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Civic Responsibilites

Thursday, February 19, 2009



Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne write about civic responsibilities in their article, Educating the "Good" Citizen: Political Choices and Pedagogical Goals. In a democratic age, how can people be educated to be good citizens? First, what makes a democracy successful? Schools help students to develop a character that is respectful of the law and of other individuals. The minorities, when educated, can start to take action to reach their objectives. Or maybe democracy should be taught, with all its centuries-old ideals.

Essentially, the types of "good citizens" we need to support a democratic society could be categorized into three; the personally responsible citizen, who is responsible in his/her community by working, paying taxes, obeying the law, recycling, donating blood, and volunteering to help others during times of crises; the participatory citizen, who seeks improvement and is actively engaged in his/her community's organizations, knows how government agencies work and strategies for accomplishing group tasks, and lastly; the justice-oriented citizen, who with experience can critically judge and assess social, political, and economic structures, acts on justice, and is familiar with social movements.

Which one is more important?

As far as schools are concerned, students who are steered more in the direction of volunteer work and charitable activities don't know as much about politics, social movements and transformation, and systemic change. Schools who put kindness as their priority overlook social action and justice. Of course there's the other side too, those who know all about justice and democracy, but won't take any action to correct the faults they see. Can there be a balance; is it possible to have all three kinds of these visions?

Those people who are involved in educational curricula should be aware of this and choose carefully in order to foster good democratic citizens for our future.

I think we're doing a good job in HIS by encouraging students to be just and kind, helping and respecting other students in our small school community (although I'm a bit disappointed that community service was taken away, even though I wouldn't be able to go anyway). We have a fair amount of justice-oriented teaching too, as we talk about human rights, women's rights, and major social movements that made our world the way it is today. In my opinion at least, what we lack more is in the area of "participatory citizen." We always learn and discuss about issues and how we could contribute to its improvement or solution, but we rarely take any significant action.

Innovation

Monday, February 16, 2009
"The world needs crazy ideas to change things, because the conventional way of thinking is not working anymore."

This could not be any more true, and that is why two women in New Delhi went on a road tour around India this year, stopping in fifteen cities and dozens of villages, in a plug-in electric car that is also powered by solar panels on the rooftop. They went around making people aware that change is happening now, and if we take action, it is possible to replace our fuel-consuming and environment-polluting things with cleaner, innovative technology to contribute to climate solutions. 

I think what they did was really amazing, just two people undertaking such a large and noble project. They're not just talking about what we could do, but they're actually doing it. There are already many energy solutions starting in India, but they're spread far apart; this trip brought them together and showed people that these ideas are not that far off and out of reach.

Sex and Gender

Thursday, February 12, 2009

( ^ This is a man, btw. ^ )


Could playing with cross dressing be healthy and why?
Cross dressing could make one more open minded about expressing oneself in different ways, but I don't think it's necessarily healthy or unhealthy to do it. Some people are comfortable being their own male/female selves, and others find cross dressing a fun activity. The benefits really depend on each individual, in my opinion.

Is cross dressing more difficult for boys or girls and why?
It seems like it's more difficult (but also more fun) for guys to dress as girls. We always see girls wearing pants and loose tee shirts, but it's really quite a sight to see a man in a skirt and close fitting clothes. So to see a girl cross dressing, it's not as surprising because it's not that much different from what many girls usually wear. We also see more "tomboys" than feminine boys.

Can gender binaries be blurred? And if so, what are the consequences?
It can be, and it is being blurred. I don't think there are any men than don't have even a little bit of femininity, and girls that don't have the least bit of masculinity. Maybe it's subconscious, but it's definitely there, and if encouraged by certain situations (like cross dressing) it becomes easier to blur that line between the male and female sexes. Since it's happening right now, the consequences can be seen anywhere and everywhere, but on a larger scale, people might not accept it or be comfortable with it at first. But people now, especially the younger generation, are becoming increasingly open minded and things like these are acceptable and no big news.

