Danielle vs. the Modern World

Women Work and Wages

2009-05-11T14:37:00.002-05:00

Inspired to be back at blogging! I begin a Women Wage and Work course this week and will be linking interesting stuff here. I will also be getting back into the swing of things with posting. We will see how this swings.

Hopefulness

2008-11-07T09:45:00.002-05:00

Well, we elected hope. Thank goodness. I would have started to worry- if i thought that America truly wasn't ready for it. But, we have seen the most depressing 8 years of leadership that could be asked for by a modern nation, and America could not be controlled by fear any longer.

So, Me vs. the modern world...

It is time to shine light into the dark! Expose hate to responsibility. And become what we expect from ourselves.

god bless America.

Working on a title

2007-09-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

So, here is the foundation of the final paper, I will be woking on this for the next couple of week. Lots of rough spots, but I can see where I want to go with this and have been happily pecking away at this all night. YEAH! More to come.

Having been lucky enough to explore so many ideas about graduate school, I am gratified in the prospect of having finally found at a true passion behind many compelling interests, I want to effect progressive change in my community, I want to create an environment of hope and action. I do not worry that change cannot happen, rather I would rather work to find the correct attitude communicated through correct messages in order to create a successful vehicle for change—this is all with out forgetting that the big questions still exist, what is the correct attitude and message

Effective communication is invaluable. It is a tool under represented in so many aspects of civilized life. The ‘disconnect’ that is apparent in the stratus of work and society is inherent in the nature of the class systems, yet I tend to think that not necessarily does the class distinction have to stay- unplugged- especially when we have so many modern communication tools and styles. Is it possible to create a message that is not just grassroots but also commercially sound?

To use an example of global warming, in 2000, the Bush administration outright denied to participate and sign on to the G8 summit while also changing even the language of global warming by political advisor Frank Luntz recommended the Bush Administration adopt the term "Climate Change" in preference to global warming.(Wikipedia). So the the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding targets to reduce emissions 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.(pew center for climate change)was ‘dissed’. But because of the obvious bad new of the truth about global warming, now in 2007 Bush is giving speeches on how American will lead the discussion with the major ‘emissions and green house gas producers’. This is not to say that Bush cares at all about the serious trouble our environment is in and how much worse our nation’s policies have gotten since the Bush Whitehouse, but, what has changed is what, on a national level is allowed to be talked about. Global warming has now entered the colloquial realm of big business and with out any real choice, a public government interest.

So has the descent over the Abstinence Education in the classroom. With numerous reports rejecting abstinence education’s legacy, I am embolden to step up and speak out and seek ways to educate as many youth as possible about reproductive health while at the same time if possible express this cause as a true case of first amendment rights. This freedom is not free and speaking out about this freedom takes practice.

With this being said, how do I effectively communicate needs that to me, seem so obvious to the informationally impoverished community, have the community acknowledge the problem and begin to work together in order to create progressive solutions?

Knowing more about what it means to be human and to be a modern human is an important aspect to message receptiveness. Which leads me to think that a communications degree could hold a great deal of value beyond the strictly theoretical training I have received as a philosopher. With action being of vital importance in the second part of my passionate search for meaning in these last six months. For, I can think as much as I would like to about a problem, I can theorize about a solution, but I must be able to enact so sort of a solution, even on the smallest scale, in order to find a usefulness in my angst.

Links to Abstinence Education many from Northern Kentucky

2007-09-24T20:24:00.000-05:00

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Part 2 Trashcans on Street Corners

2007-09-18T14:12:00.000-05:00

Comment s made on the last blog by my dear friend Kris reminds me that setting a cup of logic next to your cup of emotion is good practice- especially when dealing with bigger problems that simple complaining is incapable of solving.

Getting involved with the neighborhood community activist group has been on my list of things to do since July, 2005. I have always wanted to get involved politically in order to enact change, but I have no plan to make such aspirations know...and roller derby takes up so much of my time, it does not seem feasible to add anything else to my plate, unless of course roller derby elevates me to a the status of local celebrity...

The problem with trash cans on street corners cannot be approached from the vantage point of -all or nothing- for even the smallest amount of interest in the community and its needs may be all that is necessary to get some attention drawn to our lonely littered street corners.

Kris, I think it is a great idea to use the location of schools as the foundation of the cause...especially since there are two schools located in my neighborhood, two blocks to the North and to the South. Quite a case for Columbia Street between 10th and 11th street to have trash receptacles.

More to come on this subject.

Trashcans on Street Corners

2007-09-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

When I bought my house in July of 2005, I knew the local attitudes I would come up against, in short, on the west side of Newport, no trashcans on street corners those are on the East Side, interesting enough, probably where less people are bound to litter.

I love my house and my neighborhood. I have an affordable mortgage and a house with plenty of space to grow into. My neighbors are very nice and real people, they keep an eye on things. I can't really complain about the city, they sent me a letter in January to let me know -I needed to replace my sidewalk. But, they have not paved 10th street past York (the east-west dividing line) and there are no trashcans on the street corners.

But this is not to complain, but rather it could be considered an opportunity:

What is Public Administration?

