The Prof's Own Words

My Economics professor told us that a while back, during a seminar he was giving on economics to a group of Social Workers, he told them, "I'm a redneck and I think you're a bunch of Communists." And he's serious.

He gave the example that if in Chicago, 2,000 people would not have oil to heat their houses with, he wouldn't do anything to help them.

Because he said you have to look at the whole picture--the government can't afford to pay full utilities or heating for all the people who need it. If the government did, suddenly there wouldn't be enough money to fund other projects, other good things, or even keep the economy afloat, so you have to make a choice. 2,000 out in the cold, or 200,000. Makes sense to me. I saw this play out over and over during my internship experience, and all I could do was shake my head, VERY glad I wasn't the one making that hard decision, especially since no one could give me the rap for it :O).

Make the Pie Higher, by GW Bush

I'm just never gonna let this die.

Made of actual quotes.


MAKE THE PIE HIGHER
by George W. Bush

I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the internet
become more few?

How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.

I know that the human being
and the fish can coexist.

Families is where our nation finds hope,
where our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize Society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!

Questions

2. Tonight you can do anything you want, no penalties, no reprisals, and the cost is unimportant. What are you going to do?

Start my grand tour of the world, by starting at Seattle and flying over to Australia. I would stay at hostels, meeting the most fascinating people, and travel with them wherever the wind blew me, and learning as much about them and the places I visit that I possibly could. I would try a bit of everything good-the food, the art, the culture, the history, the ethnicity of the people. I would want to see life from a local's perspective instead of a tourist's.

The second thing I would do if I could would be to work in a foreign office for a year or two to gain experience on the international level.

The third thing would be to join the Peace Corps for the two-year stint.

The fourth thing would be to travel in the Middle East, where I would be untouchable--aka no one could hurt me--but I would be able to see life as it truly is over there.

The fifth thing I would do is fly down to south America and go Salsa or Tango dancing.

The sixth thing would be to find the most remote spot and stargaze

The seventh thing would be: everything else I haven't mentioned :O)

3. If they were making a movie about your life, what would it be called and which actor would play you?

This is THE hardest question for me! I think I would get a sick kick out of watching Ozzie Osborne's daughter play me--because she's such a screwed up screwball and I'm not, so it might be fun watching her be kind, and sweet, and caring, and giving, and helping, with no huge partying and drinking, but rather enjoying the simple things of life, like taking a walk and seeing the sun set, or going to Barnes and Noble for hours to read books, or scuba diving/snorkeling, and finding peace and joy in being independent and a whole person. I would want her (I forgot her name and I'm too lazy to Google her right now) because I have a weird sense of humor and it would crack me up :O).

I think I might want to call the movie, "Self Discovery," and make it more of a documentary with a bit of role-playing rather than a novelistic drama movie. It would be an educational film rather than pure entertainment. Or maybe not. I don't know but this question is making me think at least :O).

UCLA Study

A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ, depending upon where she is in her menstrual cycle.

For example, if she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features.

However, if she is menstruating, or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with scissors lodged in his temple, and tape over his mouth, while he is on fire.

No further studies are expected.

Feminine equality during WWII

One of my favorite things about going to chapel is seeing this massive flood of people all headed through the double doors of the church.

I'm exhausted but good. In my Recent American History class, we were going over women's roles before, during, and after WWII. The roaring 20s saw women being a bit more promiscuous and "out there," and then during the war, the feminine view of ladies staying at home, raising the kids, cleaning the house, went to hell in a hand bag. Women were tough, as seen in this picture: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/at0071.2s.jpg

Norman Rockwell did this rendention, called Rosie the Riveter. She has huge masculine arms, she rests her feet upon Mein Kampf, and she has her own version of awards and medals strung across her chest as she takes her lunch break. Many women worked in factories, being welders, hard manual laborers, assembling machines, and other tough jobs. Women were taught how to make dinner in 10 minutes or less, they were told to put their kids in day care and then go to work in the factories.

After the war, magazines told women how to take hours to make the perfect meal, how to raise their children, and expounded upon the emotional abuse and disengagement children would suffer if they did not have their mothers to raise them. Women were fired from their jobs, told to go home and start cooking and cleaning, and that it was wrong of them to even think of holding a paying job now that the real men were back from the war. Suddenly, it was a huge jump back to the Victorian era, where women were trophies put on the mantel, to be seen but not heard.

We watched a documentary of WWII women workers who were suddenly out of jobs. Many of their husbands were dead, and since they were women, they were not allowed to work where they were skilled at. They were lucky to find jobs scrubbing dishes, toilets, or luckier if they could be a nanny to someone else's children. Secretarial positions were available, but no longer were the higher paying jobs given to women. It was really tough on them, to suddenly be repressed and told to pipe down because the man was the man of her and her children and home, and she was to be absolutely nothing but a supporting fifth wheel to him. Freedom, and then repression again. And it all happened so quickly.

Microeconomics

I'm only taking 14 credit hours this quarter, but I'm taking Microeconomics. I've NEVER taken an economics class. The professor was pretty tough in our first class period, and really stressed the point that we are not children, we need to suck it up and be mature adults. This is what he wrote in his syllabus:

"In his book, Bill Gates sets forth a number of rules that young people need to understand in order to avoid failure in the real world. Since our purpose at WWC is to prepare you for this world, these rules apply to this course. THey include:

1. Life is not fair; get used to it
2. The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
3. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
4. If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
5. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not...
6. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

Then the prof went on to write in the syllabus: "Many students come to college demanding to be treated as adults, but retain the option of acting like children when it is convenient. In this class you will be treated like adults."

Holy wow. I'm competative by nature, so this prof seems intimidating to me, but I'm up for the challenge to prove to myself and him that I can make an A in his class, in spite of his rhetoric of toughness.