Puzzling song lyrics

This is something that I've been musing over for a while. I've posted about music before, so my interest in it is fairly established. I have to say that many songs have lyrics that just don't make sense to me.

Just some examples

Ariana Grande, Break Free

"This is part when I say I don't want ya.
I'm stronger than I've been before.
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more."

Is it breaking free if you "can't resist" it? Seriously. "I can't resist" is normally associated with compulsions, addictions, or other circumstances when you are powerless to act or give in to weakness. I have a hard time reconciling "I'm stronger than I've been before" and "This is the part when I break free" with "I can't resist it no more." Seems like you're just trading one type of bondage for another.


Maroon 5, Maps

"I like to think that we had it all
We drew a map to a better place
But on that road I took a fall
Oh baby why did you run away?

I was there for you
In your darkest times.
I was there for you
In your darkest nights.

But I wonder where were you?
When I was at my worst
Down on my needs
And you said you had my back
So I wonder where were you?
When all the roads you took came back to me

So I'm following the map that leads to you
The map that leads to you
Ain't nothing I can do
(repeat)"

In addition to be very repetitive I wonder what the intentions of this person are. His friend, I assume a girl-friend (or ex girl-friend), benefited from his help but then when he was caught in a lurch totally abandons him. Yet he is seek her out. Is it because he is looking for help? Perhaps he wants to make sure she's okay. He might be looking for revenge. Or, he could just be obsessed - since a later line proclaims, "I hear your voice in my sleep at night / Hard to resist temptation / 'Cause something strange has come over me / And now I can't get over you / No, I just can't get over you " Can you say "Unhealthy Relationship"? You're looking at the wrong map, Buddy. You need the one that takes you to counseling.

Magic!, Rude

"Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life?
Say yes, say yes ' cause I need to know.
You say I'll never get your blessing 'til the day I die
Tough luck, my friend, but the answer is 'No'

Why you gotta be so rude?
Don't you know I'm human too?
Why you gotta be so rude?
I'm gonna marry her anyway.

Marry that girl
Marry her anyway
Marry that girl
Yeah, no matter what you say
Marry that girl
And we'll be a family
Why you gotta be so
Rude"

There was a parody version of this done this summer that I really like, but moving on. I can't help but think that by the time a guy is ready to ask a girl's father for her hand that the answer shouldn't be a surprise. You're planning on marrying her and you claim that "we'll be a family" and you didn't take the effort to placate your future father-in-law so that family gatherings wouldn't be awkward? You just assumed that he's going to say yes - you haven't taken any efforts to give him a reason to say yes? You're telling him to say yes, but you still "need to know." And now you just assume that the girl who wants you to have daddy's blessing is going to run off with you and ignore it? I think you're going to be standing at that alter by yourself, Dude. Also, you asked for his daughter "for the rest of my life." You better hope that the father doesn't shorten your life for blatantly disrespecting his wishes. And you call him rude!

Far too long

It has been far too long since I posted on here, so it is high time I did it.

This morning as I drove in, I made the conscious choice of not listening to an audio book or podcast. I even left the radio off for the majority of the drive. It was somewhat enlightening. Usually I drive in with Angel, my wife and we'll listen to the radio, commenting about the songs or go through the day's activities or what needs to happen when we get home. With Angel on her last week of maternity leave I was by myself as I drove and I found that my thoughts went in directions that they normally don't.

One of the first thoughts I had was, "What would happen if I crashed and died?" How's that for your morning commute? I really thought through the implications - my wife would be a widow, my kids without their father, and life would get really, really hard for them. My life insurance policy should help them through the worse of the financial difficulties my death would bring, but (and I'm not bragging here) I also help out a lot around the house. I enjoy being able to do things for my family - even things like dishes and laundry. My death would mean that so much more would be put on my wife and children. It didn't take long for me to be able to visualize what their lives would be like without me. I was more mindful of my speed and drove a little more carefully. I also realized that no matter how carefully I drove there was still a chance of a random accident that could cause my death. There is only so much you can do and then you just don't worry about what you can't do.

I also pondered on day light savings time. We're approaching the time change in a couple of weeks. It used to occasionally fall on my mother's birthday and she often said that an extra hour of sleep was one of the best gifts she could receive. There are people that want to do away with day light savings time and their reasons are not baseless. I'm one of those people who don't tend to have a problem adjusting to the time change. There are times, like this morning, when I enjoy being out in the pre-dawn light and I think that it's a pity to lose that, but given another month and I'm back to driving in pre-dawn light. My sister, Muscles, lived in Arizona for several years and they don't observe DST, so I always had to double check what time it was there. Either way, I can take or leave DST, so well see what people who care about it end up doing.

There were other thoughts and feelings that I went through on the drive in, but I'll leave those for another time. Life has brought a lot of changes and my family is about to experience another with my wife returning to work and the kids to the daycare provider. I really wish we didn't need for our children to be watched by someone else. And that too is a topic for another day.

Activism or Slacktavism or Social Marketing

This last week I was challenged to do the ALS ice bucket challenge. I donated what I could and then took a cold shower.

There has been some criticism of the challenge. Some people disagree with the practice of using embryonic stem cell research, which is common with some forms of ALS research. But many others are criticizing the challenge as promoting slactavism. Maybe the best way to explain this is with a video (from somebody else).

There are many things that people do on social media in the name of charity, but what good does it do just to share, like, +1, or comment on something? Many people see the challenge as donate money or dump ice water on your head. With everybody dumping water on their head is any money being donated? Is this just a way for people to show how awesome they are by dousing themselves with celebrities, politicians, and business leaders. What good is it doing?

The short answer to this question is that the Ice Bucket Challenge has raised over 94 million (94.3 as of Aug 27th) with help from their donors (which include 2.1 million new donors). Their previous year's donation during the same period was 2.7 million. I don't think these numbers could be considered a coincidence. A 3492% increase is nothing to sneeze at. And they didn't have to advertise any of it. It just happened as people shared their videos.

One of my colleagues and I have been discussing this. She is tired of seeing videos of people dumping water on themselves and I can't blame her. But is it doing any real damage? Probably not - other than the multiple instances of people getting the cooler dropped on their head or other such mishaps. I can only assume that many of the people posting humorous videos of them getting wet (or not getting wet) are still donating. I can't imagine that Bill Gates would douse himself rather than donate to an acknowledged needed cause. Granted, he was probably an established donor before the challenge.

So, even though many people may be slacktavists, the campaign has still been a huge success. Even if the increase of funds was more modest it could be argued that the challenge did a lot help the battle with ALS. One of the biggest things that organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, face is getting their message and their product out into the public mind. Even if nobody explains what ALS is in their performance of the challenge the fact that thousands are dumping ice water on themselves in the name of ALS would cause people to investigate and consequently learn more about the condition. This is a kind of social marketing that many organizations would proverbially kill for. Just as it is possible for social media to launch the careers of many musicians and other careers having the ALS ice bucket challenge go viral the way it has will, hopefully, not just help this year but in years to come.

Suspension of Disbelief

This last weekend my family sat down to watch Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. It was not a spectacular movie, but it was entertaining. We were worried about my son Tigger. I often call him an omniphob (afraid of everything) and I knew that there would be large animals and bugs that he might find scary. He actually did really well. I think this was with because the creatures that normally terrify him when they are less than an inch across were huge. As in unrealistically huge. Of course they weren't real!

