CommunityWalk Map - VCU Urban Journalism Workshop Students

Journal 4-8 Max Bardowell 5-27-08

Alternative Therapies and Medicines

Answer to Last Week's Question: They have been persecuted for the last half millennium, beginning in the Middle Ages with the general fear of witches and continuing well past the Salem witch trials. Thousands were killed and imprisoned under Stalin and Hitler in the 20^th Century, and they are still discriminated today in many countries.

This week we continued our discussion of alternative therapies and medicines. The most recent film we watched concerned "Bee Venom" therapies used to treat Multiple Sclerosis. While these were unorthodox, they are currently being researched for their effectiveness. If they ultimately have a positive effect for someone who is suffering from this debilitating disease, why shouldn't they be allowed? It is unethical to limit society's medical options, however, it is also unethical to allow them to go untested and to not warn the population of the potential dangers. The FDA should regulate alternative medicine just as it does traditional treatments. The same rules apply. If they work and are safe, than they are allowed. If not, than they are rejected. The consumer must be kept safe at all costs. "Regulate" in the context of the involvement of the FDA, in my opinion, has a positive connotation, as I always know that my food and medicine has been proven safe. In fact, if a treatment is effective, the FDA's approval will not only spread awareness, but it will increase public trust of the treatment, thereby insuring that it will reach more struggling patients.

However, the "Bee Venom" therapies, if proven effective, could be an anomaly, as it is more often true that these alternative medicines are simply not effective or they are even harmful to some. The effectiveness of a medical treatment will always improve its legitimacy. However, if one effective trial comes at the price of ten harmful ones, the situation changes. For example, it may be the most potent, effective cancer treatment available in successful trials, but if nine out of every ten patients die in the process, the treatment is no longer viable. Ultimately whether these potentially harmful or effective treatments are regulated it depends on the type of government and economy you have, but in a perfect world, it should not, as governments should always care for their people and should always lookout for their well being. We do not live in a perfect world.

Journal 4-7 Max Bardowell 5-19-08

Secrets of the Psychics

Answer to Last Week's Question: Baer has publicly acknowledged field assignments during his twenty year CIA career in Madras and New Delhi, India; in Beirut, Lebanon; in Dushanbe, Tajikistan; and in Salah al-Din in Kurdish northern Iraq.

The world is filled with magic. Most of it is false; elegant tricks played upon the mind to entertain, to bring some wonder back into a world too grounded in the tedious grinding of reality. But some of our magic is real, based upon the foundations of scientific fact and able to turn the iron laws of nature aside through the hard work of a few courageous men and women. However, many cannot make the distinction. They believe in the trickery, in the conjuring of those who may want to take advantage of them.

According to the recent documentary we watched, Secrets of the Psychics, this phenomenon is much more prevalent in countries such as Russia than it is in the US. There the practices of psychic healing and medicine are common, often serving as replacements to modern medical techniques. I began to wonder if this was not due to America's discomfort with the occult. As a thoroughly religious country (76.4% Christian, 0.4% Atheist in 2001), I believe the reason many Americans refuse to accept the solutions presented by psychic healing, or any version of psychic practices for that matter, could lie in their adherence to their religious beliefs. As psychic practices have been strongly associated with the occult and demonic presences through history, religious Americans have a powerful reaction to exposure to these beliefs (hence the Salem Witch Trails). They cannot experience them, or even know of them in some cases, for an acceptance of them into their society would constitute a breach of religious protocol. Psychics are of the devil, and thus they are shunned. This is different from Russia, a nation where 60% of the population does not practice a religion. They do not share America's religious fervor, and thus they do not share America's cultural repulsion of psychics.

While I do not believe psychics have any command over the supernatural forces they claim to, I do believe they should not be shunned as they are. We are a nation that practices religious freedom. This is their religion, so let them be.

Question: How have psychics or gypsies been persecuted throughout history?

Journal 4-6 Max Bardowell

The Cult of the Suicide Bomber

Answer to Last Week’s Question: Similar to many former Presidents caught in the twilight of their administrations, President Bush has in recent months tried to jump start the arrhythmic peace process between the Israeli and Palestinian factions. President Bush hopes to reiterate his devotion to the development of a dialogue between the two factions during a May 13-18 visit to Israel and other nations in the region.

