually read it until much later in the syllabus.

I remember Aaron coming into the dorm room Amy and I shared, and seeing my copy of Fear and Loathing sitting atop a stack of books—probably on the floor, rather than on my desk. I think his first exclamation was, "Have you read that?!" When we answered that it was on our reading list for later in the semester, he asked if he could borrow it. Sure, no problem. Enjoy. I figured it must be a pretty good book if Aaron was that excited about checking it out, even if it was required reading.

Boy, was I right.

I loved that Fantasy Lit class: we got to read a lot of books that one wouldn't generally consider "fantasy," including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, some ill-received Robert Blake poetry, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, and, of course, Fear and Loathing. And, since Amy and I were taking the class together, we got to have our own discussions about the books before the class discussions, which made things a little more interesting. Not that the class discussions weren't interesting in themselves, with the enlightened yet pleasantly cynical Brit, Iain, running the class.

Anyway, once we finally got to read Fear and Loathing, we understood why Aaron was so excited to read it himself. Thompson's state of mind, his imagery, and his surprisingly lucid thoughts on society in general really drew us in. I'd say that was one of my favorite books I read that semester.

Shortly thereafter, we heard that there was going to be a movie made from the book. We decided it would be worth seeing, even though there's no way they could possibly capture all the fantastic imagery and weird trips—and Johnny Depp was playing Hunter S. Thompson? Oh, boy.

Again, we were in for a surprise.

It turned out to be a great movie, using cinematic tricks and CG and fantastic acting to portray the book as near-perfect as a book-to-movie translation could possibly be. Years later, Aaron now owns the Criterion Edition of the DVD, in addition to having downloaded several of Thompson's Spoken Word shows.

So, Hunter S. Thompson, I salute you. I wish you would have told us why you felt the need to finally give in to your self-destruction, though—maybe left us one last note in your classic gonzo style, telling us why you thought you had to escape this fucked-up place.

This sucks.

Genetically Predisposed to Religion?

I found this idea fascinating: a prominent American geneticist, Dr. Hamer, apparently identified a particular gene that may predispose humans to be religious or spiritual.

Column found in The New York Times via kottke.org.

I've included the full article for posterity:

read more...

[insert enraged scream here]

This is why we need to get the fuck out of Iraq. How many innocent people have to die before we finally get our heads out of our asses and come up with a new solution?

This photo is graphic, but needs to be seen.

Via Body and Soul and Chepooka

Two Quick Tidbits

At the laundromat this evening, CNN spewed forth two unrelated but intriguing blurbs.

First: The President of the Mormon church (a.k.a. "The Prophet" of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is going to be on Larry King Live this evening at 9pm. I may have to see if I can watch it live online somehow, or check out a capture or transcript later, as we don't get CNN in our Very Basic Cable package. I'm interested in what Larry King might have to say to President Hinkley.

Second: A preliminary count of the Ukrainian re-vote shows Viktor Yuschenko has won by a landslide. Looks all the protesting and publicity was worth it. Congratulations to the dedicated voters of the Ukraine! (Makes me wonder if the U.S. didn't give up too easily on our own recent election... but that's neither here nor there at this late date.)

Edit: There's now a transcript online of the conversation between Larry King and Gordon B. Hinckley.

Christopher Reeve 1952-2004

"Hollywood needs to do more. Let's continue to take risks. Let's tackle the issues. In many ways our film community can do it better than anyone else. There is no challenge, artistic or otherwise, that we can't meet."

—Christopher Reeve