What's interesting is that at one point my wife and I both when, "Yeah, right!" at an action performed by the characters. I think it was when they jump-started 140 year old batteries with a large electric eel. Right after I said it I thought, "We're watching a movie that says that Jules Vern wrote non-fiction, giant animals are real, and popping your pecks is the best way to attract a girl and were complaining about this?" Like Nick from Schlock Mercenary says, "You can't make up rules about X because I already know those rules."

This is a prime example of an inability to suspend disbelief. It's amazing what we allow ourselves to accept but what we throw out. I'm not going to talk about how to do this well - I'll leave that to Writing Excuses. What I find myself musing over the ease I accept and reject things in my entertainment. Journey 2 is just one example. Howard Tayler in his review of the movie The A-team wrote, "I'm not entirely sure what the Pants of Realisty are for, but if you don't have good Suspenders of Disbelief then The A-team will leave those pants around your ankles..." The physics in that movie are just plain broken, not just bent. Granted, as the director pointed out, if you have a problem with exploding cars and helicopters avoiding missiles by turning off their engines then you shouldn't be watching an A-team movie. I find other things entertaining that have big gaping problems with physics, history, logic, and a few other things. 10,000 BC is another one. Every time I watch it I rant and rave about the inconsistency in geography, yet I find it really entertaining.

I think the key word is entertaining. If you have a fun story with fun visual effects and good characters who I care about I am a lot more likely to allow you to break physics wide open. You can't go too far, of course, or it will pull me out of the story, but if you want cars to explode because someone shot the engine, I'm cool with it. You'll notice though that I gave several criteria for me to enjoy something. You'll notice that "fun visual effects" is one, but the others are fun story and good characters which I care about. Don't expect fun visual effects to be able to sway me all on its own. Sadly I think many movies try to get by on visuals alone.

Smiles and the Unknown

This week I learned that one of my cousins was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. He was born at 25 weeks gestation, two weeks earlier than my son, Tigger. They were the same weight although my cousin, Smiles, was a little bit longer. He spent over 100 days in the same NICU as Tigger and was released about a year ago. He is an adorable little boy who is full of smiles (hence my name for him). And despite the unknowns ahead of him, I think he'll be just fine.

I don't mean this in any way to distract from the challenges that he is facing. After learning of the diagnoses I had to look up what cerebral palsy is. I had heard of it, but didn't know how it worked. Interesting enough, The 2nd website listed under cerebral palsy was from KidsHealth.org. After reading up on it (from a couple of different websites) I can understand why. CP typically manifests because of brain damage caused from before birth up to five years of life. For those that have had children born prematurely you probably had a health professional sit down and talk brain damage with you. Tigger had a level 3 brain bleed that we know caused some damage. What's strange is that there is very few ways to tell the level of debility that the bleed will cause. The levels, 1 through 4, are just ways of assessing the damage to the tissue, but since the brain can be a puzzling thing, just because the tissue is damage doesn't mean that it will have an affect on the abilities of the individual. With Tigger, we know that bleed caused his gross motor skill development to be delayed. The usual pathways the brain uses to learn things like walking, talking, and potty training, were destroyed so the brain has to find a new, longer, path. So far Tigger has hit his developmental milestones - it just takes him longer.

Knowing about CP is similar. They don't know exactly what causes it and there are three different types of ways it can manifest but there is no set result of having it. Some may be severally disabled while others may have limited impairments. The thing that is so terrifying is that there is no cure and there is no way of knowing ahead of time what is going to be the extent of the difficulties. All that is know is that the child will be limited in some way. As someone who has faced the unknown I can say that it is terrifying.

If you know what to expect you can prepare. If you know what is going to happen you can act. But when you don't know what is going to happen or even what you could expect there is very little you can actually do. Doing something, action, is a way of relieving stress. Whenever there is a tragedy you'll always see people rushing to DO something about it. Natural disasters are easy things to act on. Gun violence, bombs, or acts of terror are a little more complex, but again you see people tightening security and trying to pass new measures designed to keep it from happening again. With an illness like diabetes or cancer their are established treatments and options, even if you don't know which one you'll need, you can start researching them. The sudden flurry of action is not always useful, but it makes people feel like they are doing something about the situation and trying to fix it.

It is hard to do anything when you don't know what needs to be done. If you sit still you appear to be apathetic to your situation. But if you rush about tying to DO something you may very well wear yourself down doing nothing productive. The mental and emotional toll are heavy as well as you try to wrap your brain around the unknowns. Perhaps the best way to describe it is that you body is ready for action - your fight-or-flight response is active, but there is nothing to fight or to flee from. Robison Wells has an anxiety disorder which manifests itself by turning his fight-or-flight response on and not shutting it off has described it feeling like he was being chased by wolves. That kind of emotional stress takes a toll.

But as I said, I feel confident that Smiles will do just fine. His parents are just great people, but people who have seen loss and yet know how to smile, laugh, and celebrate the joys they have. Smile's mother started a blog when he came out of the NICU called "A Laugh or Death Situation." Mama Crazy and her husband, Senior Guapo, decided to choose laughter over tears. When you hold Smiles you can't help but notice his smile. Regardless of what challenges he may face, he has already faced so many and yet still has such a wonderful smile. Yes, the unknown is truly terrifying, but I think that the film "Rise of the Guardians" (2012) got it right. When the nightmares are around you it's surprising how a little bit of fun can help dispel them.

I look forward to helping Smiles as he starts this new journey of his as well as experiencing the smiles he freely gives.

I need a new phone

The time has come for me to get a new cell phone. I have mixed feelings about this because I really like my current phone. Contrary to what many who know me might think, my phone is not a smart phone. It is just a regular, boring, phone with a sliding qwerty keyboard for texting. It does have a music player built into it and a IR camera which is fun to take very low level light pictures with, but other than that, it just makes calls and texts. Even though many people around me were getting smart phones with data plans, I resisted. I had an iPod touch to meet my "smart" device needs. What was the point of getting a smart phone when it would do the same thing as my iPod? That, and I enjoyed the fact that I could listen to music, play games, and a host of other things until the battery went dead on my iPod and still make phone calls on my phone. Well, while both of my devices are still functioning they appear to be on the decline and since they are declining at similar rates and I imagine they will both go "kuput!" at about the same time. Is it time to combine?

I have very mixed feelings. On one hand, I like my set up. It means I rarely have to worry about a dead battery on my phone regardless of how much I listen to my audio books. My phone is also very, very portable. I can fit it into the watch pocket of some of my trousers. It also has a physical qwerty keyboard which is very easy to use. My iPod, regardless of it's issues, is very familiar also rather portable, being smaller than many smart phones. On the other hand, it means I end up carrying two devices. Also the screen size of both devices is rather small when compared to current mobile devices. And while I hate to say it I must face the fact that when my wife upgraded her phone to a Galaxy S3 I had screen envy. Probably the most compelling reasons that I am planning on shifting to a smart phone are: 1) the "dumb" phones on the market all appear to be of very poor quality as the phone companies are trying to get people to guy the phones that require a bigger service plan, and 2) my trip to Boston showed me that having a phone that can access just about everything is indeed very handy and useful.