This week we began watching the documentary The Cult of the Suicide Bomber, written and hosted by ex-CIA case officer Robert Baer. Having read Baer’s book See No Evil, I knew going into the documentary how difficult creating this film must have been for him. He has lost many friends to the bombs of “martyrs”, mainly in Beirut, but elsewhere in the Middle East as well. Still, this gives him a certain credibility, not because he has seen what needs to have been seen and gone where he needed to have gone to make the film, but also because the breadth of his past has readied him for what needs to be said. After reading his book I knew that somewhere beneath the twisted steel and scorched concrete he found the fire to complete his quest: to solve the mystery of the Embassy and Barracks bombings and spread the knowledge he has gained through his profession to those who can make a difference. His connections will help him investigate and bring to light the true motives behind suicide bombings, so that we can understand the ideology and thus better combat its negative effects. I have a great respect for Baer. I have no doubt that he will succeed.

Question: Where did Baer operate as a case officer?

Journal 4-5 Max Bardowell 5-5-08

Promises

Last week we watched the documentary Promises. I think watching the documentary confirmed my ultimate goal of becoming a journalist fluent in Arabic. Not only would I be able to get access to stories an English speaking journalist would not be able to, but I would be able to reconnect with a part of my past I was never really able to explore. My grandfather’s family is from Lebanon, a country as synonymous with the history of the Middle East as Palestine or even, albeit arguably, Jerusalem. It is also a country that conjures up images of civil war, crumbling white towers, and ruined costal cites that had once been known around the world as the last glittering Edens of the Middle East. It is the Lebanon I know. The Lebanon my ancestors knew is no more. My grandfather has only revealed that part of his past, the past we share, in hushed conversations that left me feeling as if my past began not long ago, on the coast of Lebanon, but here in America. For whatever reason, he has smothered that part of his past and neglected to share it with me. I don’t know whether it was motivated out of fear or shame, but I feel as if a connection we could have had has been lost. I don’t fully blame him, as he forged his fortunes in America, but watching Promises only reignited my desire to soon travel to Lebanon and search for those who share my name, my blood.

Question: What is the current state of negotiation between Israel and Palestine?

Journal 4-4 Max Bardowell 4-27-08

Sound and Fury Revisited

After hearing that the director of Sound and Fury had made a sequel, we were asked to write a prediction of where the Artinian family would be after six years. After some thought, I found that I could write two versions of this prediction, but I fear only one of them is truly possible. In the first, the Artinian family has continued along the course that they set at the end of the movie, following their predictable divisive behaviors and reactions. In the second, they have reversed that course, coming together again as a family with both Deaf and Hearing members united by the revocation of the single choice that influenced not only Heather’s life, by the lives of all around her. I hope for heather and the Artinian’s the latter became reality. I fear that only the former version of their story is really possible.

At the end of the film, the Artinians had moved to an area of Maryland that was heavily populated by members of the Deaf community. In their words, they were driven by both their fear of inadequate schooling for their children in Long Island and by their desire to feel more accepted within their community. I believe the reality is that they, in essence, fled the judgments of their family members who were discouraged to learn that Heather was being denied the Cochlear implant. I believe part if the Artinian’s knew what they had done was wrong. They were running from guilt. They knew that if they had stayed in Long Island they would have been forced to watch as Heather’s cousin, who had been given the implant, grew up to become an individual with a foot in both worlds, and thus double the opportunities to excel. I think they feared having to atone for their short sighted decision each time they saw their brother’s son.

This tension, in a way solidified by the Cochlear given to Heather’s cousin, would be difficult to overcome. The distances the Artinians put between themselves by moving would only focus the problem. I believe they would still visit with their immediate family, the grandparents more frequently and the brother on holidays, but I believe that they will have lost that intimacy and mutual support that defined their earlier relationship. The Cochlear formed a rift within their family, a fact that I think is understated within the documentary. It is my hope that they can heal the rift, but I fear that the Artinians will never be able to recover the bonds which they broke by discussing the implant. Maybe it really was a bad thing in the end? Without it, she is still lacking sound, but her family is happy and together. I have never known such fear, or passion, that would drive me to cross a nation. Then again, I am not part of a dying culture. If this is truly genocide, would I too not fight or flee with my family to higher ground?

Heather never received the implant she desired. Her parents, in their wisdom or folly, chose to let her wait. Now, if she is twelve, her future has been irrevocably altered. Heather’s romantic vision of her being able to single handedly bridge the gap between Deaf culture and the Hearing world, is now also changed. Her dream was the product of a five year old mind, a mind free of bias or persuasion, and thus in its innocence it gained a certain focus. However, after six years apart from the hearing world, six years spent in a school for the Deaf, her dreams have changed. I doubt she has a strong recollection of her earlier plans, or a strong attraction to them. If she has been indoctrinated into Deaf culture, her hope to have contacts within both communities, embracing both worlds as part of who she is, is lost. There is also the question of the implants effectiveness. After six years of Deaf education, the implants effectiveness is severely reduced, due both to Heather’s cerebral development and her attachment to the communication techniques of the Deaf community. Due to her parent’s delays, no matter how well intentioned, Heather no longer has a voice in her future. She cannot choose for herself, because she has no options left.

