The first and most exhausting issue (and the focus of this entry) that presented itself last month was grading my students’ research papers. Holy cow. What a mess some of these things were to read (if you can call trudging through these papers “reading”). I’ve been teaching a course at the local college for the last three years. This Thursday will be the beginning of my fourth year teaching at the college and each year the writing gets worse and worse. First, I thought it was bad when one of my students spelled “before” as “b4” (yes, someone actually did that). Then, I thought it was bad when my students submitted works cited pages on opinion papers! But 2009 was a banner year for outstanding displays of ridiculousness.

I had students copy and paste directly from Wikipedia when they are submitting opinion papers. I will repeat that – and expand – for your delight. I assign a two page opinion paper to my students and ask for their feedback on certain issues. This paper is worth 5 points on their final grade. And some students used this as an opportunity to go to Wikipedia, copy and paste an entire entry on a topic, and submit that entry as their opinion. Are you serious?! Has the age of the internet and social media destroyed the minds of America’s youth to the point where they can’t form a fucking opinion?! Good grief!

But that was a two page opinion paper. What exhausted me last month was reviewing and grading an 8 to 10 page research paper where the quality of writing was generally less than high school level and the overall grammar, spelling, and flow of the papers was just as bad. Granted, of the papers that I read there were definitely two or three home runs and another three or four that were at least written at a college level. But the rest of them… to say that I was disappointed would not be doing justice to the life-sucking exhaustion that I felt reading through these papers. And the less-than-college-quality of the work spread across a variety of issues besides spelling, grammar, and flow. One student – in a research paper – wrote that members of a certain religion (of which I am a member) and white people are generally not offended or annoyed by the Nazi party.

Go back and read that last sentence again. Yes, that’s right. A college student suggested that one specific religion and people of a certain skin tone would actually condone the Nazi party. Absolutely outrageous.

Almost none of the students knew what it meant to properly cite their sources and even more had no idea what MLA or APA format meant. It was an exhausting exercise reading their papers – absolutely exhausting.

But I can’t say that these students haven’t made an impact on me. No, in fact they’ve pushed me to the point where I’m strongly considering reducing the amount of written pages that my students have to hand in each semester. Not to worry, though. I plan on replacing those written pages with presentations – another skill that students sorely lack these days.

Who said being an adjunct professor was easy?

The message below is what popped up as something that I should share with my friends and family (and online readers) after I signed an online petition. I hope that you’ll take a minute and read through this information and, if you so choose, sign the online petition linked below.

Do you know what’s less safe for our children than fast-food? Their school lunch!

A recent investigation by USA Today found that the meat sold to U.S. school cafeterias faces less testing and lower safety standards than the meat that’s served in most fast-food restaurants — outlets that aren’t otherwise known for their health consciousness and are as cost-conscious as the most passionate deficit hawk.

That’s right: McDonalds, KFC, and Jack in the Box test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more frequently than the USDA tests beef for U.S. school lunches! And these restaurants have for years refused to buy certain kinds of lower-quality meat and chicken which the USDA continues to accept.

I just signed a petition to ask Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to set better standards for school lunches. I hope you will, too. Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/school_lunch_fdn/?r_by=-2078083-S9YA0qx&rc=confemail1

Again, I hope that you are moved to some action on this information. All it takes is a few minutes to sign an online petition, if that. I believe that one of the reasons why we are experiencing an epidemic of obesity in this country is because of the foods we are eating. Yes, food quantities are a problem (we eat too much food), but a worse problem is the quality of the food that we are putting into our bodies. When I think about feeding horrible food to our children in school lunchrooms, it makes me pretty angry. Please take a minute to sign that online petition – we have to fight back against industrial agriculture at some point and the school lunchroom might be the perfect place for action.

Two homeless Hungarian brothers who have been living in a cave and selling discarded junk for a living are in line to inherit almost $7 billion from a long-lost German grandmother’s fortune, Britain’s Telegraph reports.

Their sister, who lives in America, will also share in the inheritance.

The fortune comes from the estate of a maternal grandmother who died recently in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, the Telegraph says.

“We knew our mother came from a wealthy family but she was a difficult person and severed ties with them, and then later abandoned us and we lost touch with her and our father until she eventually died,” 43-year-old Geza Peladi told Hungary’s ATV television.

The name of the deceased is being kept secret to prevent scam artists from coming forward, the paper says.

Geza and his brother, Zsolt, who live in a cave outside Budapest, got the news from a charity worker who was contacted by lawyers for the estate. Under German law, direct descendants are automatically entitled to a share of any estate.