Since sitting down with Angel to talk about the situation (she's been advocating, but not pressuring, that I get a smart phone for a year or more) and deciding to get a smart phone I've put a lot of thought into what kind of phone I want. Leeroy, her brother, and I was talking a couple of weeks ago about phones and he mentioned the new term "Phablet." While I have contemplated getting a miniature tablet for internet usable around the house or work, ebooks, and entertainment, I don't want my phone to be that cumbersome. I want something that I can fit in my front or shirt pocket or in the leg pocket of a pair of carpenter jeans without difficulty. There comes a point where these phablets are no longer conveniently portable.

For me, i think the limit is a 5 inch screen. I understand that 5 inches is considered the low end of the phablet size, but I've had the opportunity to look at a couple of phones of that size and try them out. I have a couple of advantages that others might not when it comes to manipulating and carrying that size. My hands are, on average, much bigger than most other peoples. I have large palms and long fingers which make it easy for me to work a big screen. In portability I also have trousers with large pockets. All but my dressiest pair have a large carpenter like pocket on the leg, and one pair has cargo pockets large enough to hold a paperback book. I really like these leg pockets as they don't make it uncomfortable to sit down with the phone in my pockets.

While I'm not 100% sure, I'm pretty decided on a phone. But I'm keeping an open mind for when I actually go to the store to get everything set up. I am now excited for the outcome - a reaction I always look for.

Fisking a Developmental Math Petition

A favored author of my, Larry Correia, will engage in taking an article or blog post and systematically discussing its failings. Using his format as an example, I am going to address a recent article in the Ogden Standard Examiner about a student who started a petition against Weber State's developmental math program. The original article can be found here. The original article below is in regular text while my comments are in bold/italics.

Student petition blasts WSU math program

OGDEN -- It’s not unusual to see students break down into tears because of Weber State University’s Developmental Mathematics Program, according to Lauralee Stephens Kohl.


It's not uncommon to see student break down because of math anywhere. Math is widely considered a difficult and involved topic. If crying students was the only reason to change a program then the Interior Design program at USU should be change. Or nursing programs all over the country. Or Culinary Arts, medical school, law school, anatomy courses, chemistry courses, computer science courses. The list is nearly endless.


The program was already difficult for students who are struggling with math, and changes to the program only add obstacles to graduation, she said. That’s why she’s circulating a petition to stop the changes.

“It’s like an abyss,” Kohl, of Brigham City, said of the program. “Once you get in it, you feel like you just can’t get out.”

Kathryn Van Wagoner, director of the Developmental Math Program, says many of the concerns listed in the petition are based on misinformation or misunderstandings.

“I have received some emails from students about some information they were given, and it’s actually not correct information,” she said. “We are transitioning to this new plan, so we've been refining and verifying our internal communications prior to making a formal announcement of the new plan, and student concerns have brought to my attention some information that has to be corrected on the website.”


So you are saying that the math program shouldn't change? They shouldn't try to incorporate new technologies, teaching methods, or more accurate assessment tools? If people didn't like change in mathematics we would still be using lines and circles. We wouldn't be past Roman numerals. That would make everything better. Consider this. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education shows that the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) primarily rely on lecture based teachingf much to the determent of their students. Lecturing has been shown to have limitations particularly "that lecturing is not suited for higher levels of learning: comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation." Those are the very levels that math is designed to stimulate. Why would you want to stop a math program from making changes to their program in an attempt to improve instruction and student experience?


Jeff Henry, president of WSU’s Student Senate, sat down with Van Wagoner to discuss the rumors about the program changes.

“I wanted to get an understanding of what exactly is happening,” he said. “From what she’s explained ... the new changes are going to be beneficial to students.”

So, what Kathy said was right, many of the concerns are due to misinformation and misunderstanding. Once Jeff Henry got his understanding he saw the changes as beneficial. So maybe it's not the program.


Developmental math is, essentially, pre-college math for students whose skills are not quite up to college standards. According to WSU’s website, 75 percent of public four-year universities across the nation offer developmental classes.

The first complaint Kohl lists in her petition is the practice of placing holds on students who have not completed developmental math classes within a certain period of time. Until those classes are completed, no other classes can be taken.

Van Wagoner says that practice has been gone since January. The idea was to motivate students to complete the classes, instead of causing bigger problems for themselves through procrastination. It didn’t work.


"It didn't work" So they changed it. There were many people who celebrated that change. I know of sparkling cider and treats being shared in some offices. Students were not the only ones that didn't like that. Again, they wanted to help students and when they saw it didn't work they got rid of it. Also, if your first concern on your petition was resolved six months ago I would say that you're off to a bad start. Have you done your homework about the issue before asking for signatures?


At the heart of Kohl’s petition is the use of Accuplacer exams to determine in which class to place students, based on their math skills.

“When I started ... you could take unlimited AccuPlacer placement tests,” Kohl said.

It cost students $10 per test, but many were willing to take them several times in an attempt to score high enough to get out of taking certain classes. Now the number of times a test can be taken has been limited, she said.

“We made that change quite some time ago,” said Van Wagoner, “because students were repeatedly testing and not making any improvement in their placement, and basically throwing their money away.”

Now students have two attempts at the placement test, which is enough to allow a retake, said Van Wagoner. More should not be necessary, because the point of a placement test is to find out what math do you know, so you are put into the right class.

Henry agrees that taking the test multiple times isn’t helpful.

“If I’m taking it 15 times, I’m really guessing — I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said, adding that the current policy of allowing the test just twice a year is fair and reasonable.

Can you argue with their reasoning? "were repeatedly testing and not making any improvement...basically throwing their money away." Kathy basically is saying "We don't want your money if it's not helping you." But this change limited the effectiveness of Acer Placer - and that's what a lot of student object to.

Acer Placer is a private company that "offer[s] personalized instruction in a class of no more than 8 students. Our instructors guide you through the materials covered on the Accuplacer math placement test." They claim, "students from any background in math can test our of Math 1050." I cannot condemn them nor can I recommend them. I don't really want to do either. This is because I've seen them work for some students and not work for other students. Students take an eight week course which involves taking the Accuplacer test multiple times, often more than once a week. When WSU limited the number of times a student could take the Accuplacer students enrolled in Acer Placer courses claimed it was because we were trying to shut down Acer Placer - that WSU felt threatened by Acer Placer.
It wasn't, WSU doesn't. It's because of the reasons that Kathy gave above. It is also worth considering that students that take the same test multiple times will learn how the test reacts. So, are those students learning how to succeed in a math class, are they demonstrating that they know the basis of algebra well enough to succeed in a class or are they just learning how to take a test? I will never understand a statement I've heard so often. "I'm not good at math, so I'm going to test out." If you aren't good at something what makes you think you can test out? If students want to spend money on a private company which wants $1000 dollars that is their right. If Acer Placer is teaching students mathematical concepts and principles then it doesn't matter what test they take - math is math whether its Accuplacer, ACT, Math Mastery, or SAT. Math is the same in English, French, Russian, and Chinese. Do what you want to study for the test. Just don't expect us to endorse wasting your time taking the same test twelve times with minimal results.


Starting Aug. 25., the Accuplacer test won’t even be used for math placement. It’s being replaced by a weighted rubric of high school GPA and ACT math scores.

“We’ve eliminated the need for students to take a placement test,” Van Wagoner said. “We did an internal review of past student success, and found ACT scores and GPA were a good indicator of student success.”

Look! You don't even have to take the test. You don't have to spend your money if you don't want to.


Students who don’t have an ACT score, or who want to improve their placement, will now be given the “Math Mastery” exam.

If you want to test out of classes go ahead! We're not trying to stop you.