This is the only future I can see for the Artinians. It is bleak and raw, and void of their earlier love and optimism. Each member of the family has recoiled into the familiar, and the one member that was ready to explore was blocked at each advance, without even knowing why. I prey they can reconnect, as their unique relationships can serve as a guide for how the two cultures, Deaf and Hearing, can interact and grow together. I prey they can reconnect, because Heather can do without the Cochlear, but she needs her grandmother and father, and her aunt and uncle. I prey they can reconcile, because all the Artinians, Deaf and Hearing, should be able to watch their family grow up together.

They are silent and they are loud, and that makes them worth fighting for.

Update

My prediction was later found to be false as, after watching the sequel, we found that Heather and her brothers received the Cochlear implant, and her family moved back to Long Island and reunited with the rest of her family. Apparently the first version of my prediction proved to be true. I happily stand corrected.

Journal 4-3 Max Bardowell 4-21-08

Sound and Fury

Answer to Last Week’s Question: There are many leading bioethicists, but most are associated with a major university, such as Pennsylvania University, which has a leading department of bioethics. They are also associated with independent medical or research hospitals, such as The Cleveland Clinic. The National Institutes of Health, a governmental organization, also has a department of bioethics.

This week we watched the documentary Sound and Fury, an in depth portrayal of one family’s struggle with accepting both Deaf culture and the Cochlear Implant, the device considered by many of the hearing impaired to be able to destroy Deaf culture. One of the most prominent issues presented within the documentary was that of belonging, and to which world, Deaf or Hearing, would the younger members of the family belong.

For Heather, a young girl at the center of the film who was considering the implant, the idea of belonging to both worlds was what drove her towards the implant. She hoped to have contacts within both communities, similar to a bilingual individual, embracing both worlds as part of who she was. Even in her five year old mind, she had this romantic vision of her single handedly bridging the gap between Deaf culture and the Hearing world, serving as both as a translator and diplomat for those ignorant members of both communities. Sometimes it takes a child’s mind, a mind free from prejudice, to truly see the correct course of action. Ultimately, I think she saw the prejudices of her parents, prejudices inherited not by choice, but by the unpredictability of nature, and she hoped to smooth them over. I think she saw the flaws in both worlds through the infighting between her family members, and she wished to spare others from the same struggle and pain. When Heather’s parents denied her the implant, I think they underestimated her perceptiveness and her resolve. They took away what she considered to be her destiny; to become one of the rare individuals possessing the gifts of both worlds. They justified their actions under the guise of being good parents, but in the end they were only selfish, clinging to their traditions in place of progress and the promise of a better future for their daughter.

You could argue that a five year old could know nothing of destiny or purpose, but then you would be denying the very prevalent truth; she was conscious of her decisions, and she wanted the implant. You could see the frustration in her face as she struggled to interact with children from the Hearing world. You could hear the longing in her small, underdeveloped voice and see the pleading in her finger movements as she signed the purpose she wished to fulfill. And, as her parents broke the news to her, you could see the pain in her eyes as they took her future, her dream from her.

Question: What happened to the Sound and Fury family after the documentary closed?

Journal 4-2 Max Bardowell 4-13-08

Bioethics

Question: Morgan Valentine^[1] Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American independent documentary film director, TV producer, and screenwriter, known for the documentary film Super Size Me, in which he demonstrated the health effects of McDonald's food by eating nothing but McDonalds three times a day, every day, for one month. Spurlock is also the executive producer and star of the reality television series 30 Days.

Spurlock graduated with a BFA in film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1993. Before making the 2004 Academy Award nominated Super Size Me, Spurlock was a playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000. He also created I Bet You Will for MTV.

The field of bio-ethics is a relatively new area of ethical discussion, involving technologies and circumstances unforeseen by students of ethics even a decade ago. Evolving in tandem with the rise of new technologies within the fields of biology and medicine, bio-ethics now includes several main issues:

• Right to life/ death cases involving those in a vegetative state or those with a terminal illness

• Cloning of animals or humans

• Genetic engineering

• Genetically modified foods

• Confidentiality of medical records

• Stem cell research

The goal of bioethicists is to use philosophical techniques to analyze the circumstances surrounding these issues and generate a clearer picture for those who are in a decision making position. Bioethicists draw on traditional philosophical guidelines, current laws and legislation, and religious scripture for guidance. Many bioethicists are also physicians, using the medical information they received in their educations to help influence their reports.

