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It's so beautiful out today, you could just cry. Spring!
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Thursday, February 21st, 2008
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I was just at an interesting meeting on diversity at the school of public health. Among the things we talked about were the need to recruit and keep more African American professors. And for the first time ever I started to realize the reciprocity of programs like diversity in hiring. To my embarrassment, I've always thought of programs like affirmative action as ways to overcome entrenched societal prejudices. Not, "Let's hire someone black just because they're black," but rather "Let's hire someone black because we've spent centuries hiring someone else because they're white." And not that that's not part of it somehow, but there's certainly something to be said for, and I hadn't realized this, hiring someone because they're black and because the background they come to the table with, particularly if the table they are coming to lacks diversity, has specific value that cannot be offered by someone who looks just like everyone else at the table. It's good. It's the same reason you might hire someone who grew up in Singapore or was an olympic archer or something... they have things to offer that another applicant doesn't. And I think that "affirmative action" programs would be received and function better with wide understanding that they are not a hand-up or a hand-out but a way of adding value to an institution.
P.S. this epiphany is the only thing that gave the meeting value for me. We spent most of the time discussing ways to improve the sense of community at SOPH, but I think the sense of community (or lack of) is entirely color blind. We need to value each individual, but that's a problem with our community, not a problem with our diversity. The woman running the meeting also didn't have any sense of what our diversity needs are. We have an extremely diverse student body, but it was offered that we need a more diverse faculty. (There's a good mix of men and women and international folks, but we're lacking in racially diverse Americans, I think. And one person pointed out that UAB has doesn't offer domestic partner benefits... which I didn't realize.) If we're meeting to think about how to address our diversity needs, I think it would be good to have an understanding of what we have and what we're lacking.
Do you think diversity should be actively sought in all work place? Should we stop at equality of opportunity? Do we need diversity in places like schools but just opportunity in bureaucracies? I'm interested in what you think... in public health school I think we skip a lot of nuance to jump right into eating granola.
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Sunday, February 17th, 2008
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| Time: | 5:55 pm. |
| Music: | Criminal Intent. |
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I wrote an article critique for Theories of Behavioral Science last week. It turns out, I discovered on Thursday, that during one of the many classes during which I paid little attention, the assignment had changed from writing a paper to answering six questions on a paper she gave us the first or second day of class. Six questions which though, are generally on the same topic, address a very different idea than the paper described in the syllabus. As in, I had to get an entirely new article in order to effectively answer the questions. The mix-up was my own fault, but I wrote a damned good paper, and now I'm answering 6 measly questions. ::sigh::
In better news, I went on a parish retreat this weekend (the reason I wrote the paper early). I realized (anew) that I like church because I've found one where the people are just my kind of crazy, and that's a very good venue for beginning to understand the rest of religion. The folks are do-gooders who (if The Osmonds are a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll) are a little bit musical theater and a little bit punk rock. And it's not that there's an even mix of campy folks and wild children, but, like The Breakfast Club, everyone seems to be a metal-head and a queen and a granola-volunteer in differing degrees. Just when I think that how much I love these folks is not going to amaze me anymore, something else happens and I'm stunned again.
In other news, have you ever seen a ring around the moon? I hadn't until last night... you had to look up to the moon, let your eyes adjust, and then slide your head across the sky about 35 degrees to see iridescent blue halo. It was gorgeous.
Also, I made a blanket! I'm gonna post a picture soon because I'm so ridiculously proud of myself. I knitted! For a baby! All by myself!
Loves to yous!
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Thursday, February 7th, 2008
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Kara, Jennie, Sarah, Caitlin,
Can you all send Amanda Leonhard your current addresses at amandaleonhard at yahoo.com ? She's setting up a database for the reunion this summer... I know probably none of you care or really want to go, but she'd like to get in touch with as many people as possible, regardless.
Katie
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Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
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Church was amazing today. As it is Carnivale Sunday, we had a rowdy jazz quartet and several parishoners brought their own Mardi Gras beads. The altar party and choir threw more beads, and candy, and moon pies as they entered the church, and being St. Andrew's as it is, did more throwing of things directly AT people than TO them. My roommate provided a nice barrier, so I didn't get hit with anything, but it wasn't for anyone's lack of throwing items our way.