Kohl objects to the “Math Mastery” exam, saying it’s based on the school’s 0950 and 0990 math courses.

“The math program has a 60 percent fail rate at Weber State, so you’re not teaching the essential skills needed,” she said, adding that the curriculum should be fixed before it’s the basis of testing.


Of course! The curriculum is at fault! The topics that they cover in Math 0950 and 0990, which are almost identical to other developmental math courses offered around the state. The subject of mathematics, one of the most standardized topics across the state is at fault for the 60% fail rate. Only 40% of people in college can do fractions, real numbers, decimals, exponents, and ratios. The curriculum of the developmental math classes was taught 500 years ago and last week in millions of elementary schools across the country and the world. Of course it's the curriculum that's at fault. Blame the professors. Blame the technology, Blame astrology. Blame any variable you care to, but to say that the basic curriculum of the developmental math classes of Weber State is not suitable material to gauge a student's ability to succeed in math is laughable. If you can't do fractions, it's not the fractions' fault. It might be yours, it might be your sub-par teacher's fault, it might the fault of dyscalculia , but it's not the fractions.


She says she spent three times the required hours working on math assignments, and never improved until she took math classes from a private tutoring business.


Students in developmental math courses that use the Hub meet one day a week (50 minutes) and are required to meet 100 minutes to simulate the time they would normally spend in class if they were in a regular lecture course. Research has shown that for every hour in class, students can expect to spend two hours outside of class on homework and studying. This is widely acknowledged. Let's say she spend 300 minutes a week in the Hub, that is three times the required amount for the class. Based on our ratio of hours in class per hours out of class she is short another 100 minutes a week. A common misconception is that those 100 minutes is the minimum to succeed in class. It is not. It is the same simply attending class. Homework is extra. She made a great start and just needs to keep going.

Van Wagoner says changes have been made. In addition to online classes and a TERM (Technology Enhanced Redesign of Mathematics) self-paced course, which students do on their own with help available from tutors, the program is offering developmental math classes in flipped form. Flipped classes ask students to study lessons at home, and then meet in a classroom, with a teacher, four days a week while working through assignments.

The program is also starting a new “Pathway to Contemporary Mathematics” (Math 0810) class, for students who aren’t going into science, technology, engineering or math.

“It’s not necessarily less rigorous, it’s just more relevant to the student,” said Van Wagoner, explaining that it has less emphasis on algebra.


Again, the developmental math department is expanding their offerings in an attempt to meet the needs of more students. And they are petitioning to stop that? You want math instruction to stay the same and not look for new and improved methods of teaching and reaching out to students?


Kohl’s petition also says the “Math Mastery” exam can only be taken once a year, and will be more difficult to pass because it’s fill in the blanks instead of multiple choice.

“It’s tricky. If you put in 0.5 instead of 1/2, it’s wrong,” she said.

That is true, said Van Wagoner, but each question will tell you the format in which the answer should be written.


If you can't follow instructions.....


Joanna Bushell, of Ogden, signed Kohl’s petition. She is one of several students who has been taking private math classes to learn skills, and then taking AccuPlacer tests multiple times at an applied technology college.

“It’s not a trick — you have to know math to pass,” she said. “There’s no way to just fumble your way through AccuPlacer and get an accidental passing grade.”

Taking the test multiple times is for practice.


Good! If they teach you want you need to know and you can still practice what's the problem?


“Once you feel confident you can pass it consistently, you go to Weber State and hope you can pass,” she said.


Hope you pass? If you know the stuff and you pass it consistently, why wouldn't you be able to do it at Weber State? Math is math (as shown above).


Carin Mann, of Layton, is using AccuPlacer to test out of math completely.

“I’m not even signed up for math at Weber State University,” she said. “I heard horrible things about it, and that nobody can pass it.”

And a person who has not even tried something is a good source for information about the situation. This is also a good place to mention that many student that don't take developmental math courses at Weber, take developmental math classes is at one of two Applied Technology Colleges near by. Weber does not discourage students from taking classes there. What is interesting is that they use a self paced modular layout for instruction. There is no teacher and no tutor support. We use a similar system: modular and with minimal class time, so students can work as fast or slow as they want within the usual semester time line. So students that attend the ATCs are taking classes using the same format that they would here but they don't have a designated professor or free tutoring services. I've learned that some students after taking classes at the ATCs returned to Weber because we can provide additional support unavailable at the ATC. We're okay with students taking classes somewhere else and transferring them in. I just find it funny that they avoid us because they hear that "Weber math is hard!" just to go somewhere that is just like our program with less help.


Bushell says eliminating AccuPlacer tests forces students into developmental math classes at WSU.

“They’re gradually narrowing it down so your only option is to take two years, or four semesters, of their math classes,” she said.


Because we only want to to take our courses. That's why we accept transfer work. That's why we allow students to complete their math requirement how ever they want. That's why we still allow students to test out of math. That's right, not just test out of developmental math, but students can still completely test out of math. The only thing that has changed is that they need to demonstrate their competence in fewer attempts.


She’s afraid the real reason for doing away with AccuPlacer is monetary, because students would have to pay for WSU classes instead of private tutoring.

“I would imagine it’s a great money maker for the university,” she said.


Because the $1000 dollars they pay for to Acer Placer is such a loss to us. The average class size is 3 credits. Based on current tuition rates if they only took that one class the cost would be $920. Yes, we might feel that, but Weber's job is not to make money. It's what we need to do to help enhance our programs and offerings, but nobody who works with students is being told by administrators, "If students don't register for developmental Math classes then you're out of a job." But very few students take just one class because it's not as economical as going full time (12 credits), or even just going part time. If a student who traditionally attends 12 semesters says, "I'm only going to do nine semesters and take my math somewhere else" the difference between the tuition and fee's cost is just under $500. If a student did that for three semesters we would lose $1500, less than what one additional student would bring in by taking six credits. While the student in question would save $500. Unless you are going to try to test out of at least two classes there is no real cost benefit to Acer Placer. Not to mention, if the student continues to take 12 credits we essentially don't lose anything. I can understand their reasoning to save money. The argument that we will suffer monetarily simply because of a small percentage of our students not taking upwards of 10 credits over the course of their 60 to 120 credit university career is silly. Not to mention tuition and fees are used to pay for services and resources to support students - most of which are not used by the students. Yes, we are money grubbers and developmental math is our method of staying in the black.


The new policies apply to all students, no matter when they started at WSU, according to Kohl.

Because the “Math Mastery” test takes over on Aug. 25, students who were counting on testing out through AccuPlacer are in a pinch.

“They should have to give more notice,” said Bushell. “I just need to test out of math to get my degree. ... I have approximately 30 days to do it.”


Interesting if you can test out of three classes over the course of 8 weeks, why would you have problems simply completing once class over 16 weeks? How much notice would you require? 8 weeks? The change was made at the beginning of Summer semester which was the first week of May. It's been at least 11 weeks since then not to mention another four weeks until the deadline goes into effect. If you had wanted to do the Acer Placer course, you could have done it twice in the time give. Thirty days is four weeks, what were you doing the other four weeks?


Van Wagoner says every change that’s been made has been with the goal of having students take fewer math classes, and get to graduation.

“We want them to be successful in their math,” she said.

She knows the changes make for a complex situation, and encourages students to meet with advisers on a regular basis.