Question: Who are the nation’s leading bioethicists?

Journal 4-1 Max Bardowell 4-7-08

30 Days Documentaries

Answer to Last Week’s Question: Amway sells a variety of products, from cosmetics to cooking ware, but the majority of the products are related to the cosmetics industry.

One cannot help but wonder while we are viewing the 30 Days documentaries in class whether or not they would be able to submit themselves to the same challenges and come out a better person, or, at the very least, a changed person. I think it is these same motives that push me to become a foreign correspondent. I think that on some level I hope to test myself, to throw myself into the fray and experience something entirely exotic and, at times, traumatic, because then and there, when human emotions are stretched to the breaking point, just as in the 30 Days documentaries, that is where the really fascinating stories are found. Looking back, I find that this fact seems to have dictated what I plan study in college more so than anything else, except perhaps my passion for writing. Ultimately, I hope to become so completely immersed in another culture, through both language and customs, that I will be able to write the stories that another English speaking journalist would not have been able to.

It is this life that I wish to assume, that of a reporter, a storyteller for humanity. As one, I may not change the world, but at least I will bring back a part of it to those who cannot experience all of it for themselves. I will bring the truth, raw and undiluted, to those who have become lost in fiction.

Question: Who is Morgan Spurlock?

Journal 3-8 Max Bardowell 3-17-08

Amway: Company or Cult?

Answer to Last Week’s Question: While circumstances surrounding Brownie Wise’s removal from Tupperware are unclear, there seems to have been some trouble with her bookkeeping and finances that lead to irreconcilable differences between her and Earl Tupper, the owner of Tupperware. Unfortunately for her, Wise had no official contract with Tupperware. A soon as a year after her termination other company employees either didn’t know who she was or hadn’t heard from her in months. It was almost as if she had been erased from the collective memory of Tupperware. Creepy.

In several follow up questions to last week’s activities involving the Tupperware documentary, the Amway Company was mentioned. Upon further research it can be seen that Amway’s advertising, sales methods, and organization closely resemble that of Tupperware. There was also a strong opinion within the research I found that Amway and its employees resemble a cult organization, also similar to Tupperware. Amway’s followers certainly resemble religious zealots in some senses, as they are devoted to their company, its products, and the promise of a comfortable retirement to their core, attending seminars and conferences mirroring religious revivals, where the only difference is the absence of any divinity or religious code except the company values. More successful members of Amway get to present their stories of finding wealth through Amway at these seminars, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a testimony from a converted individual. Still, some of these connections are more transparent than others, and Amway could possibly be just another company that attempts to instill the corporate values of loyalty and trust to their employees through these team building group activities. However, the connections are there, and, as cult techniques have proven to be very effective unifiers in the past, I would not put it beyond Amway to try some of them out. Again, these techniques aren’t necessarily negative until a company takes them too far.

Question: What are the products that Amway sells?

Journal 3-7 Max Bardowell

Tupperware: Company or Cult?

Answer to Last Week’s Question: I could not find the exact origin of the term institutionalized prison. However, I believe it is simply a term that developed overtime as the symptoms of its manifestation developed as well. The effects prompted the label itself.

In Monday’s debate over the Tupperware documentary, the idea was presented that the Tupperware sales division could be considered a cult of sorts, evolving into an organization staffed by obsessive, devoted followers not by the company's choice, but by circumstance, or quite possibly in light of Tupperware’s overwhelming success, by providence. Their sales staff lived and breathed for the company, and this is what largely ensured that the Tupperware name would live on as the brand name for all things plastic within the kitchen.

The similarities that Tupperware sales shared with cult organizations are striking. The three most prevalent were the salespeople themselves, the rallies, and finally the iconic leader, Brownie Wise. The sales people were utterly devoted to selling Tupperware, not only due to their loyalty to the company, but also due to the great sense of personal pride that came with being a member of such a close-knit community. Once recruited, they would travel thousands of miles, relocating their entire families, just to secure a job with Tupperware, and once on staff they religiously attended the rally meetings, learning the Tupperware anthems and values in the process. The system closely mirrored that of an initiation. In the documentary, the former employees consistently and nostalgically pressed that their time spent at Tupperware was the greatest time of their life. Many broke down in tears.

The final and most clinching evidence comes in the form of Brownie Wise herself. Her persona, her methods, her close network of advisers, her followers, and her image, dripping with charisma and regality, all reeked of the single projection: cult leader. While this was seemingly unintentional, it did not go overlooked by Wise. The Tupperware sales group idolized her, and she used that for her own ends. While she helped the company more so than any other individual, she squandered her power and resources, another symptom of a cult leader. Still, she catapulted Tupperware to its past status, and kept it there for a great many years.

