Affirmative Action

This week SCH 101 has been discussing issues of academic justice.  In particular, I was in a group on Monday that was discussing Affirmative Action.  There seems to be some misunderstanding among the general population of first year students that issues of gender and race discrimination are from the past and are not occurring currently.  I beg to differ.

The median salaries of women are still significantly lower than those of women.  The median salaries of blacks and Hispanics are still significantly lower than those of white women.

The unemployment rate for blacks is more than twice that for whites and that number has not changed significantly in the last 50 years.  That is right, there has been NO PROGRESS in 50 years.  Why should we care?  Because the more people in good jobs, the more money people spend, the more money is paid in taxes, the lower the debt, the deficit, the better the economy, the more jobs are available, etc.  How could we make this economic miracle?

Want to increase employment?  Increase education, or join the armed forces.  Of course,  now that we are transitioning to peace-time armed forces it is becoming much more difficult to join up.

What does this have to do with affirmative action?  Whites and Asians are graduating from college at a higher percentage than they are in population.  Blacks and Hispanics are much less likely to graduate from college.

Is it possible?  Well, I am ready to predict that women are about to take over the job market that require a college degree?  Why?

The men are not going to college and they are not continuing on to masters degrees.

Welfare

This week we discussed Welfare with the SCH 101 class.  This is always fun since the political leanings of students in class are in a spectrum from wide left to wide right and everything in between.  The question remains, what do to about problems of poverty in our country and worldwide?  So - for the students - here are two options I support that attack poverty problems from different points of view:

1.  Kiva -- This is for my more conservative students.  The point of Kiva is to loan money in units of $25 to people in third world countries with poor banking systems so that they can improve their lives and pay back the loans.  When you make the loan, you decide who to loan the money to based on what the money will be used for (supplies, education, etc.).  Then once you are paid back $25 you can loan it out again.

2.  Give Directly -- This is for my more liberal students. The point of Give Directly is to find the poorest of the poor in Kenya.  One of the amazing things about Kenya is that they don't have ATMs, but they have bypassed this entirely to use cheap cell phones to transfer money.  Once Give Directly has identified these poor, they give them money directly to use as they see fit.  The ideas is that the poor really know what will benefit them. "The most frequent self-reported use of funds is purchasing a metal roof. We estimate the annual rate of return on on metal as opposed to thatch roofing to be 15%-20%, suggesting this is an attractive investment."

I challenge the Scholars students to hold some fund raisers and then use this money to improve the life of someone who lives in abject poverty.  It is up to the Scholars to decide whether to go the conservative path or the liberal path.

Fwd: 11 Ways College Athletes Are Treated Worse Than Unpaid Interns

From: William Earl <william.earl@wartburg.edu>

11 Ways College Athletes Are Treated Worse Than Unpaid Interns

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/college-athletes-unpaid-interns_n_3865911.html

Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: BBC News: Green compensation scheme outlined

From Dr. Earl

I saw this story on the BBC News iPhone App and thought you should see it:

Green compensation scheme outlined

The UK government has outlined its proposals on compensating for the loss of biodiversity through development.

Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23972980


** Disclaimer **
The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified.

#green #biodiversity

News and Information for August 2013

It is almost time for everyone to move back to campus.  This year we have an incoming class of 29 Scholars students.  Dr. Earl and I are teaching the first-year course with a focus on Social Justice.

Scholars Student Council

• Ben Bogard
• Alexia Brewster
• Levi Endelman
• Bob King
• Aditi Patel
• Andra Peeler
• Plus two first year students to be elected in September

Scholars Student Assistant - This is a paid position to assist the first year students with their adjustment to the Wartburg Scholars Program

• Sarah Mullinax

Important Dates

• August 30 - First year students move in
• September 11 - Scholars Dinner with the College President (Please RSVP when you receive your invitation)

Questions for our new First Year Students

We are starting to get ready for students to arrive on campus.  The official day that students move to campus is August 30, 2013, but because of athletics, students will start moving to campus in just a few days.  We ask our new class of first year students to do a couple of things:

• Subscribe to this blog using your favorite feed reader.
• Go to this google form to answer a few questions about your summer.

Finally, if you have suggestions, hints, or advice for the new first year students, reply or add a comment to this post.

Social Justice Movies

The theme this year for SCH 101 is Social Justice.  Over the summer, we asked the students to watch Ghandi and School of Rock.  However,  now we are looking at the whole semester of material.  This is one list of Social Justice movies.  What movies would you put on the list and why?  Use the commentings to add ideas.

Late July

I know it has been quite some time since the last post, but I just returned from 3 weeks at the Park City Math Institute where I learned about the isoperimetric problem and also about General Relativity.  If neither of these make sense to you, just imagine me sitting in a classroom feeling just as lost as the majority of my students in my undergraduate math courses.  It certainly helps renew my sympathy for the students sitting in the back row hoping I don't notice them.

This year we have 29 new first year students from five different states, although none from below the Mason-Dixon line this year.  We have accepted one international student who will be joining us when the finances get worked out.  We have eight gentlemen, so the odds are good for some, but not for others.

This Fall, the first thing these students will do is write the syllabus for their Fall Term course with the theme of Social Justice.  As is typical for this course, students will first be asked to define Social Justice without checking the dictionary.  Although the Catholic Church has a long, specific, list of Social Justice topics, I thought we should focus on those issues which rise to the top of the concerns of college students.  Here are some resources:

• Top 5 Social Justice issues of Social Workers
• Catholic Themes of Social Teaching
• The Jesuits on Social Justice (okay, I know the current Pope believes the Jesuits are Catholic.)
• Lutheran Justice in Society (ELCA)

First Year Summer Assignment

Every summer, Scholars asks students to prepare for SCH 101 by reading extra texts before they come to Wartburg College.  This summer we are changing things up a bit:

• Students need to watch two movies, Gandhi and The School of Rock.

  

  

• Students need to read the Readings in Common book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

• Students need to choose one of the following books to read.  These are all books which were recommended by this year's applicants.  Please read a book which you have not yet read.  If you have read all of these books, please contact the director.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

 Reading Lolita in Tehran                              

Their Eyes were Watching God

The Jungle

Awaken the Dreamer Retreat

At the Upper Midwest Honors Council conference a week ago, we heard a talk by some students from Mt. Mercy College in Cedar Rapids.  They have incorporated Awaken the Dreamer/Changing the Dream into their curriculum at the college.  They have offered to come to Wartburg and have a retreat for the Scholars Program in the Fall.  This is an introductory video.

Please let us know if you are interested by filling out the questionnaire.

Social Justice Planning

The SCH 101 course in Fall 2013 will focus on Social Justice, so it is on my mind.  I was impressed this morning when I woke up and listened to a radio show on KUNI called Voices of Our World that was talking about the benefits to us in learning about others.  They have a whole collection of radio casts on different Social Justice issues.  There is a Scholars Culture point opportunity in listening to one of these shows and writing a reflection on the show as well as a recommendation on whether or not this would work well in SCH 101.