First Blog of Fall 09

1. I’m sure most people will say this, but I like the idea of everybody bringing in something interesting from their major to share with us. I don’t think it has to be very in depth, just a pertinent article or two. To foster discussion I think it would be good for the presenter to also come up with a few questions pertaining to the topic, so that we’re not just aimlessly talking about what we read.
I still think we should keep the Newsweek articles coming, just as something to fall back on. I enjoyed the discussions we had about those. Unfortunately, I probably won’t stay informed about current events unless I’m somewhat forced to do so, which is really why I’m a fan of the Newsweek idea.
Since we’re talking about plans for the semester, I also want to mention that, with only 6 of us this semester, it should be easier to plan some outside activities. I know it’s crazy, but I usually enjoy hanging out with you guys…..so let’s be friends.

2. Honestly, I don’t have much interest in continuing to work with the Boys and Girls Club. I know most people had a good time there, but our experience was negative enough that I’m pretty much done with it. I am, however, volunteering at the ROCK (which I did last semester as well, and just want to point out that it’s pretty fun and that I voted for it….). I might be slightly biased, because by working at the ROCK I’m getting hours of experience for Physical Therapy, which I need to apply to graduate schools. Regardless, I’m glad I can make time for it, because the experience is really rewarding. Last semester I worked with a little girl, Ilina, who smiled more than any kid I’ve ever seen. (Let’s remember David’s comment about how working at the ROCK would be depressing because the kids would be “sad”……clearly false.)
My time at the ROCK relates to “Understanding Human Behavior” in ways that I wasn’t expecting; while the actual kids I work with do provide good “subjects,” I found that some of the most interesting interactions occur between the parents of the children, the volunteers, the therapists, etc. They’ve formed a community of sorts and it’s really uplifting to watch them support each other.

3. My research is actually extremely intertwined with my civic engagement: my plan is to do a research project at the ROCK. The Physical Therapist who works there, Nancy, wants me to help with some research they are currently doing in which they look at the balance and core strength of kids before and after they ride the horse. I’m really interested in this topic, but I’m not sure if I can use it for my Capstone/Paideia research because I didn’t develop the original question. I need to talk more about it with my professors. Either way I feel like I should do some research related to Physical Therapy since that will be what grad schools want to see. Also, I would prefer to do something with kids, since I really enjoy working with them and that’s what I want to do eventually.
Since there are only two professors in the Kinesiology Department, I don’t have many options for whom to work with; it just depends on who has more experience in the field that I want to work. Dr. McLean’s focus is Biomechanics and Jimmy’s focus is Exercise Physiology.

4. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to study abroad because of financial reasons. If I were able to, though, I would want to do a summer program because I really can’t afford to take a semester off and it’s not very likely that they will ever have Kinesiology professors teach abroad.

Student Works Symposium

I attended the Students Works Symposium paper session related to the natural sciences. Taylor Jones and Alexis Ritzer talked about their project working with Armadillidium vulgare, also known as the roly poly. There is a bacterium called a Wolbachia that commonly infects the systems of the A. vulgare. This bacterium can only be based from a female to her offspring, and as a result the Wolbachia have evolved to feminize the male A. vulgares they infect. This increases their chance of being passed on (surviving). In some populations of A. vulgare, this feminization has caused a sex ratio skew, with more females than males. When Jones and Ritzer collected samples of the isopods, they found skewed sex ratios in three of the samples, though they did not find any Wolbachia. I find this project extremely interesting; the fact that this bacteria and isopod have coevolved for so long that the bacteria has actually changed the distribution of sexes in certain populations is amazing.

Anna Frankel talked about her work at Sea Turtle, Inc. in South Padre Island. She discussed their philosophy, which is summed up in a cause-and-effect cycle that included education, interest in refuges, desire to conserve a species, and generating revenue. It is by using this cycle—focusing on educating—that they generate an income for their own non-profit organization and are able to donate to others.

Colin Kyle presented the project he’s been doing with Apple Snails. He did three different experiments examining the egg-laying preferences of them. He tested whether or not the snails prefer natural or artificial material, elephant ear leaves or other plant leaves, cylindrical or rectangular objects, and tall or short objects. He found that the Apple Snails preferred natural material, elephant ear leaves, cylindrical objects and had no preference for short or tall objects.

At the poster session, I spent the majority of my time looking at Nick Parker’s poster presentation about torture. I thought this was interesting, especially since we discussed this issue one day in class. He stated that while it is virtually impossible to monitor torture, he does not think that the United States should condone torture. A lot of his arguments are issues that we talked about during our discussions, such as the fact that torture has always occurred and the fact that implementing anti-torture laws would be extremely difficult.

I was somewhat intimidated by the fact that I will have to make a presentation similar to these in just two years. The projects seemed to be at such a high level and I’m not so sure I will be there by my senior year. Overall though, I was very impressed by the students’ presentations.