But is the cult methodology bad? Yes and no. It unifies and voices the company’s values more effectively than any other means, apparently even PR and HR gurus use cults as guides for their company’s image and department organization. However, they must beware of the many weaknesses of the cult organization, as they can bring down a company, just as they did with Tupperware.

Question: What ultimately brought about Brownie Wise’s removal from Tupperware?

Here is an old Tupperware infomercial. Notice their revolutionary advertising techniques.

Journal 3-6 Max Bardowell 3-3-08

Institutionalized Prisons

Question: The smart board is designed and manufactured by SMART Technologies who have 20 years of product design expertise. SMART is the industry pioneer in interactive whiteboards and other collaboration tools.

• http://smarttech.com/

We are a society built upon a system of punishments and rewards, and this fundamental fact can define how we interact both socially and politically far more readily than any other system. It is a reactive system, and thus begins with an action, whether positive or negative, that results in either a punishment or reward depending on the morality of the action itself. For instance, if you rob a bank you will be punished in proportion to your crime, as this follows the system’s protocols. However, if you perform well at work, you will be rewarded with a promotion or simply your monthly salary, as this to follows the standards of the system. It is a fairly basic system and leaves little room for interpretation, but unfortunately this fact could also hold the system’s most grievous flaw: redundancy.

We can become lost in this repetition of punishment and reward, as many parents learn early on as their children quickly become unresponsive to certain levels of punishment. This closed loop system leaves no room for growth and teaching, as the children become adapted to this crime/ punishment system so thoroughly that it becomes an ineffective deterrent. But this problem has evolved and grown far beyond the boundaries of the home. It now infects our penal system. At every level of our penitentiaries we find the phenomenon known as “institutionalized prisons”, where the prisoner knows the prisoner’s life for so long that they rely on the institution to define the structure of their lives. Drug dealers will simply allow themselves to be caught, as they find the punishment they receive is low enough that there is no need to risk their lives to avoid it. Criminals who commit a felony crime serve their time dutifully and then are thrown back to the streets with no job training and no one left to hire them. They turn back to the only thing they know- crime. It is a viscous cycle, nothing but a cruel and unusual punishment existing in broad daylight.

Still, we cannot have murders and criminals loose in society without having paid their debt to the nation, thus the catch- 22 forms; how do you punish an individual enough to influence his conscious decision making process without pushing him to become an institutionalized inmate. The solution begins with the addition of rehabilitation procedures to the penal system, where inmates will receive job training, education, and psychological aid in their recovery. The solution begins when we stop viewing prisoners as “convicts” and begin to see them as people.

Question: What is the origin of the term institutionalized prison?

Journal 3-5 Max Bardowell 2-25-08

Technology and the Modern Student

Answer to last week’s question: First, they should go to a resident student advisor within their dorm, and then, if the problem remains unaddressed, work their way to the higher echelons, such as the school counselors. The administration should only be involved in the direst of situations.

This week we discussed the various effects technology has upon our lives. It was spirited, as this is an aspect of society that is very intimate and close at hand to students, thus capturing our attention more than other ethical dilemmas that are more distant, dealing in philosophical values only apparent to those that deal with international diplomacy and crises.

We answered first how we divided our time between different resources available on the internet, including social networks, games, music and videos, and simply surfing for information. My groups’ time was dominated by social networks and music downloading, however, if I had to create a list, it would look like this:

I know this may seem like a disproportionate amount of homework time, but I try to do most things on the computer, and this is also a reflection of how dependant our educational system is on the internet and computers. I really have no choice. I simply need the vast amounts of information available on the internet to do most of my work, and many of the assignments some of my more environmentally conscious teachers are given on the paperless formats of the digital world. It is not only more convenient and paper saving, but simply easier for our generation to acquire, as we have been raised in front of an LCD screen. We are used to digital formats, and thus, this new style of teaching suits us better.

Question: What is the origin of the smart board, a popular and cutting edge teaching tool?

Journal 3-4 Max Bardowell 2-19-08

Conflict With Roommates

Answer to last week's question: The most popular programs are EVE- Essay Verification System, JPlag, and Plagarism.org.

Last week we discussed the complex ethic situations that one encounters when forced into a close proximity with others for a long period of time, mostly due to their inclusion in an academic environment. People tend to amplify the problems generated by these circumstances, and rarely do you find a group of individuals that can live in complete harmony with each other. Thus, many dilemmas can arise from these three main reasons (any others are simply offshoots of these three); first, there is a differing in lifestyles, second there is a difference in culture, and lastly there is a difference in personalities. All of these can be solved with the greatest of diplomatic tools: communication. Unfortunately, this tool is rarely used.