Public Administration can be broadly described as the development, implementation and study of government policy. Public Administration is linked to pursuing the public good by enhancing civil society and social justice. Though public administration has historically referred to government management, it increasingly encompasses non-governmental organizations that are not acting out of self-interest. (thank you wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_administration)

Could this be the answer to so many of my questions about what it takes to be effective in the world and in my tiny town of Newport...

NKU's Masters in Public Administration could help me know on a deeper level- how to go about action in my community.

Good news!

2007-09-07T08:29:00.000-05:00

The Graduate Register Evaluations test announced via their website, they are not going to be overhauling the test in October, as earlier threatened by the testing company. GRE associates claim that such a change would restrict access to some groups.

Though this does not officially change anything for me- since I was planning to take the test before the changes, it does allow me to stretch my legs a tiny bit and take the test in November rather than October.

Though the test is not changing completely, it has announced that there will be two new questions on the test, one verbal and one mathematical. There are sample questions on the homepage.

Not all graduate programs require the GRE, the University of Cincinnati’s Communications Degree, Miami University’s Creative Writing Degree and Northern Kentucky University’s Masters in Public Administration Degree all require the score and these are few of the programs are of interest to me.

So as I continue to creep down the road towards getting all my ducks in a row to waddle off to the next big adventure, I will be cracking open my Kaplan’s GRE Study Guide and working my brain muscles!

And the old man dies

2007-04-12T11:11:00.000-05:00

When the last living thing has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up perhaps
from the floor of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.

-Kurt Vonnegut
1922-2007

What is in a career

2007-04-11T13:54:00.001-05:00

What is in a career? Right now I am going to say- stability. Though I may have career confused with having a great job, but if I take a longer view, being ‘trained’ for my field seems to give me some warm hope of a career. It seems to me that this would increase my value to an employer and to my field.

Having a liberal undergraduate education, I believe, prepares me for a supporting role inside of an organization, but it does not qualify me as a ‘decision-maker’, (yet on the flip side does not make me the “responsibility-taker”)

So, becoming professionally trained in a field, graduate school creates a sense of professional growth.

But, what profession? Here are two programs I am investigating

Miami University, Miami, OH
Master of Fine Arts in Fiction and Poetry

http://www.units.muohio.edu/creativewriting/

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH
Master in Arts of Communication

http://asweb.artsci.uc.edu/communication/grad_info/grad_require.htm

2007-03-06T21:23:00.000-05:00

Focus and commitment, all study is based on these actions; stopping, sitting and follow through takes one from dreamer to doer.

Goal:
-Apply to at least 5 graduate schools by February 1, 2008

Objectives:
-Take the GRE practice test by April 1st.
-Take GRE in October, 2007
-Begin writing personal statement for Graduate Applications
-Get a system for note taking and note keeping that is easy to maintain
-Implement reading schedule
-figure out what research means
-write a personal goal statement
-make a list of 10 schools and programs I am interested in

Ok, the clock is ticking. My goals and objectives for this original project have not been achieved thus far:

Independent study for the advanced student undertaking projects in creative, expository, or journalistic writing

Class Title: Danielle vs. the Modern World

Learning Outcomes:
To learn and use methods of systematic research at a graduate level
To practice a new form of scholarly writing along with traditional writing
To research local graduate programs and personal options for future educational and career goals

Final Outcome:
16 comprehensive blog entries pertaining to the learning outcomes
Formal Research paper

Well, that is the procrastinator’s consequence. This is the moment to rally.

Grant/Proposal Writing Workshop

2007-02-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

This is not my most exciting entry. But- I did go to a grant writing workshop and this is a summary of the event. Now what? Well I guess try to write a grant. I have gotten in touch with our Research, Grants, and Contracts Office here at Northern. They are going to help put me in touch with a good grant to begin with. And more grant writing workshops...

Proposal and Grant Writing Workshop

An effective grant/proposal development process takes a comprehensive view of an organization and a project creation. Many of the pit falls of unfunded projects are due to missing components that a grant funders program find crucial. Though not all of the suggestions covered below are in themselves essential, they are helpful in the creation of the right environment for good proposal writing to take place.

One of the first elements in effective grant development is to take a team approach to the project. By moving away from the proposal writer working in isolation, a team engaged in the project writing process increases quality, productivity and the overall implementation of a funded grant. By including more knowledge resources in proposal development, a more effective ‘fit’ between the organization and the proposal can be established.

A project profile is a program planning/development process that identifies the problems your organization is try to help solve. It is the starting line for the proposal process. By identifying a strategic plan and the audience that the organization plans to service a proposal is on its way to becoming well defined. Once this profile is established the organization can proceed with confidence in its ability to create a proposal that will speak directly to it’s purpose and mission. At this point funders can respond directly to an organization’s core value.

Many proposals go unfunded due to organizations writing in a response to a funding opportunities rather than matching the organization’s mission to a funder. By matching a funder to a project proposal helps facilitate the clarity of an organization’s goal and objective. Identifying an organization’s main objective, the development of a solution to the problems of its audience is clarified. The organization can develop strategies and methods to create short, medium and long term impacts on the audience. It is these impacts that funding agencies evaluate.