Ideas for Innovation

Monday, February 9, 2009
  • No. 1: Spur greater parental involvement.
    • Parental involvement seems like a good idea, but overdoing it isn't. I think this should be something optional, but always available to parents if they're interested. Having a school right next to a company isn't too much of a thrill, though. Having parents visiting the school during lunch breaks just seems a little weird. If my parents were to get too involved with our school, it would put more pressure on me as a student. I just think there needs to be a balance.

  • No. 2: Make schools smaller.
    • I think everyone at our school would agree that there are many benefits in a small school. Students get more individual attention, it's easier to talk to faculty and everyone knows each other. All these things can help a students not only academically, but emotionally as well. In bigger schools, sometimes there are more problems, too many problems that the authorities can't handle. But on the other hand, a smaller school means less competition. Some people need competition to bring out their true potential.

  • No. 3: Utilize community service to foster civic engagement.
    • Community service not only helps other people (the community) but is also beneficial to the person volunteering to do the service. On many occasions I have learned valuable lessons from doing community service, and these things can't be learned from a textbook in the classroom. Learning the importance of this early on really changes a person's perspective on it, and it can become something to look forward to rather than a chore. It would be great if everyone could go into society with this kind of mindset.

  • No. 4: Teach civics effectively in schools.
    • This is useful knowledge to have, especially when students become adults and have to deal with things like these in their lives. Getting students involved early on by incorporating real life scenarios, using things they care about, is a fun way to learn civics.

  • No. 5: Fund extracurricular activities.
    • Extracurricular activities are very important. They can help a student with skills they already have and would wish to improve on, or find new interests that they didn't know of before. Overall, it helps one become a more well rounded person. Without extracurricular activities, something would just be missing from the school experience.

  • No. 6: Model a high school on a community.
    • I really like this idea. It prepares students for the real world, and doing things like this makes them take on whatever their task is with responsibility and maturity. It's a good experience.

    The End of Suburbia

    Thursday, December 4, 2008

    "Reality is bad for business; what's good for business is the fantasy."

    It's common knowledge that fossil fuels are finite, but did you know that they will run out in our lifetime? After World War II, Americans invested their wealth in the suburbs where they could lead a peaceful life with their family, away from the noise and chaos in the cities. The suburbs are like dormitories, and there is nothing but houses for miles. In order to get to work or shop, people had to drive cars everyday to get to the city. This kind of lifestyle required cheap fossil fuels, and at that time they were abundant.

    Decades later, resources are running out. We're passing the peak period of the best oil extraction, and we're going on a descending slope. But still, we're living the same as before, ignoring the fact that this can't go on much longer. Even though I'm aware that fossil fuels are quickly depleting, I've never considered what we should do when the day that we can no longer rely on oil and gas finally comes. No kind of energy can replace these natural fuels.

    The thought that someday everything we do will have to become local is really shocking. If, for example, the US and China become competitors in getting hold of the remaining bits of fuel, then they will no longer do business with one another, and considering how many things are made from China ("from pants to underpants"), Americans will have to be prepared for a big change in their lifestyle. I couldn't imagine what life would be like if Taiwan had to be self dependent. A lot of the things we use are imported from overseas, including food and clothes.

    Before I watched this documentary, I also never really focused on all the things that require natural fuels. The most common things that come to mind are mostly transportation and the like, but foods processed in factories need a lot of energy too.

    If I was an American, I'd probably be even more shocked than I already am. As far as I know, there aren't many suburbs in Taiwan, but even so there are a lot of cars (and scooters) that use up gas. Taiwan is rather tightly packed and you can go to any place in a matter of minutes (no matter where you live, there are restaurants near by, shops nearby, etc).

    Personally, I wouldn't want to live without imported products from other countries, just because I'm so accustomed to having them in my life. This fuel crisis makes me wonder about the future, how we will get around. Will traveling (especially by plane) become an extreme privilege? Will the world revert back to the time when the planet seemed bigger because it was harder and took longer to navigate? If things will become local, what kinds of new jobs will be created, and which ones will no longer be of use?