“If this all works out it will certainly make up for the life we have had until now — all we really had was each other — no women would look at us living in a cave,” said Geza. “But with money, maybe we can find a partner and finally have a normal life.”

The brothers are currently getting copies of their mother’s death certificate and proof of their identity before going to Germany to claim the fortune.

Unbelievable, huh?

That’s why I joined the Food Democracy mailing list – so I could use whatever voice I have in this world to advocate on behalf of bringing our food system back to basics. Part of that change – and make no mistake about it, this is the change that I voted for – is removing from the government those organizations that have an interest in mass producing quick, low-cost sources of food. With that in mind, this is the latest e-mail that I received from Food Democracy:

Dear Friends,

Speak up to stop Big Ag.

President Obama has found himself with some strange bedfellows lately.

While on the campaign trail in Iowa, Barack Obama boasted, “We’ll tell ConAgra that it’s not the Department of Agribusiness. We’re going to put the people’s interests ahead of the special interests.”1 Despite that promise, it seems that ConAgra’s friends at Monsanto and CropLife are still finding their way into the USDA.

Last month, President Obama nominated two “Big Ag” power brokers–Roger Beachy and Islam Siddiqui–to key agency positions, putting agribusiness executives in charge of our country’s agricultural research and trade policy. Please join us in telling the President that this isn’t the change we voted for. We don’t want Big Ag running the show any more.

Siddiqui’s confirmation hearing is set for next week. Please help us reach our goal of 50,000 signatures to make a real impact.

http://fdn.actionkit.com/go/65?akid=35.18844.xoo-6g&t=1

Obama’s first agribusiness selection is Roger Beachy, to be head of the USDA’s newly created National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Beachy is the founding president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, MO. It may sound innocuous, but the Danforth Center is essentially the non-profit arm of GMO seed giant Monsanto; Monsanto’s CEO sits on its board, and the company provides considerable funding for the Center’s operations.2

As the head of the USDA’s new research arm, formerly known as the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CREES), Beachy is responsible for deciding how U.S. research dollars will be spent in agriculture.3 Translation: more research on biotech, less research on how to scale sustainable and organic agriculture.

Unfortunately, Beachy has already started work at the USDA, but the next nominee—Islam Siddiqui—still must be confirmed by the U.S.Senate. Siddiqui, the Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, was recently nominated to be the Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the Office of the US Trade Representative.4 Amazingly, when Michele Obama planted her “organic” garden on the White House lawn, Siddiqui’s CropLife MidAmerica sent the First Lady a letter saying that it made them “shudder”.5

During his career, Siddiqui spent over 3 years as a pesticide lobbyist, an Undersecretary at the USDA and a VP at CropLife. In defending Siddiqui, the White House has stated that he played a key role in helping establish the country’s first organic standards.6 What they neglect to mention, though, is that those original organic standards would have allowed irradiation, sewage sludge and GMOs to undermine organic integrity! The standards were so watered down that 230,000 people signed a petition for them to be changed, which they eventually were.7

Fortunately, the organic community stopped Siddiqui and his cronies then, and we need your help now to do it again. If Siddiqui’s nomination is allowed to go through, then agribusiness will continue to control the seeds, the science, and the distribution of global food and agriculture.

Please join Food Democracy Now! and a broad coalition of other groups, in calling on President Obama to keep his campaign promise of closing the revolving door between agribusiness and his administration.

Please click here to add your voice.

http://fdn.actionkit.com/go/65?akid=35.18844.xoo-6g&t=1

Thanks for standing with us and our coalition partners from across the country, including: The Pesticide Action Network (PAN), National Family Farm Coalition, Food & Water Watch, Farmworker’s Association of Florida, Institute of Agriculture & Trade Policy, Greenpeace and the Center for Food Safety in calling for President Obama to live up to his promises to put people’s interests ahead of special interests

As I’ve said in previous entries on this topic, it takes less than a minute to send a brief message to the White House. Please take some time and, if this issue interests you, send a message to the White House. I’m realistic. I know that changes today won’t effect the food supply tomorrow, but I do think that changes in the food supply will help future generations of my family and our country eat more natural foods and thus be healthier people.

Both Governor Jon Corzine and Chris Christie’s remarkable inability to give specific information on the details of their supposed plans to lower property taxes have left a filthy taste in the mouth of many New Jersey voters. All one needs to do is listen to any of the debates that these candidates have had over the last several weeks and you’ll be sick to your stomach.

Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I decided to listen to WBGO’s podcast of the last gubernatorial debate of this season, which occurred at their studios last Thursday. Hold on to your hats for this shocking revelation… it was more of the same! In fact, you can read a review of the debate from the mainstream media’s point of view at the New York Times website by clicking here.

The last few weeks of this year’s election cycle have been interesting as the Independent candidate Chris Daggett is gaining in the polls to the greater detriment of Christie, but now also to the detriment of Corzine. Much like what is going on in New York’s 23rd Congressional district, it appears that a third party candidate is going to spoil the New Jersey Governor’s race. Frankly, I’m glad that Daggett has decided to stay in the race and fight. New Jersey, and the entire nation, needs an alternative to the Republicans and the Democrats.

There is a lot to write about this particular issue. I could write about how one of my liberal professors is touting the White House’s opposition to FOX News strictly on ideological grounds. One could also write about how Chris Wallace from FOX News Sunday hit the nail directly on the head when he suggested that this White House is filled with a bunch of crybabies. Or one could write about how other news stations are sticking up for FOX. In fact, directly from that New York Times article comes this:

In a sign of discomfort with the White House stance, Fox’s television news competitors refused to go along with a Treasury Department effort on Tuesday to exclude Fox from a round of interviews with the executive-pay czar Kenneth R. Feinberg that was to be conducted with a “pool” camera crew shared by all the networks. That followed a pointed question at a White House briefing this week by Jake Tapper, an ABC News correspondent, about the administration’s treatment of “one of our sister organizations.”

Pretty respectable for the competition to honor the unfair treatment that FOX News has been receiving, huh?

However, I want to focus on two things regarding this issue – the White House’s intentional blur between what is news and what is opinion on FOX News and the game that the White House is playing with FOX News.

First, anyone who studies media or watches a great deal of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News while reading a diversity of newspapers can tell you that there are only so many ways a company can report a story. When a tornado hits Kansas, you don’t often hear FOX News reporters saying, “A tornado hit Kansas today and the lousy liberals are to blame.” Just like you don’t hear any legitimate reporter on MSNBC blaming conservatives for acts of God. When it comes down to reporting events from around the world, you’re going to read or watch the same report no matter where you go.

However, when it comes to commentary, you’re going to get a divergent approach to “reporting.” Bill O’Reilly calls himself a “humble correspondent.” That’s part of his approach to opinion journalism and there is nothing wrong with that at all! O’Reilly takes a very traditional view on the issues, but that’s okay because he’s hosting a program that is rooted in commentary. Glenn Beck has a staunchly libertarian point of view. Now, those who are not well-versed in political ideology would suggest that Beck is a conservative, but he’s not. So the next time you hear a mass media report or read in a newspaper that Beck is a conservative, then you need to second guess that source of news. Sean Hannity, on the other hand, is a hardcore conservative and there’s nothing wrong with that, either.

FOX News clearly labels these programs as commentary and anyone who knows anything about social interaction beyond “Hello, my name is…” can tell that these programs are NOT news-based! The White House isn’t filled with dummies, they understand that these programs are opinion programs. However, their strategy is to lump the legitimate news departments in with these opinion programs to paint FOX News with a broad, anti-liberal, anti-Obama brush. They know that by doing this, there will be a certain percentage of the population that completely agrees with them and will eventually take over this fight now that it has been brought up at a higher level. It’s a shame that such easily influenced, non-critical thinking people exist to do the White House’s prolonged dirty work.

My second point is that the White House actually managed to do something that they hadn’t been able to do up until they began attacking FOX News, i.e. get the FOX News commentators to STOP digging into the backgrounds of Obama’s staff. Think about it. Glenn Beck single-handedly led to Van Jones’ downfall, which opened up the door for other media organizations to wonder what they had missed out on (read the New York Times article linked above). This, frankly, scared the hell out of the White House and led to them attacking FOX News. If the media is covering itself, then they’re NOT digging into the people who maybe shouldn’t be sitting around the table with the President, right?

Hopefully, people will begin to notice this on a large scale and begin to demand that their White House stop engaging in partisan attacks on the media and, instead, get back to the job of running this country.

I’ve signed up to be on Food Democracy Now’s e-mail list so I can help advocate for better food policies for all of us. The latest advocacy effort is asking Agriculture Secretary to help organic farmers get more land to grow their crops. Below is an e-mail I received from Food Democracy Now – give it a read.

It’s time to end the bureaucratic squabbling at the USDA and put beginning and minority farmers first.

What new and minority farmers need most is access to affordable land — unfortunately USDA officials are stalling a potential solution.