Ever since we heard about this change I have asked every student how they intend to complete their Math requirement. Those that said that they were doing Acer Placer, or even that they "intended to test out" that there were changes and that they needed to talk to the Developmental Math Department before paying for anything. Most of the things that students experience difficulty with could have been either prevented, fixed, or avoided by talking to an advisor. Yes, we try to contact students about policy changes, but we are limited by the information students give us. I've been involved in initiatives to contact students and many do not have current or correct contact information. Others still do not return correspondence which may indicate that they don't receive it, read it, or care about it. If students don't try to stay in contact with us there is no way to verify that we can reach them.


“If there is any student who has any kinds of concerns about math, I would be glad to meet with them,” she said.

Contact reporter Becky Wright at 801-625-4274 or bwright@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ReporterBWright.


Overall, I thought the reporter did a decent job showing both sides. I am continually amazed at the lengths people will go to find a way around math. It seems that if some people put the effort they dedicate to complaining, circumnavigating, and trying to work the system to just doing what is asked of them in the system they would be done. Yes, math is hard. Yes, it is abstract, Yes, you will rarely, if ever, see it the same way that it is shown in the text book. Yes, it takes time you would rather use to do other things. So does a lot of other things and yet we do them. Taxes, insurance, immigration, legal proceedings, raising children, dating, recovering from illness. Yet people do those things too. Yes, those examples are all individual and different. People still do it. Math is required for a college degree and so you do it if you want the degree. In your work life there may be times you have to do something undesirable for your boss. Think of this the same way. If you have difficulty ask for help. If that person can help you, ask someone else - just like anything else that's hard. There are legitimate disabilities that prevent people from succeeding in math classes - get help for them, we will accommodate you as needed. I am more than willing to acknowledge the difficulties these students have experienced in math. I am not willing to consider this petition as being the slightest bit useful.

Update: As it turns out this article was useful to the Developmental math Department at Weber State. Kathy VanWagoner said that she wanted to do a press release when they made changes but the PR department wouldn't do it. Then this article came out and she was required to do a press release.

Cake or Why Americans like sweet

I grew up enjoying dessert. I have a strong sweet tooth and have been known to raid the chocolate chips supply. To me one of the prime sources of sweets is baking. Pies, cakes, cookies, brownies, pastries, tarts, cobblers, crisps. Even fresh baked breads and rolls are something that I enjoy more than most other things. This weekend I made an "old-fashion pound cake" from the Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes cook book.

My wife and I tried a slice each before serving it and remarked on how it wasn't a particularly sweet cake by itself. We served it, as recommended, with whipped cream and strawberries and black berries and enjoyed it much more. This got us thinking about the different types of cake and  differences between richness and sweetness. From my own experience in Russia it seemed that there was a preference for richness than sweetness when it came to desserts. Russian cakes weren't as sweet as those I'd had in America. Russian food in general wasn't as sweet. I knew several locals who told me that they couldn't eat Snickers candy bars because they were too sweet. American food has been considered too sweet by others, many blaming high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as the reason. However, I think the sweetness was there prior to the corn syrup. HFCS got it's big break in the food industry when sugar took a tariff hit and increased in price making the HFCS more economical. It wasn't introduced to make food sweet but rather to replace what was already there.

Perhaps the reason that American food tends to be sweeter is because American's history has been heavenly influenced by sugar. Prior to the discovery of the New World sugar was scarce in Western Europe, a delicacy by all standards. Is is because sugarcane - the primary source of sugar with little competition until the sugar beet became a contender in the mid 1800s - requires particular growing conditions. According to Netafim a company who "has successfully cultivated sugarcane in diverse climates and growing conditions worldwide," states that sugarcane is grown world wide between 36.7 degrees N and 31.0 degrees south latitude and is essentially a tropical plant. For perspective, the countries of Spain, Sicily, Italy, mainland Greece, and Turkey are all located above the 36th parallel, were as the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina are all below the 36th parallel. While those states, with the exception of Florida, are not considered tropical, the Caribbean is. And turned out to be very good to grow sugarcane.

While the North American colonies, for the most part, did not actually produce sugar they were involved in the sugar trade. They grew a lot of the food that went to the sugar rich islands. Islands that were growing so much sugar they important their food because it was cheaper to buy food with sugar money than try to grow it themselves. Sugar was king. Due to proximity to the sugar rich Caribbean I suspect that it was easier to get sugar in the North American colonies than in Europe. Now, the mother countries would of course want to hoard the sugar, and its profits, as much as possible and as a luxury item not everyone could afford it, but it would be very easy for smugglers, privateers, pirates, and other such entrepreneurs to sell their forbidden cargoes in the colonies than sailing all the way back to Europe. We know that the colonies ultimately evolved an identity and decided to throw off the chains of their imperial masters forming the USA that we all know today. While a melting pot the colonies began to develop their own culture and consequently their own take on past traditions and customs. Including food. With an increased accessibility to sugar it is more than possible that they fortified their native dishes with it.

While, "American as apple pie" is not strictly true - apple pies are not native to the USA - comparing various apple pie and apple pie analogs does show some possible evidence for my hypothesis. I've found receipts for "Real Dutch Apple Pie," a French apple tart, a apple pie that looks lot like what Russians make, and an "American" apple pie. The Dutch receipt has the most sugar overall, with 250 grams, but that includes 180 g. for the pastry and 70 g. for the filling. The American pie has 1 cup (1/2 cup white + 1/2 cup brown sugar) which is just over 236 g a difference of about 1.5 teaspoons. However, the American receipt does not include the pastry for the pie, just the filling. Between the American and the Russian apple pies the difference was about 2 tablespoons and a 1/4 of a cup compared to the French apple tart. Again, both the French and Russian receipts include the pastry. Not concrete proof, but interesting. Personally I like them all. Just don't be a little surprised if I put ice cream or whipped cream on any and all of them.

Aging

My father's birthday was last week. My own birthday is exactly a month before his. This week also marked 10 years since I returned from Russia as a religious service missionary. 10 years is a long time - a decade - and it is a length of time that we only have so many of. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2006 the average life expectancy of someone with at least a BS/BA by age 25 was 81 (citation figure 32 pg. 37). According to Wikipedia (the fount of all knowledge) Utah has a life expectancy of 80.2 years. So 8 decades to live you life, make your mark, and change the world.

Our first decade is a little tricky. Physically we grow faster and more than any other period in our life. If we were to continue growing at that rate things would get tricky. We also learn most of the basics skills necessary to care for ourselves and are physically capable of performing critical functions. We also develop mentally, socially, emotionally, and morally to a point where we have set a foundation for our future self. However, most people can't remember the first half of their first decade and other may not have too many memories of the second half. In terms of wide impact on the world there are limits to what the typical ten year old can do.

Our second decade tends to be a bit clearer in our minds. High school, puberty, and preparing to enter "adulthood" will do that. Not to mention our physical, mental, and social development over those years. As our bodies and minds change so do our abilities and capabilities. Some would wish to banish memories of this time while others feel that events such as junior high are creations of sadistic administrators. For my own part, high school was an okay experience, but starting college was better. You see more instances of teenagers impacting the world and society beyond their immediate area, but it is still early yet. Working with a lot of college freshmen who are at the end of this particular decade has shown me that most of them have no clue what their path in life is like. Some do and go on to achieve it, but the majority have no clue. This is because interests change, views expand, and experiences shape us, particularly as we enter our twenties.

