Congratulations, My President Elect
Posted by Nathan | Filed under General
Tonight, the Democratic party made history. It nominated Barack Obama for President of the United States,
While there are many friends and family who disagree with the choice of Mr. Obama, I urge you to simply bask in this momentous occasion. It is my hope that he will be America’s next president.
A Tribute to Mrs. Cindy Clarke
Posted by Nathan | Filed under General
I don’t deal with death. I am not sure most folks do. I am particularly not thrilled with people dying who had such a light to give to this world.
Mrs. Cindy Clarke was my secretary at the University of Cincinnati for 3 years at Calhoun and Dabney Hall. She did the mail - suffered long and did the damn mail EVERY day. She kept me in line when I wasn’t. She was an ear to thousands of students (literally) who sat at the front desk seeking counseling or finance advice or basic relationship assistance. She was the rock star for my resident assistants who she would do anything for. She was my rock. She was the FIRST person outside of me and Kim and the doctor to see Simone for the first time and when she came in through those doors, it was like seeing an old friend because she was one. She was a testament to why working class people get screwed. She worked hard, never complained, and never made enough money.
She was wife to Archie, whom she loved. But she absolutely and positively adored her daughter Emily who is now 20 and a marketing major at NKU.
For three weeks, I had Cindy’s phone number. I was in a state of denial about her dying and thinking I would eventually call. Questions remained: how could a 46 year old woman - so kind, so compassionate, so clever, so good - be condemned to death at such an early age? What would I say? How would I say it?
Over the past week, I have been ill with a severe infection and used that as a convenient excuse. On Thursday night, I decided I needed to muster up the courage to call Cindy on Friday. I had her number pulled up and was going to call after I interviewed the second adjunct professor candidate. Right as I was going into the interview, my friend Maggy called to tell me she got a call that Cindy was not far from death.
Damn.
10 minutes later I got the call that Cindy had died.
I was an emotional mess. I had failed.
She died a glorious death - 20 family members around (I sure as hell would never want 20 family members around; she was close to all of them). In my guilt for lacking courage, lacking spine, lacking any sort of humanity for not calling her, I took them dinner. And, in my humility, they opened the door and hugged me and thanked me and blessed me and said that Cindy loved me as a boss. They kept reassuring me she would understand. The thing is, I wouldn’t have understood. She came to my daughter’s birth. The least I could have done was come to see her in her last days.
They were kind. I was a young boss. Not very good or refined. She held me up. She was the woman who ran things, who kept things together; mother to us all in a residence hall of insane adolescent animals.
Her husband Archie followed me out of the house. He showed me the car he bought for her but that she never drove because she was too sick. He was hammered. Drunk to numb the pain. I could totally understand. And, as he looked at my Toyota, he started crying and said to me that she was the best thing that ever happened to him and she didn’t deserve to go.
He’s right. There are so many raging, horrible people in this world that live such horrifically long lives. Someone like Cindy deserved better and deserved to live much longer. Archie, man, I am sorry.
On my way home from the house, I went to a bar and had one drink and toasted with some unknown guy in Cindy’s honor.
On Friday, I learned something tremendously valuable, and that is never EVER take for granted the time we have. While she certainly would have understood my inability to contact her, cowardice is no excuse. She deserved better from someone who owed her much. Her death has taught me more about how to live. No doctorate will ever do that.
Cindy, may you rest in peace in that great big residence hall in the sky, I hope you don’t have to do mail, or deal with disorganized nincompoops. Thank you for all you were and all that you gave to so many of us young people. We will miss you.
May your family find solace in the beauty of your spirit.
I realized something yesterday and that was my life is tenuous; I must always live without fear.
Sphere: Related ContentFriday: Sociology of Education
Posted by Nathan | Filed under Education, Friday Commentary: Sociology of Education
I had to smile as this little video gave an overview of the sociology of education and then gave a thumbs up to functionalist theoretical perspectives, but, I give the person props: the summarized well. For those who want a quick in to the sociology of education, this video provides that. Just know I don’t share in the final analysis (note the videomaker’s portrayal of Feminism is quite reductionist).
Sphere: Related ContentThursday Commentary: The Art of Teaching
Posted by Nathan | Filed under Education, Thursday Commentary: The Art of Teaching
I was out yesterday with a continuation of the bronchitis plaguing me since last week. My confinement resulted in several cold spells and sheer misery. But, my own whiny stupor, I heard a tremendous piece of advice.