So much joy, which is just what church should be. Today's gospel was about Jesus on the mountain with Elijah and Moses, and it was like a bulb turned on. All of the joy this morning? Nothing compared to what will come one day. But, as our priest likes to say, it's all a foretaste.
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Tuesday, February 14th, 2006
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Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
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| Time: | 8:31 pm. |
| Mood: |  accomplished. | | Music: | Tom Cruise on a Few Good Men (Before he went nuts?). |
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I got my internship!!! Assuming that I pass a background check, I get to be an intern for the Global AIDS Coordinator's Office at the State Department. Now I just have to get into the DC program at Drew.
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, June 25th, 2005
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Wednesday, May 18th, 2005
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I think that this "not being here for senior year" was a good decision on my part. This way, as I've been prepping to leave this year, I haven't been thinking "This is the last... I won't see her again... I'll never..." because I feel like I'm still coming back next year. It's helped to avoid a lot of emotional trauma I feel would have ocurred otherwise.
HOWEVER... that doesn't help the fact that I've got my next 1 1/2 weeks planned relying on the kindness of friends. I'm staying with my babysitting folks for the next 4 days, and then 6 days sailing in Boston and 3 days with AnnMarie. AnnMarie has been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wonderful. I'm quite lucky to have her. She keeps me and keeps my stuff and does it all (mostly) with a smile on her face. Really, I'm just hoping to survive the next 13 days and make it to Iceland in one happy piece. After that I'm pretty well taken care of, and then I'll go home to my house and my car and not give a crap if I've put the right things in the right bag, because there's plenty more where everything came from.
Love you guys!
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I finished! 14 1/2 pages of conscientious objector goodness.
I was listening to RENT while I was writing today. It's the first time I've listened to the whole 2 CDs in quite a while, and I remembered why I loved them so much the first time around.
I talked to mom and both of the Grandmas on the phone today, so I feel like and accomplished daughter.
I feel like I've been a really effective person for the past two weeks, and it's quite nice.
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I finished 8 pages on my big history paper today (Methodist Minister Refuses to Participate in World War II) and I've got 7 left to do tomorrow. I also want to finish citing my social history paper tomorrow (America Isn't Culturally Divided and What Ever Happened to Utah) and add the finishing touches to the Iceland paper (Hey Rich People, Go Spa-ing in Iceland). After that I'll only have mid-east politics left (How to Change the Saudi Government). Then life will be wonderful. I'll relax for a week and pack and be generally happy to be free of paper!hell. It's gonna be great, I can taste it.
It's a good thing that this semester is almost over because I've pretty much lost any grip on life that I ever had. Not that my life is falling apart or anything, but my organizational skills have totally failed me this semester. I've spent a fifth of every hour shifting around the 3 inch pile of papers and books on my floor trying desperately to find SOMETHING that I MUST HAVE in order to finish whatever it is that I'm working on. Next semester I'm going to be more organized. It'll be a return to folders for me. Plus, I'll be in London. I like to think that that will make me inherently a better person.
Good luck to everyone else who is winding down at the moment, and even more luck to those of you who aren't.
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| Time: | 10:55 am. |
| Music: | Andy Card. |
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Please tell me that somewhere else in the world the Chief of Staff of the WHITE HOUSE isn't on TV defending President Bush's holding hands with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. 'Cause, you know, I realize that the blogs have picked up on this and gone "Look how gay our Prez is!" but the rest of us know that they were joking, that men holding hands is pretty standard practice in other parts of the world. But no, Andy Card is on TV telling me that there was a rocky path and President Bush was making sure that Crown Prince 'Abd Allah didn't fall. Holy Christ on a cracker.
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Saturday, April 30th, 2005
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Tuesday, April 19th, 2005
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| Time: | 3:02 pm. |
| Music: | "Oh What a Night" Frankie Valley. |
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Today is wonderful. It's a beautiful day out, and I feel confident and happy and pretty and content with where I'm at and where my life is going. I have a mountain of work ahead in the next couple weeks, but even that isn't getting me down. I hope everyone out there is doing equally well. Also, His Holiness Ratzinger? Not fan, but it'll be okay.
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I just trimmed my nails. I love how that always makes typing so much easier.
I'm going to London in the fall! I got my acceptance yesterday.
My wonderful sister sent me "After the Sunset" and the Tamora Pierce's Alanna quartet in the mail.
It's a good day.
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