The 1920's was known as the "Roaring Twenties" and, perhaps, we should consider this third decade of life as similar. They bare some direct similarities as 21 is the minimal age to buy alcohol in all states, many people in their twenties leave the nest, and starting careers often means they are funding their own entertainment. I can't speak about the vocational side as my experience personally and professionally involves college students. I've seen many students come out of high school, enter college away from home and revel in the resulting freedom. However, I've seen those revels result in everything from bad grades to armed robbery. One of the two "men" in the armed robbery story was a student in my College Success Skills class.

There is a lot of research on what has been termed Student Development Theory. As someone who has been exposed to many different theories of cognitive, ethical, racial identity, social, intellectual, and  various other kinds of development I find it an interesting lens through which to look in order to try to address students' needs. With that said, each individual student has their own experience and their own development path. I don't know if it is possible to give a brief outline of what people "typically" go through in this decade, so I'm not going to worry about it. Most enter their career field, some doing so after college, others doing it without college. Social relationships outside of family become more important with people considering marriage or other long term relationships. In short, this is the decade that is often seen as, "the beginning of the rest of your life." And it is the one that I have officially past out of.

In the moment, it's hard to imagine that I still have five decades of life ahead of me. I remember my father telling me that there will come a time when I'll be able to look back on a ten year period, see the accomplishments I have made and then project that into the future and the possible accomplishments I'll be able to make. I've had that in mind as I've gotten older. I remember my father being a little down as he contemplated his own statement. I think it must have been around his 40th birthday. He doesn't handle the decade years well. I would tease him about it but when he turned 50 he threatened to bodily throw me off Angle's Landing. I want to make it to 50 so I don't bring it up.

D-Day

Today is the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. In an effort to end Nazi Germany's hold on Europe The United Kingdom, Canda, and the United State launched an amphibious invasion that has never been rivaled. Thousands of men landed via parachute and landing craft and fought through a concrete jungle of mines, barbed wire, machine gun nests, tunnels, and forts in order to establish a foothold from which they could advance across Europe. With the Soviet Union battling from the East and the Allied powers from the west Germany surrendered within a year (May 9, 1945).

The battle of D-Day was a pivotal moment in World War II. I have little doubt that had it failed Germany would have done significantly more damage to Europe. Would they have been stopped? Probably. Hitler's vision was unsustainable and would have fallen - but at what additional cost. Perhaps nuclear weapons would have been used against Germany in addition to Japan. We might never know the extent of the damage. We only know what was accomplished by those that stormed the beaches and overcome the defenders.

The history of World War II has always had been of particular interest to me. Perhaps it was the global scale of it. Maybe it was the fact that I had relatives that fought in it. For whatever reason I have always found myself drawn to its stories and history. With that in mind I would like to recommend a few books that I've read that give insight on the conflict and that I have found both inspiring and inspirational.

The Trio of books: D-Day, Pegasus Bridge, and Citizen Soldier by Stephen E. Ambrose covers preparations for the invasion, its execution, and aftermath. Pegasus Bridge focuses on the British glider troops that were tasked with capturing bridges on the east flank and holding off German reinforcements until the beaches were secure. All three books focus on the individuals who fought the war, not just the general strategies and tactics, but the actual riflemen, and what they experienced. You can read my review of the audio version of Citizen Soldier from my other blog for a more detailed description.

Armor and Blood by Dennis E. Showalter is a recently published book about the Battle of Kursk, Germany's last offensive action against the Soviet Union. While it took place a year before D-Day its contribution to the downfall of Nazi Germany cannot be ignored. Many westerners are not familiar with the Eastern Front of World War II and the way that the Soviets fought. Armor and Blood gives a great view of what has been determined as the largest tank battle in history. It is more of a historical analysis with lots of attention given to both individual tactics and overall strategy. It was an very interesting read. You can read my review of the audio version from my other blog for a more detailed description.

I believe that The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer, is perhaps the most incredible book that dives into the history that surrounds Would War II. I listened to this last year and was blown away by the magnitude of information that we have about the Nazi Party, Hitler's rise to power, and the ease that it all happened. I use the term "ease that it all happened" because it is not hard to see another Hitler like tyrant rise to power in our day. Shirer adds personal memories to the host of captured documents that were seized to weave a frightening tale of politics and desire. My father rereads this book every ten years or so to "remind himself to pay attention." You can read my review of the audio version from my other blog for a more detailed description.

These are just a small handful of books that examine the watershed event that was World War II. D-Day was one of the largest, most complete gathering of men and material and was executed was daring and bravery. Disaster occurred, victory was won, and men lived and died on both sides. That fact is important to remember. Every war has two sides. Let those that fought for freedom and those that fought for their homeland be honored.

Celebrate Life

I have (clearly) fallen behind in my blogging. This hasn't been from a lack of thinking, but rather a simple lack of posting. It's been hard to decide what to post. My musings have taken me through topics I've already written on as well as ones that I don't feel ready to comment on. It's hard to decide between re-runs and unfinished episodes.

This weekend is Memorial Day and there is plenty of musing that can be done on that. The three day weekend is a wonderful break from the routine, but it's important to remember why we have it. I've been seeing things on Facebook using pictures of family of soldiers who have died and somber messages. That is the sober origins of the holiday and it should be remembered. My family has a grave site to visit this year that was dug last year. I still treasure the 30.06 shell casing sitting in a small wooden jar on my dresser - a casing from my grandfather's twenty-one gun salute. It is right to miss those that have defended freedom and that those that we have lost from this life.

It is also important to celebrate life. When my wife found out she was expecting our third child we knew there was a high risk of miscarriage. We weren't sure if we should tell anyone in the event that she did miscarry. We ultimately decided that we were going to tell people and "celebrate life for as long as we have it." She finished her 26 week today and the baby is getting stronger. There are still possible complications and we have no idea what is going to happen, but we are still celebrating life.

Memorial Day is both to mourn those we have lost and to celebrate the life that they had. Even though that life has ended it can still be celebrated.

War Games

I enjoy many different hobbies including video games consisting of strategy and first-person shooter games as well as recently getting into airsoft. I own an airsoft rifle and pistol as well as pieces of "tactical gear" that consist camouflage, and things to hold extra magazine, tools, bbs, etc. Because airsoft equipment is based on "real steel" military hardware outfitted airsofters can look a bit like a state militia. The guns are often replicas of M4s, M16, AK-47s, and other armaments still used by defense forces the world over. (photo credit: Danger Close Airsoft - a good group to run with.)

I know that with gun violence and violent crimes in general more prevalent in the news there has been a lot of discussion about connections between my above stated hobbies and those crimes. I'm not going to get into that debate. I will link to this video discussing the video games. I will also say that airsoft is not to be treated like a toy and those that choose to participate should not be idiots about their equipment. Going around in a public place with a replica M16 will cause problems for you and others. Airsoft can cause injury, even sever injury, treat the equipment accordingly. I play with goggles and a steel face mask.

What I wanted to get into revolves around a conversation I had with a coworker a couple of days before attending an airsoft game. She asked what airsoft was. I explained it involved running around in the brush, shooting and being shoot at with 6mm bbs. She asked why I would ever want to do such a thing. Fair question.