For this segment, I want to re-state a quote from a guy named Mike. Kim and I watched Mike last night on the Showtime series “This American Life”. His story was incredibly heartwarming and depressing. You see, Mike suffers from a horrific disability in which his muscles are slowly deteriorating. As he seeks to “escape” (as the show’s title theme implies), his needs create a unique set of circumstances that keep him bound to his mother. As we watched, I couldn’t help but think that we are all trying to escape something - be it misery, debt, hardship, or fear.
At the end of the show, Mike writes something quite powerful. His wisdowm sat with me as I was laying in my own self-misery and wondering the state not only of my own health, but the state of the world. To paraphrase, Mike said: “I finally realized that my life is tenuous; I can not live in fear”.
You might ask how that applies to the art of teaching?
If for no other reason, the process of education and knowledge acquisition, along with just living life, is often filled with fear or we are driven to fear much of what life has to offer. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown. As teachers and fellow travelers in this life, we often find ourselves and our students engulfed in a culture of fear - a fear of living. My children are taught to fear; fear strangers, fear bad grades, fear social isolation. Adults are continually fearing as evidenced by the tremendous amount of doom and gloom in the news.
Yet, what it boils down to is that this life is at best tenuous. To live in fear is capitulation and the ultimate failure. At the end of the day, when death descends, we typically live with the regrets of things we didn’t do, not the things we did do. And the things we didn’t do are often a result of fear.
As teachers and as humans, we must work to remind ourselves and our students to live boldly and without fear (balanced of course with a sense of purpose and ethics). As educators, perhaps our greatest contribution - in addition to the imparting of knowledge - is working with those in our sphere of influence to do just that.
Life is tenuous, there is no time for fear.
Sphere: Related ContentWednesday Commentary: Politics and Education (K-16)
Posted by Nathan | Filed under General, Wednesday Commentary: Politics and Education (K-16)
Beautiful quote by the new head of the AFT, Randi Weingarten:
Sphere: Related Content“NCLB has outlived whatever usefulness it ever had. Conceived by accountants, drafted by lawyers, and distorted by ideologues, it is too badly broken to be fixed,” she said a day after union delegates voted to do away with the current law and build new legislation based on the previous Elementary… ~ Education Week, 7/2008
Tuesday: Book and Article Reviews
Posted by Nathan | Filed under Tuesday Commentary: Book Reviews
I am currently reading a few books and will post next week on two educational texts.
Monday: Topics in Higher Education
Posted by Nathan | Filed under Education, Monday Commentary: Topics in Higher Education
Given the fact I am living in both the for-profit and non-profit world, I found this to be quite the engaging lecture about for profit universities. Take a listen, it is quite interesting and I think he makes an interesting point about the importance of the public good. Now, we also have to consider some of the issues related to the accumulation of capital and growth at the expense of degree devaluation. Nevertheless, it’s a segment that isn’t going away.
Sphere: Related ContentSunday: Religion and Spirtuality
Posted by Nathan | Filed under Sunday Commentary: Religion and Spirituality
From the Atheist Quote of the Day, 7/27/2008, Cardinal Franc Rode:
[Europe is] moving backwards in the area of religion because legislative bodies on the continent are increasingly moving further away from Christian principles. Laws being passed in almost every country in Europe do not coincide with Christian principles. [Religious] superiors have a clear challenge, and at the same time an inescapable task: to root out the subtle forms of internal secularisation that have become present in our surroundings.
I saw this quote in my I-Google page. After reflecting on it, I at first thought “why is this on here”. After some reflection a flurry of thoughts came to mind: David Horowitz, Evolution versus “Intelligent Design”, and on and on.
I am unsure when he declared “war” (perhaps I being hyperbolic here) on secualism, but the look I gave his bio on Wikipedia seems to corroborate suspicions that his concerns were breathed life some time in the recent past.
What do folks think he is implying? Is there a stated truth to what he is saying? If so, what is that truth? If not, doesn’t it seem as though his true mission is to “restore” the faith to its rightful, political place? Just curious.
Sphere: Related ContentBack to Organization
Posted by Nathan | Filed under General
Okay. I am bringing order back to the blog again making sure it is focused on education and educational topics. I will try to limit my non-discipline specific rants/tangents to the occasional and place under the general.
Each day will be structured to focus on a specific topic of interest in education. Personal updates with respect to family and friends will be found on the appropriate link at the top of the page.
Why write a blog? It keeps me writing and thinking, which is part of what being a scholar, educator and life long learner is all about. For me it’s not only about feeding my soul, but keeping engaged and focused. Admittedly, the whole blogging process can be a bit tedious, but hey, it’s always worth a shot to provide focus.
If I get too far off topic, I need you all to keep me straight.
Sphere: Related ContentGreat Uncle Art Wins Award
Posted by Nathan | Filed under General