There are thirteen components to a well written proposal, the most important of these components are need assessments, evaluation of outcomes, and lastly a survey of budget effectiveness and the budget narrative.

The evaluation process of a grant proposal is very important. This is where the effectiveness of the goals and objectives of the project are what the funders evaluate. Having measurable outcomes are vital to a successful project. There are tools such as The Community Toolbox, an online resource for evaluation techniques that can help you to find evaluations that work. It is also important to support the evaluation process though out the proposal writing process, or keeping the end in mind.

The budget and the budget narrative are the last components of the proposal. Being aware of the projects’ overhead, cash and non-cash funds are important in the development of the organizations ability to be established and secure to funders. Careful attention to these details can be of great benefit to the organization. In-kind contributions, such as volunteers/student workers and established overhead costs that you are not looking for the funder to fund, such as rent are valuable in the budget. Funders look for self-reliance in an organization, it does not want to be the primary funding an organization gets.

In conclusion, proposal writing is a process that includes detailed research and rigorous organizational commitment. What I found most valuable in my grant/proposal writing conference was a confidence that I understood the process and could undertake such a project. It also instilled in me the importance of an organization’s commitment to the process.

Stability of an organization’s mission and the identification of goals by establishing a project profile to create a clear understanding of what a proposal writer is writing and also establishes a directions for the organization to seek the right funders for their establishment.

A is for Acheive

2007-02-01T17:05:00.000-05:00

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tuz Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

Why is the first step so daunting? Stepping is all one does all day. Step out of bed, step into the shower, step out of the door.

Maybe it is not the stepping that is the problem. Maybe it is the journey, the rather long trip- with plenty of unknowns.

Yet, there is the whole- “life is a journey” concept. This idea could be combined with the first step idea- our steps each day is a process along this thousand-mile journey.

So, what am I waiting for? Why not pick up and champion the cause? The journey is underway. I take a step and it begins...

Fear.

Fear is a basic emotion and an emotion that can get out of whack. Fear is often the reason for my procrastination even though I don't realize it. A weird thing about fear is that it seems to be invisible, meaning it can be covered-up by a very convincing smile and enthusiasm. But, when I am left to figure out why an inert force is keeping me from getting a job done- a job that in its self is joyful, I have to challenge myself to find out “what’s wrong with me?”

What am I afraid of? I can rationalize who I am, what I stand for, but how does this translate into the forward movement I am seeking? Why do these concepts of self feel disconnected from the energy that it takes to move ahead on the big journey?

Academically, the disconnect comes from an impatience that I learned early through stereotypes of smart kids (having been stereotyped as a smart kid). Things come easily to those who are smart- this I got from my parents, “You are smart, you should get this.” Exact words? Yeah, I remember clearly sitting at the kitchen table with the glaring florescent lights early in the morning going over spelling words. I should just “get it.” Being smart helps one to get it- but as for high achievement that takes time and effort. Who knew?

So, if you are smart, you don’t automatically know how a sentence should be properly focused, punctuated, and presented. My fear over this should eventually subside as I learn from my mistakes. My discomfort from being critiqued must be challenged head on and I must take “the wrath” of my critics and those esteemed professors that I graciously call mentors. What is worse, using incorrect verb tense or never stepping into the academic arena? And dealing with my embarrassment of not getting it easily may be an honest attempt to rectify the childhood messages I received about being smart and enable me to continue a journey of action that I identify more fully with, being an achiever.

The First

2007-01-04T14:57:00.000-05:00

Why Blog:

It is a tall order to begin writing a blog, especially one with the purpose to explore my own ideas about modern existence through reading and research in the subjects that I find myself angered, elated, befuddled and intrigued by. Through this investigation, my ultimate goal is to clarify my ideas and theories, eventually resulting in a well defined and well developed topic for my future studies and journey towards graduate school. Graduate school is a very important next step for me, but I do not want to take it lightly or get lost before I have even begun. This blog begins this journey.

What to expect:

The beginning of this project may be some what poetic and philosophical but through practice and the support of those who participate with me in this endeavor, I am hoping to recognize what I truly believe about myself and what work I am to step forward and do.

My interest in writing, though easily mistaken even by myself, as general interest, has been intrical in my life. As such, it is important for me to hone this skill for the long term academic endeavor while also maintaining accessibility to a general audience.

As I talk to my professors, colleagues and peers about this classroom project, I find that the scope of this exercise begins to widen while my enthusiasm heightens. (I must be on to something.) Though I am not sure what to expect myself, my assignment is to keep a current blog within the context of my reading and research, and to write ultimately, for an academic audience.

In this blog, I will be discussing a range of topics based on my interests, current events, pop culture, and academic endeavors. The basic foundation of these blogs will have running themes of ethics and the media, feminism, and technology, all with a core belief that a progressive future can be obtained through thoughtful action.

By the end of the semester, I hope to have addressed the important topics in my interest and have a direction towards graduate school with a portfolio to be proud of.