    When we think about the future, most people draw up images of advanced technology, wondrous sources of energy, and diversity everywhere. With the oil age coming to an end, what will our next source of energy be?

    Microwaveable organic TV dinner!

    Monday, December 1, 2008



    We watched a documentary two classes ago about Enron, a powerful corporation that went corrupt and eventually fell. Then we read a chapter titled Big Organic from The Omnivore's Dilemma, a book written by the American writer, professor, and activist Michael Pollan.

    I never thought much about labels, and it was interesting to see it as a literary experience. It takes a special kind of skill to market a product through writing. But it's true, when I see something labeled organic, I draw up a very nice mental image of healthy flowers and happy cows. The descriptions are wordy and descriptive, tricking the consumer into assuming imaginary facts. You may read, for example, that the chickens grown at a certain farm are "free range," and it sounds good to the average buyer, but if they don't specify "free range," it might mean only having the chickens spend a few days or weeks out in the open. In a way, they're abusing the word "organic" to better sell their products.

    Enron is similar in that it never tells the public the details of its profits, or even details of what they do. It shows you the final result (numbers) which isn't even true, which is similar to the vague labels. In both cases, whatever is shown to the public is what the people want to see and believe, what sells, but in the end all the things behind these vague figures are lies.

    In my opinion, "organic"and "industrial" are words that can't go together. In my mind, they don't make sense as a single idea. If organic means going back to the roots and having a more direct connection with the natural, I can't imagine it being done at a large scale... at least not at the moment. Once you cross a certain number limit and industrialize, measures are taken to make things more efficient in space, time, and money. Everything has to be made precise, like the "mosaic of giant colored blocks" that are carefully and precisely cut. How does this pattern follow nature?

    I think it's very possible for an organic farm to be successful, but many fall victim to bigger, industrialized companies, who only want produce at a large scale. Organic farms, however, can produce a large quantity but with different varieties. Since this is not "convenient" for big stores like Costo, Wal-Mart, etc., small farms like these usually have it harder. It's easier to submit to do things the fast way with quick and visible results. Since this is what people demand, it will slowly change to fit their needs.

    Organic farms are understandable. They're in a tight spot. But Enron? They had a choice to do things morally, but they chose to lie instead. They should have known that, like chemicals that quickly produce beautiful plants but destroy the soil quickly as well, the effects are short lived.

    Sir Speedy (November)

    Thursday, November 27, 2008


    Tina and I go to our internship every Wednesday. We work at Sir Speedy, a company that does everything from printing to sending to designing. Say, you open a restaurant; you can go to their office and they will make everything for you like the menus, uniforms, posters, business and personal cards, etc. The office is in Tianmu near TAS, and we take the HSR to Taipei, the MRT, then the 220 bus to Tianmu Square.

    We get to Sir Speedy at about 9:30-10:00 and check in with our mentor, Roma. She usually has some worked planned for us to do. We began by researching and getting familiar with environmentally friendly papers. I used to think there was only one kind of recycled paper, but we learned from this experience that there are many more. After we were done with the research (and Tina did some Chinese-English text translation) we went to Hong Ming, one of the companies that provides Sir Speedy with the paper supplies. Tina did most of the reading in that area so she wrote down a lot of notes on what we learned there.

    Our next assignment was to re-design a brochure for Animals Taiwan, a group/organization that helps stray animals in Taiwan. It was actually pretty hard because neither Tina nor I knew how to use Illustrator and InDesign. But the employees there and our mentor were really patient and taught us some basics on how to use the programs, then we went off to explore them on our own. Our current project is to design a letterhead and envelope for Rong Zhong hospital. The ones they have now are too formal and official, and the hospital wants something that is more friendly.

    This experience is really fun so far, especially with another classmate. I think I would have had much less fun if Tina wasn't on the same internship with me. We can help each other and ease some of each others' stress and (sometimes) boredom. Although this probably isn't my "dream job," I'm very happy interning there.
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