End of Conflict Resolution Program

All things considered, I think our sessions went fairly well. I wasn’t able to go to the first session, which my group said was the most difficult as far as getting the kids’ attention. It might be because of this, but I really didn’t notice the “discipline” problems that Daniel and Gerald mentioned before our project. This could also be attributed to the fact that we worked mostly with the Torch Club (a specific group of kids who were selected because of their behavior and “promise”). Even so, the kids were interactive and pretty interested when we were teaching. Of course, they were talkative and they goofed off, but I expected that.

Despite their good reaction to the actual activities, I honestly don’t know if they got the message of the program. This is mostly because there were different kids at each session. It was hard to have any kind of repeating theme when we couldn’t reference past sessions or ask the kids to recall things they’ve learned. There was also some confusion about what we planned before the sessions and what Daniel wanted out the program. We based the curriculum on “Conflict Resolution” and Daniel wanted us to focus more on “Peer Mediation.” While some of the objectives of the Conflict Resolution program can mold themselves to Peer Mediation, they are two different topics. Before the last session, we tried to change the plans to achieve this goal, but I’m not sure how effective it was.

I think that this program achieved a few goals: we got the kids involved for a half hour in something that was more than their normal recreation activities. However, I’m hoping that the kids gleaned something that was more meaningful as well. I honestly don’t expect the kids to do much peer mediation, and I really don’t even expect them to share with others what they’ve learned. If they just remember the skills we taught them enough to personally use them, then I’ll be happy.

I think that the most valuable parts of this experience were the things we learned about volunteering and working with kids in general. I hope that, by coming to the club several times, the kids at least understood that we were interested in interacting with them. I also think that we learned some things about the need for effective communication. If anything, I think this taught us that we can’t assume or take for granted the fact that someone has time to organize events outside of their actual job.

JDA Lecture

This lecture—as well as the readings—broached several subjects which, honestly, I’d never even considered. I think this fact reflects the inability of people who don’t have to face these issues to really understand the damage inflicted. For instance, I’ve never realized the obstacles that a “trans”-gender person must face on a daily basis. Clearly, I have heard of the violence and bigotry that goes on, though I rarely think about the emphasis but on gender labeling. I found this aspect of the dialogue extremely interesting. Matt talked about the birth of a child and how the very first thing said about that person is either “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl.” This is so ingrained into our society that it never even crossed my mind as odd. Just like I’ve never considered the existence of a boys’ bathroom” and a “girls’ bathroom” odd. It’s so easy for me—a relatively feminine, straight female—to never give a second thought to either of these things. For Eli and Matt, however, they could be issues that have plagued their thoughts since childhood. I think that this hugely pertains to “understanding human behavior.” It would be impossible to understand how Matt and Eli look at these problems vs. how I look at these problems without considering our involvement with the actual problems. Because I am not forced to give myself what I deem an insufficient label, I don’t think I can fully understand how Matt and Eli feel when they are forced to do just that.

This desire of society to designate everyone as either male or female was one of a few examples the two speakers gave of “whose bodies we value and whose we leave out?” Another example was the relatively new issue of genetic testing. Eli mentioned that since the emergence of genetic testing, women are now encouraged to test their babies during pregnancy. As a result, a mother can know before the birth whether or not her child has the propensity to develop Down’s Syndrome. Not only that, but if the child DOES have this propensity, many doctors will actually encourage the mother to have the fetus aborted. As a result, approximately 90% of fetuses who have to propensity to develop Down’s Syndrome are aborted. If this is not a statement about what society deems valuable and invaluable, I don’t know what is.

I think that we could have some really interesting discussions on this topic of society’s habit of putting value on bodies. How has it changed? It seems that we’re putting more value on African American bodies…they have civil rights, our new president is black. But has the internalized racism of American people really dissipated? This is quite possibly one of the root issues that influences understanding human behavior, or more specifically understanding why humans treat other humans the way they do.

Spanking

I found these articles interesting, the yes (Gershoff) side more so than the no (Baumrind, et al.). Personally, I am supportive of spanking children and even some cases of corporal punishment. I wish that the no side would have presented more arguments actually supporting spanking; Baumrind, et al. merely disqualified Gershoff. Several of the comments were legitimate and were helpful in clarifying Gershoff’s meta-analysis, but honestly I found the article pretty dull.

One thing that neither of the articles really mentioned that I believe to be the key factor in whether or not spanking/CP is successful is the issue of emotion. In my opinion, a parent should not physically punish their child if their emotions are too strong at the time. For instance, if a child does something that really infuriates the parent—whether it’s breaking something important, deliberately disobeying, fighting with a sibling, etc.—then the parent must wait until their emotions die down before administering punishment. If not, the act of punishment is not objective and there is too much potential for a parent to get carried away. This objectivity is imperative in administering a successful, appropriate spanking, etc.

Another issue that I feel is important was brought up by Baumrind, et al: the use of CP as a supplement to another punishment. It’s not so much this exact issue that I think is noteworthy, but rather the inclusion of conversation in CP. If the child is not fully aware of why their being punished, then it is completely pointless, and obviously detrimental. However, I believe that both before and after a spanking the parent should discuss what happened with the child, making sure to ask them if they understand what they did wrong. Afterwards, the parent should emphasize the fact that they don’t WANT to spank the child, and that the child can prevent this from happening by simply following the rules. I would even say hugging the child afterward and telling them you love them is good. The purpose of CP is the short-lived pain that it incurs. Once that is done, there is no need to add any kind of emotional of verbal pain to that.