For me these hobbies have nothing to do the violent nature of their real world situations. I looked into joining the military back in high school and decided that the glory of the battlefield was not for me. I would like to think that I could protect my family at any cost, but I have no desire to willingly ending anybody's earthly existence. I would be perfectly content if we beat our swords into plows and our spears into pruning hooks and didn't learn war anymore. For me it's all a mind game, one that I'm not nearly as good at as I would like to think. How do you achieve an objective, figure out this puzzle, overcome this obstacle? It's about becoming good at out-thinking someone else. It's about teamwork and collaborative effort. Airsoft has the added benefit of being outdoors and interactive - it keeps you moving and even added to my incentive to exercise. My airsoft experience has been pretty positive, even though I have only hit one person while playing. However, the incentive to play has increased with additional members of my family getting involved.

Upon hearing my reasons my coworker simply replied, "We go jogging."

You can do that too.

Altered Perceptions

I've learned a few things about mental illness over the last few years. This has been through attending conference presentations on the topic given by professional and licensed counselors and therapists, following people with mental illness on Facebook and Twitter, and personal association with friends with everything from epilepsy, schizophrenia, Asbergers  depression, anxiety, panic attacks, to boarder-line psychosis. I do not know all, or even a lot, but I do like to consider myself as somewhat familiar with mental illnesses and their manifestations.

It is for this reason that I am endorsing and encouraging Altered Perceptions an anthology of behind-the-scenes, short fiction, and creative non-fiction in support of Robison Wells, a wonderful author and victim of the ravages of mental illness. I'll let him describe it for you. Rob ultimately lost his job because of his condition. He wasn't able to work in a traditional office environment and his writing was not sufficient to cover his expenses. He and his family have reached a point that they need serious help. Brandon Sanderson, Rob's friend and highly successful author, initiated the Altered Perceptions project by suggesting authors submit work that could be complied into an anthology that could be sold to help raise funds to pay off the biggest debts Rob's family were experiences (student loans and to the IRS). Not only did Brandon submit 5 chapters of the original draft of Way of Kings, an awesome book, for the anthology - he is paying the printing and publishing costs. All of the proceeds of the project will go to help Rob and his family.

The people submitting work to this anthology should tell you the kind of person the Rob is. There are 30 different authors (not including Rob himself) who have submitted work, some of it original pieces, including several New York Times sellers. Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Larry Correia, Jessica Day George, Shannon Hale, Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal, and a host of other successful writers have stepped up to help Rob in his time of need.

The secondary, although no less important, goal of this project is to raise awareness of mental illness. It is real and the more we talk about it the more we understand it. I will be doing what I can to contribute and spreading the news. I encourage you do to the same.

Before you die

A coworker pointed me towards the BBC's top 100 books you need read before you die (2014) list where I had read just over a quarter of them (26). It got me thinking about what makes a book (or anything really) eligible to get on that list. A Bucket List is a list of things you would like to do before you die, but there are lists out there that other people built that say what everyone should do/read/watch/eat pre-death. I don't really have an issue with others writing those lists. I'm simply curious what their criteria is. When I put the question to my wife, "What kinds of books would you put on a 'must read' list?" she responded, "What ever the person needs." It wasn't the answer I was looking for but it demonstrates her pragmatic view on live as opposed to my more ideological one.

I'll be honest, with her rather simple but pertinent answer it makes it hard to compile my own list of must read/do/eats. Can I know what I should do if I don't know what I will need to do? Probably not. With that in mind I present: not my list of things you should do/read/eat, nor my own bucket list of what I would like to do/read/eat, but my Things I'm glad that I've done/read/eaten.

(In no particular order, but with number 1 being unquestionably the most significant)

1 - Married my wife. Easily the best thing I've ever done. Marrying her changed me in ways I never thought it would. It's made me want to be a better person. I love her deeply and she makes me deliriously happy.

2 - Lived (and still am living) as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. Marx called religion the opiate of the masses, but even if I didn't known of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Christ I don't see any problems with the way my life has gone by living the it. I receive peace, joy, and comfort from my beliefs. I avoid lots of problems by obeying by religion's tenants. I do not regret anything I have not been able to do because of my faith and I treasure what I've done and learned.

In all honestly most of the the life changing, significant events in my life have come from those two things. These include:

* Servicing a religious service mission to SW Russian (Rostov-na-Donu, Volgagrad, Novocherkassk, Krasnodar)

* Having children

* Reading the Bible, Book of Mormon, and other religious texts

* participating in service opportunities


3 - Reading:
* Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
* 1984 by George Orwell
* Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
* The Allience by Gerald Lund
* Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis


4 - Visited:
* New York
* Boston
* Mamev Kurgan and the Panaramic Museum (Volgagrad, Russia)
* Red Square (Moscow Russia)
* Trakai Castle (Lithuania)


5 - Learned to rock climb. Talk about discovering a whole new world.

6 - Learned Russian. It taught me about language in general, introduced me to a different culture, and gave me an appreciation of differences.

7 - Earned my Bachelor's degree. My education helped define how I look at the world and helped me learn more about myself and others.

There are many more things that I am glad that I did/read/ate, but these are the big ones. As I thought about these it did occur to me that there is one thing that I recommend people do before they die - Live.

Trending is not Truth

We have countless information at our fingertips via the internet. Sometimes it's hard to know what information is worthwhile and which is not. For scholarly articles they must be peer reviewed - that is accepted by a group of people in the same profession or discipline. For criminal proceedings it's the number of eye witnesses. If someone (or something) in those areas does not meet those credentials then their information is of less worth than someone (or something) that has.

Popular culture seems to play by different rules. By definition popular culture is whatever is liked by the most people. It doesn't have to be anything other than liked by the most people to supplant the previous culture. Music, film, books - entertainment of all kinds - are subject to this fickle mistress. What the majority likes becomes truth.

We can see this in popular ideas about math. "Math is hard." "Girls can't do math." "I'll never use math in my life." That last one is flat wrong. As I've demonstrated we use math every single day. Yet, because that thought has permeated the masses people believe it as if it were fact. Wikipedia is another example. While a good portion of the information found there may be accurate their disclaimer is headed, "Wikipedia makes no guarantee of validity." Despite this many people cite it in conversation or as a valid source simply because everyone if familiar with it. It's popularity allows it's information - true or false - to be considered valid.

Social media has taken this idea of popular approval and turned it into something to be feared. If the "groupthink" is against something then it must be bad. Jonathan Ross withdrew as host for the Hugo Awards because of an uprising on twitter. Mozilla's CEO steps down "over his apparent opposition to gay marriage. Cultural and business leaders are coming under attack for personal views or perceived injustices. These attacks are creating change in our world and the question needs to be - is the change worth it?

Numberphile did a great video on how Pi was nearly changed to 3.2 by a bad mathematician and an ignorant state legislature. With the technology and media we have today it is more than possible that such a fundamental mathematical truth would be distorted and accepted as fact because x number of people shared it on Facebook, tweeted it, or simply passed it along. If it is popular it must be true - right?

Call me old fashion to think that Pi is 3.141...(and a bunch of other numbers). Call me a rebel if I say that bullying, which is "use of superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants" - such as step down from their position, is wrong and should not be tolerated. Can so many people be wrong? Yes! Since when did "everybody is doing it" become a reason to join in? It was always and will be always a lame excuse to do something that you know is wrong but want to do anyway. If everybody jumped off a cliff would you do it too? It appears that much of society already has. Don't fault me for not joining them.