A difference in lifestyles can be anything from having differing sleep patterns to enjoying differing styles of music. This can lead to friction in the areas of priorities for the group, sleep and studying vs. partying and loud music for example. This can easily be solved by creating a schedule or calendar for specified activities.

A difference in culture is a harder potential problem to define, as this issue may not exist in some circumstances. This problem could develop more often when one roommate meets the family of another. Both roommates must take into account the various cultural practices of their fellow compatriots and act accordingly.

Finally, a difference in personalities comes in to play more often than the other two, as this reflects the compatibility of the two roommates. Thus, if two roommates’ personalities react abrasively to each other, you will have conflict, while if two roommates are mostly amicable with each other, then conflict will remain at a minimum. Each roommate must see each other for who they are, and respect the boundaries that would cause conflict. They must tread lightly or conflict will arise.

Question: Where can students go if they have seemingly unsolvable problems with another student?

Journal 3-3 Max Bardowell 2-11-08

Honor Codes

Answer to last week’s question: The quote- “Oh what tangled webs we weave/ When first we practice to deceive,” is from the successful Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott, author of Rob Roy, Ivanhoe, and The Lady of the Lake.

The subject of honor is of particular relevance to students, and, with the rise of improved forms of technology and consequently improved forms of cheating, it is becoming a more valuable commodity and character trait to possess. Schools and academic institutions especially find this trait desirable. Thus, they design a majority of their organization around a defined system of rules and guidelines known as an honor code. These codes are integrated into every level of the college, from the student teacher relationship to relationships involving the board of trustees. Most address the more established and primitive forms of dishonor, such as lying, cheating, stealing, and basic forms of plagiarism. They also address the “condoning” of unethical behavior. However, as time has advanced, many have been forced to amend their codes to include unethical behavior involving computer use. They hope to avoid any potential loopholes that could develop in tandem with the increased number of student forays into the world of internet databases and file-sharing.

This is a far more sophisticated form of cheating. With more students able to pull vast numbers of papers from the internet and from their peers, cheating is becoming harder to track and to prove. Yet, technology also opens doors to the intuitive teachers and professors who wish to match the fervor of their deceptive students. With programs like the ones that their students use to share information, teachers can root out suspected plagiarizers. Using advanced algorithms and word comparison programs, teachers now have the ability to stand on an equal footing. This is a major problem, and one that must be addressed if the sanctity of other’s grades is to be maintained.

Question: What are some of the programs used by teachers to root out plagiarism?

Journal 3-2 Max Bardowell 2-3-08

The Morality of Lying


Answer to Last Week’s Question: The actual text of the Golden Rule, as stated in Matthew 7:12 is, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

In our class discussions this week about the varying levels of friendship and community, we moved one day to the topic of lying, and how the morality of lying can affect a friendship. The first point that spawned the discussion was the idea that some friendships are at a level where it is acceptable, or possibly preferable, to lie to your friends when certain circumstances require it. An example: your friend asks you to come out on a Friday night when you really don’t feel like it. If this was a friendship of the good or even a certain friendship of pleasure, you might feel comfortable enough with that person to honestly tell them how you feel. However, most friendships could be damaged by that lack of involvement, and some friends might be offended by your lack of interest, even if you’re simply tired and you just want to stay at home and watch a movie.

Several ethical theories come into play here, including a priority ranking of your friends, the golden rule, and the greatest good. By ranking your friends, whether consciously or unconsciously and whether through Aristotle’s methodology or otherwise, you put certain values on relationships, and are thus able to distribute your time among them more effectively. You can also, in this situation, whether it is ethical or not (we’ll come to that later), decide which friends you feel you are able to lie to.

The Golden rule initially would tell us that you should lie to no one, as humanities visceral reaction is to be drawn towards the truth. However, when the circumstances of the truth could result in our harm, would we really wish to be told the truth? Now, I’m not saying that your friend stating that he doesn’t want to hang out with you could cause you physical harm, but if you don’t know your friend’s personality intimately, you could be offended by his lack of involvement in your relationship. So, would you want to be lied to?

This relates directly to the greatest good practice. Do the consequences of your friend discovering your lie outweigh the benefits of him not being harmed by your rejection of his offer to hang out? This is really a judgment call. You must judge the solidity of your lie, as well as your friend’s possible reactions to your negative response, and finally any future lies you many have to tell him to maintain your initial lie. All this in the time span between the point he asks you the question and the point when you should have generated an answer.

It’s a tricky business.

I don’t want to say it but I feel that I have to, “Oh what tangled webs we weave/ When first we practice to deceive.” This does ring true in this situation. So remember it. Whatever you decide, good luck.