A few other topics that weren’t discussed were the differences between different children. Personally, I was a bit of an angel-child. I’ve been told that I was spanked once, and then never needed it again. Apparently my parents would threaten from time to time and that’s all it took. My cousin, on the other hand, was a year older than me, raised in almost exact similar conditions, and was the biggest hell-raising little boy ever. He was spanked routinely, though it was always paired with the type of conversation I mentioned earlier. Despite this, spanking didn’t phase him; he couldn’t have cared less. It’s instances like these two that illustrate the different effects that spanking can have on different children. Also, I didn’t agree with the statement by Gershoff that CP shouldn’t be utilized because it can ruin a good parent-child relationship and can make the child angry at the parent. Last time I checked, the majority of punishment techniques will make a child angry at their parent. Whether it’s spanking of time out of taking away a toy, children aren’t supposed to enjoy punishment….that’s the point.

No one would contest the fact that a truly loving parent will discipline their child; no good parent wants their kid to end up a little hellion. In accordance with this, I think that spanking can be an act of love. It shouldn’t be easy for a parent to spank their child, but it should be done with the goal of teaching the child and helping them to become a well-behaved person.

First club visit

Today I went to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club for the first time. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised with several things. Based on the conversations we’ve had and what we’ve heard from people who work there, I wasn’t expecting much facility-wise. I know that it’s not ideal conditions, but the Club was much nicer than the afterschool program/summer camp where I worked throughout high school. All of the kids seemed to have something to do, including a big screen TV with a Wii. Obviously there are other programs out there with much better resources and facilities, but the kids looked like they were having fun and they all looked happy.

In addition to the facilities, I thought our Conflict Resolution session went extremely well. I wasn’t able to go to the actual first session, so this was the second time that Cait, Brady, and Laurel had been there. There were six kids, something which I found pretty manageable compared to the 15-20 I had everyday this summer. Obviously it wasn’t perfect, they were talkative and goofed off a lot during the role playing exercise we did. For the most part though, they payed attention and participated much more than I was expecting. Based on their comments, I could tell that they remembered things from Tuesday, which is great because the main thing we’re worried about is whether or not they will retain anything we teach them. Not only that, but they were very respectful when we were talking and seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing. According to the others, it went much better than the first session, which matches what the other groups said about the first session being the hardest. In fact, as we were leaving one of the employees said that we must have really been holding their attention because they weren’t acting up as much as they normally do and it looked they were really interested.

I’m very excited about the ropes course on Saturday. I think that letting the kids do something fun like that will further develop their desire to interact with us. Honestly, I’m not expecting the Conflict Resolution program to transform the kids lives and completely alter the way they deal with other kids. I think a realistic goal is to at least impact them enough so that they personally consider the things they learn whenever the encounter conflict. I doubt they will do much as far as trying to influence others, but I hope that they internally change some of their conflict resolution ideas.

Brown Symposium

The fist lecture I went to was “How God Can Change Your Brain” by Dr. Andrew Newberg. I found the topic extremely interesting; I’ve always been intrigued by the physical effects one’s religion can have on them. One of the experiments that Dr. Newberg discussed that I enjoyed was about the brain activity in the frontal lobe during prayer. A brain scan was made on a nun while she was in prayer and compared to her baseline scan; the increased activity in the frontal lobe during prayer was indicative of the high amount of attention and focus she was exhibiting. The same types of scans were done on an atheist who was asked to contemplate the idea of God. The scans showed no increase of activity in the frontal lobe. This is logical because it would be difficult to focus attention on a concept in which you do not believe. Another thing that Dr. Newberg stated as a driving force behind his research was that science can’t prove the existence of God, but it can show how God affects us, which is something that could be just as informative.

The second lecture I attended was “Evolution as the Theory of Choice for the Study of Religion” by David Sloan Wilson. While I don’t quite agree with statement made by Wilson that religion is “100% a social construct,” I did find some of the lecture interesting. One of the studies that was discussed was particularly so; two experiments were done to examine the effect on egg laying productivity. The first breeded the most productive individual chicken from each group, and the second breeded all the chickens in the most productive group. The chickens from the first experiment ended up killing each other and the three left were featherless because they plucked each other. After six generations, the chickens from the second group had a 160% increase in productivity and were all healthy. This difference occurred because the chickens from the first experiment were working as individuals to benefit themselves, while the chickens from the second group were working together to benefit the group. Though they were doing this unknowingly, I think it could say a lot about human behavior. It reminded me of the concept John Nash came up with in “A Beautiful Mind” (and obviously in real life). He stated that everyone is most successful when taking each others’ success in to consideration, as opposed to only thinking of their own success.

I would be really interested in hearing the thoughts of others in the cohort, especially those with agnostic or atheist beliefs. I think that it is important to discuss these things and that discussion can often reaffirm one’s beliefs, whatever they may be. Religion is such an integral part of “understanding human behavior” I really think we should spend some time on this.