Warning: No Explicit Language

I have a very strong love for language, its study, and its use. That may sound strange since my grammar (particularly spelling) can be sub par at times. I don't think you have to be good at something to enjoy studying it. Just look at sports. I first realized this interest in language when I took a course by Dr. Mark Damen (a professor I've mentioned before) My first year of college I took his CLAS 1100 - Latin and Greek Elements in English class. It introduced me to basic linguistics, etymology, metaphor, and the basic skills of breaking words apart to see how they work.

One of my favorite examples is the word "conspiracy." Break it apart and you get "con-" with, "spir" > breath, "-acy" > quality of being or having -> the state of breathing with someone. How does that lead to "a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful?" This is where metaphor comes into play. The Romans were paranoid. If they saw two people speaking so quietly that their words couldn't be heard - two people who appeared to be breathing together - they immediately thought it was a plot. Interestingly enough in the book Dinotopia the word they use for marriage has the same prefix and base so in Dinotopia a conspiracy would be the same "the state of being married." Culture can change everything.

With that in mind I want to examine that part of language commonly referred to as swearing. Also known as profanity, cursing, explicit language, or simply as being rude, crude, and uncouth. It is the part of language that is considered impolite, improper, uncivilized, low brow, and, of course, rude crude and uncouth. Dr. Damen did give an (optional) lecture on the history of swearing as part of the CLAS 1100. Some words have always been considered inappropriate for general usage. Many gained their unacceptable status through (literal) profanity. In a religious society it is inappropriate to misuse the divine, such as in a casual or disrespectful manner - i.e. to profane. It's no wonder that much the language that is considered offensive are religious references. Those that aren't tend to be references to things considered private, intimate, or distasteful. Discussing or referencing such things overtly and in crude terms is against our natural propriety. This leads us to Dr. Damen's rule of mean - once a word takes on a sexual connotation or meaning previous meanings are no longer valid.

Moving past the origins of English/American swearing, the question as to "why" swearing is a compelling one. That society has a higher tolerance for swearing is blatantly clear by examining our consumed media. Some argue that full language is a beautiful thing, or that we do a disservice by censoring profane, inappropriate or explicit language. Doesn't the first amendment grand the freedom of speech? Doesn't that mean that we can use whatever language we desire to express ourselves? Those are valid questions, but I think the question that is more important is "should you use such language?"

Yes. People have the right to talk in whatever way they choose and reap the consequences there of. Many people don't understand, or underestimate the power of language. Language conveys something about the speaker. A prime example is Iago in Shakespeare's Othello. His first work on stage was considered one of the worst words to be spoken in public. It immediately told the audience what type of character he was. What kind of language you use demonstrates how you think. Ben Jonson is attributed with saying, "Language most shows a man, speak that I may see thee." Spencer W. Kimball expressed that profanity specifically was "the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." There are far better ways to express yourself then using language (or any action) that is offensive to others - unless you are trying to be offensive. In which case you shouldn't be offended if people choose not to associate with you. 

Take responsibility

My mind has been musing over quite a bit the last little while. Religion, choice, parenting, entertainment, employment. Some of the musings have been personal enough that I haven't shared them here. Others seem a little shallow. It's been hard to nail down a particular musing long enough to formulate a blog post - hence last weeks lapse. Perhaps it is just a matter of me doing the BIC HOK method of writing.

That method might actually be very good for me. Not long ago my office did a Meyer & Briggs Typology Indicator workshop. Many of the people in my office are administrators of the indicator and provide it to our First Year Experience classes. I did the test a little over a year ago and showed up as an ENFJ (although there is very very little separating me from an ENFP). As an extrovert (someone who gets their energy from external sources and interactions) I often think out-loud - which can be really annoying for everyone, myself included. So my thoughts evolve as I communicate them. Perhaps that is why I have always enjoyed writing and why I started this blog.

Interesting enough I was thinking about the pro-choice / pro-life debate of planned parenthood and abortion when I saw this blog by Matt Walsh. I found it rather straight forward and will say that prior to reading it I agreed with him on many of his points. I consider all life sacred and power to create life is gift from God. I will say that in a life and death situation between mother and child that an abortion makes sense. I will also say that in the event of a pregnancy due to rape - where the woman had no choice - an abortion also makes sense. However, a parent or parents choosing to abort a child because it would be expensive, inconvenient, or not with the parents' life goals is very selfish and rather heartless reasoning. Pro-choice say they want to choose whether or not to have the child. That choice was there prior to the conception of that child. The choice to have sex, engage in intercourse, "do it," and every other euphemism and disisum used to describe the God given power of procreation was the first choice they made. If birth control was not used - that was the choice that was made. If birth control was used the responsibility for that child is still there. If both parties are unwilling to accept the commitment of having a child together then why were they doing the very thing that might lead to one?

I will readily acknowledge that physical intimacy is for more than just the conception of children. It strengthens relationships between partners. It brings people closer together. I find it very sad that there are people who engage in such a powerful, meaningful, intimate action in a carefree, flippant, or causal way - giving so much of themselves so readily with so few reservations.

The media of today would have you believe many things about sex. I can safely say that the bulk of what the media portrays can be called, "happy sex." "Happy violence" can be described as violence without consequence. This is what we see in cartoons as well as in live action comedies and even action movies. I love Screen Junkies' Honest Action videos. They had a doctor watch Home Alone 1 and 2 and all the Die Hard movies and report the number of times the villains (in Home Alone) and our hero (in Die Hard) would die. The numbers for Home Alone by itself are quite sobering. It would kill a combined total over 35 people if the violence in those seven movies were realistic. That's an average of 5 per movie and that's not counting everybody that is actually shown to die in Die Hard.

For a comparison, James bond has had sexual intercourse with at least 52 women over 22 films. Extrapolating from data from the WHO, it was estimated that just shy of 500 million people had an STD in 2008. Based on population totals for 2008 that would mean that just over 1 in fourteen people had an STD. Even if Bond had sexual intercourse with women who only had one other partner  he would have contracted 6 STDs over the course of his films. If the women had three partners - 10 STDs. Four - 14. If each were as promiscuous as he was - 193 STDs. At least. Also, assuming that Bond is not sterile I would imagine at least one pregnancy to occur, potentially 52. Bond is a prime example of Happy Sex, non-consequential, sexual intercourse. How many other portrayals of such behavior are spread throughout the media? With films with titles like "The 40 year old Virgin" and main stream cables shows named "Sex in the City" it is clear that sexuality is more pervasive and more accessible via media then previously. George Gerbner, Larry Gross, Michael Morgan and Nancy Signorielli talk about how media influences our perception on society. The more we consume the more we perceive what we consume as reality. This means that more more sexual activity we see in the media the more we feel that such behavior is normal - even though the contrary may be true. With such a flood of "happy sex" in the media is it any wonder that sexual intercourse has lost any meaning of intimacy.

So to bring it around to the original topic. Our media and culture pushes sexual intercourse as a causal act that has few consequences. When people adapt such an attitude it may lead to an unplanned pregnancy. When this happens the pro-choice crowed would have it a simple matter to avoid the unwanted consequence by aborting (killing) the child. I find it ironic that pro-choice mindset seems to disregard that the person already made a choice and now wishes to remove the choice from the unborn child. Even if the child cannot (or maybe should not) be cared for by the mother there are options that still give it a choice to live. It seems that the person who is being asked to make the choice on whether someone should live or die is the exact person who may have made the horrible choice of engaging in sexual intercourse without birth control. That doesn't seem like a good idea to me. I think that people need to take responsibility for their actions and let the consequences live.