Question: What is the origin or this quote: “Oh what tangled webs we weave/ When first we practice to deceive.”?

Journal 3-1 Max Bardowell 1-27-08

The Golden Rule

Answer to Last Week Question: There are several organizations that are considered “ethical authorities” in the US. These organizations issue ethical doctrines and statements on relevant issues. They also fund parties in certain legal cases involving relevant issues, as well as operating charities and fundraising organizations. Often they have political affiliations. The two that come to mind are Amnesty International and the Heritage Foundation. Others include the Better Business Bureau, Goodwill Industries, and the United Way.

This week we discussed the various rules society uses to define the differing methods its individuals employ to govern moral and immoral behaviors. The first and most obvious is the Golden Rule, which simply stated is do onto others as you would have them do onto you. We spent the majority of our time focused on this rule. Despite its natural reflection of a perfect Utopian society, there was something that just didn’t sit quite right with us as a class, some flaw that we could not name, and for that reason we put the rule through our intellectual meat grinders to determine whether or not it would be copacetic in human society. What we found surprised us.

Though in theory the Golden Rule seems infallible, there are several fundamental flaws in its wording and practice that make several revisions necessary. First, the rule does not address differing standards of treatment. If one party in the Golden Rule relationship has lower standards of treatment than the other party, should the second party recognize those standards? Second, many can interpret the basic kindness expressed by someone’s devotion to the Golden Rule as a weakness, and exploit that kindness for their own means. Humanity can be too wicked to embrace the elegant idealism within the rule. Our own self-absorption and self-interest conflict with the selflessness laced within the rule. This leads to the third flaw; the rule is simply cannot be practically implemented in human society. Not due to its philosophical and ethical implications, but due to several fundamental flaws within the way humanity reacts and relates with itself.

Perhaps society can embrace a refined form of the Golden Rule, such as the Brazen Rule or the Silver Rule, but even these have flaws. Ultimately we will find that we cannot live by one simple rule. We cannot sum up the breadth of our moral conscious in a single line of text. We must combine rules and create hybrids of rules if we are to forge a lasting ethical guide. Humanity is far too complex to be governed by a single rule, or any rule for that matter.

Question: What is the actual text of the Golden Rule, as stated in the New Testament?

Journal 2-9 Max Bardowell 1-20-08

Principles of Ethics and You

Answer to Last Week’s Question: These results are from the Poll of Pollsters website, a ranking of national newspaper polls based on the accuracy of their past predictions. The top ten are:

1. Des Moines Register
2. ABC News/ Washington Post
3. Pew Research Center/ Associated Press
4. CBS News/ New York Times
5. Mason- Dixon Polling Firm/ MSNBC/ The McClatchy Company

Greatest Good

The greatest good is the notion that a single action that results in some negative consequences can be justified because it impacts more people in a positive manner than it does in a negative manner. It a much debated idea and the justification for the decision largely depends on the circumstances surrounding the decision itself.

Equal Respect and the Golden Rule

This ideal is a fluid concept and has been translated through many cultural and geographic boundaries. It is the belief that everyone deserves to be treated in the manner in which they themselves would wish to be treated, assuming that they would wish to be treated in a positive manner.

Relationships

A relationship is any interaction, small or large, between two individuals. Enduring or potent relationships between two individuals tend to have more of an impact on the two parties than more fleeting interactions.

Community

A community is a grouping of individuals, whether defined by a geographic location or shared relationships or values, who live and work within a certain proximity. Sometimes they work together for a common goal, but most of the time the individuals simply coexist within their environment, pursuing unilateral goals isolated or independent from the rest of the community.

Character Growth

Character Growth is the maturing of an individual’s ethics or values over a defined period of time. Often these morals become concentrated, reflecting the individuals upbringing, education, or group membership.

Question: What national organizations are considered “ethical authorities?”

Journal 2-8 Max Bardowell 1-13-08

Answer to Last Week’s Question: The Top Five Film Schools in the World (in no particular order):

University of California
University of Southern California
California Institute of Technology
New York University
American Film Institute

One major difference I noted between the two youtube debates this campaign season was the bitterness between the Republican candidates and the seemingly united front the Democrats have shown. While each candidate competes with each other individually, the democratic campaign collectively can be compared to an insurrection of sorts, with the party out of power “rebelling” against the party in power. There is a certain loyalty that comes with being a member of the party out of power. There is a unity of cause and spirit that allows them a distinct camaraderie, separating them from the republican candidates they oppose. They are a loose alliance of sorts. A band of competing individuals united under a common ideal. Thus, they can campaign against each other while still remaining focused in their ultimate goal; the deposition of the Republican Party’s control over the presidency. Each is loyal to their cause. It is a noble aspect of American politics