A new program created by sustainable agriculture advocates in the 2008 Farm Bill, called the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Transition Option, offers incentives to land owners enrolled in the CRP to sell or lease the land to beginning and minority farmers using sustainable or organic practices at the end of CRP contracts.

Currently, 4.3 million acres enrolled in CRP are about to leave the program and this land is badly needed by the next generation of farmers to overcome the greatest obstacle to new farmers – affordable land.2

Unfortunately the USDA’s bureaucratic wrangling and fear of lawsuits is holding up implementation of this vital program. Rather than release the land as it should be under new Farm Bill rules, the USDA is holding it up with an unnecesary environmental impact study. Any further delay will deny beginning and minority farmers the opportunity to get access to the land they need in the next 2 years.3

Please join Food Democracy Now! by asking Secretary Vilsack to implement the Conservation Reserve Program Transition Option now.

Our beginning and minority farmers don’t have a moment to waste.

Interesting information, huh? If you’re interested in sending a quick, online message to the Secretary, click here. If you believe that quality food provides a large benefit to our society, then I encourage you to send the Secretary a message.

Dear Joe:

Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to a government takeover of our health care system. I appreciate having the benefit of your views as I share them.

Clearly, any time a child or a parent goes without the care they need, it represents a very serious crisis for that family. And, I understand that health care costs are escalating every year. But as health care represents 17 percent of our total economy, we have to get any “reform” right. Unfortunately, the President and the Congressional Majority are not “getting it right.”

They seem intent on a government takeover of health care that would have devastating consequences for families and small businesses. Such a takeover will raise taxes, weaken Medicare, ration care, and let unelected government bureaucrats in Washington make medical decisions that may end up denying access to medical and life-saving treatments.

Despite what the President says, more than 180 million Americans are at risk of losing their current private health care under a government-run plan. In addition, proposed Medicare cuts could threaten the very existence of our fine local hospitals. Moreover, the House Majority’s current health care plan is financially unsound and will add to, and not lessen, our staggering national debt.

Instead, Congress should work to empower doctors and patients by making health care more affordable, more accessible, and more accountable. The American people deserve the freedom to choose the health care that is best for their families!

I support health care reform, but we must preserve what works: protecting the doctor-patient relationship in addition to allowing people to choose the personal care that suits their individual needs.

At this point, there is no firm date for the House health reform debate to begin but you should anticipate that it will be a rushed process. Speaker Pelosi says she will unveil a new health care bill, “when it’s ready.” Of course, this is another way of saying that H.R. 3200 will be rewritten behind closed doors and we will have little time, if any, to review its contents!

Fundamentally, I support reform efforts to make quality health care affordable and accessible for every American, but any proposed reform needs to proceed slowly and carefully and must be bipartisan.

Once again, thank you for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Rodney Frelinghuysen
Member of Congress

For those of you looking for more information about the Congressman, you can head over to his website and learn more about him.

However, there is something particularly sad about the Corzine campaign’s latest advertisement that attacks Republican challenger Chris Christie’s weight. Take a look at the ad below:

What I find particularly egregious is the final shot of Christie getting out of a car and the slow motion focus on his girth. Even the New York Times reported that this advertisement was in poor taste. I’m probably more offended by this advertisement than other people since I’m a big guy myself, but I have to question the intelligence of the Corzine campaign to run such an ad when the majority of this state and this country is overweight. Not good planning if you ask me.

However, this does prove that – yet again – New Jersey politics are in the toilet.

Again, I’m as American as the next guy in this country and I love the fact that an American won the award. Yet, I can’t help to wonder the basis of President Obama’s nomination or his award. What…exactly…has he done to warrant such a prestigious award?

Could President Obama be the spark that creates great forms of positive change in the world? Well, yeah, I guess. But then again – you or I could be that same spark. Some would argue (successfully, too) that President George W. Bush was such a figure. Others might say that the work that President Bill Clinton has performed since he left office make him a clear choice for the Nobel Peace Prize. But President Obama?

Hmmm…

I think the folks behind this award are suffering from a form of premature exasperation. That’s right. I think that they hear President Obama speak about good will and their hearts flutter. I used to work for a guy who was absolutely euphoric over President Obama winning the White House (he was later fired from the office due to incompetency). It appears that the folks behind this award are absolutely euphoric, too.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to let President Obama actually become the force for good that everyone thinks he can be and THEN reward him for it? Oh wait, I forgot that he’s a liberal minded politician leading a world power during the localization of the globe. In other words – he can do no wrong in some people’s eyes… which is a damn shame.

Congratulations, President Obama. I hope that you live up to this award.