However, the republicans show a less honorable side of the political spectrum. They bicker and brawl, and attack the character of the men around them, not the ideologies they follow. They scramble for any scrap of a lead they can maintain, desperate to hold onto their party’s claim to the presidential office. Like the threatened monarchies of Victorian era, recoiling from the spread of democracy, the republicans squabble amongst themselves as they try to maintain power. To the public though, they only seem weak. Divided. Unsure. But, they are not to fault. If the democrats were the former office holders they would be behaving in the same manner. But they are not, and thus give the impression that they are the stronger party, resolved in their quest to assume power. That is why I will make a prediction today that it will be a democratic candidate that will win this election, for better or worse, and the republicans will not maintain power in the oval office. But who knows? In the end, you will decide.

Question: What is the most respected national campaign poll?

Journal 2-7 Max Bardowell 1-7-08

Midterm Documentary

Answer to last week’s question: Here are some popular editing software programs used by smaller film production companies. Michael Moore would probable use more advanced software, but I had trouble locating the titles to the software:

• · Mac OS X
• o iMovie
• o Final Cut Express
• o Final Cut Pro
• o Avid Xpress Pro
• o Adobe Premiere Pro
• o Final Cut Studio
• o Effects Lab Pro
• · Windows
• o Windows Movie Maker
• o Avid Xpress Pro
• o Avid FreeDV
• o Sony Vegas
• o Adobe Premiere Pro
• o Effects Lab Pro
• · Linux
• o Cinelerra
• o Kino

I had not realized the varied skills one needed to properly make a documentary until I was required to film one myself. They are extremely diverse and encompass a broad range of training and experiences, from a background in creative writing to a proficiency in film technology. Fortunately, our group dynamics catered to the style of documentary in which we wished to film, that of a serious film that focused on comparing opposing viewpoints on a common topic. The composition of our group enabled us to have a solid breadth of experience in writing, technology, on camera techniques, and editing and composition. Without the oftentimes differing opinions of our group members, I have no doubt that our documentary would have had a very one dimensional feel to it. Having said that, it seemed at times that the editing process could have gone smother if we had only two people in our group, simply due to fact that two people can reach a conclusion much more quickly than four can.

I thoroughly enjoyed the assignment, despite its size and time demands, and it was a break from the predictable monotony of established written exams, even though it required a bit more work. It was a challenge, but it made me that much more proud of its success.

Question: What is the best documentary film or film school in the US?

Journal 2-6 Max Bardowell 1-3-08

Michael Moore Hates America Answers

1. He uses phantom questioning and splicing of certain interview clips. He uses the “leading interview” tactic to walk interviewee’s toward the right answer. He uses the montage technique.

2. He uses heavy voice over, like Moore, to help the viewer familiarize themselves with the narrator, thus creating predetermined biases that influence the viewer later on. He uses a montage technique, displaying images of his life to achieve the same result.

3. He must decide how to make a compelling an interesting documentary without using the same tactics that Michael Moore has perfected. He must remain unbiased, and impartial, to maintain a certain level of journalistic integrity if he wants to successfully denounce Michael Moore without seeming to be a hypocrite.

4. No, not really. It would be better to say that he shifts the truth. He uses certain editing tricks and viewer biases to create filters that will obscure the truth, thus creating the illusion of a lie, but not an actual lie. It seems to me to be an even more devious way of filmmaking. Slimy.

5. Not unless it protects them from immediate and physical harm. No, it is not ok to lie in the media.

6. She means that by creating a documentary you are taking reality and forcing it through the lens of a camera, which is not conducive to the truth. That lens is also your lens, she implies, and is thus tainted with the inherent biases you posses. I disagree. While a documentary is a creative product, it can be subject to the same journalistic principles that ensure we maintain a free and balanced press. It becomes, therefore, a product of quality reporting, and as close to relating the truth as humanly possible within the format of human expression.

7. When they take unaltered footage or images and edit them to deceive the viewer, for whatever purpose, noble or misguided. That is the line. You cannot alter the truth of your material.

8. She means that we must be conscious of the fact that when we fervently voice a cause, we may soon find ourselves stooping to the levels of our enemies to convey our messages to the masses.

9. It could be the town you grew up in or the town you were born in.

10. It is one of optimism, not despair and sorrow. Wilson presents us with a view of Flit that is hopeful and progressive, unlike Moore’s view which highlights only the negative.

11. That Michel Moore’s cynical view of America’s people and politics is flawed, and America does in fact have a heart: its people.