Archive for November, 2006
Snow in Corvallis
I love Oregon weather.
SEO, Threadless, Smog, Leprechauns
- A primer on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at ProBlogger.
- My new Threadless tees:
- A building in Rome that eats smog
- Do you believe in leprechauns?
- Kevin likes technology AND student affairs
- Blogs and Books can change Admissions policies
Political Correctness
Kai Chang has written the best critique of “political correctness” that I’ve ever read.
Simply put, the great “PC” cliché, as commonly deployed in mainstream discourse, is cultural propaganda designed to befuddle and misdirect while defending the current power structure. All politics deal with power relations, and in the debate over America’s alleged climate of “political correctness”, there’s a stark asymmetry of power between the defiant megaphone-wielders who complain of being constrained by humorless hypersensitivity from below, and the under-represented people of color, women, LGBT, handicapped, poor, and otherwise marginalized or dispossessed people who have no choice but to absorb the linguistic, cultural, and physical barbs of the ruling class. The megaphone-wielders feel psycho-emotionally oppressed by their inability to crack puerile ethnic jokes without criticism; the under-represented simply are oppressed.
World Usability Day
From the Official Google Blog:
World Usability Day, November 14, 2006, is for everyone who’s ever asked these questions. This Earth Day style event, focused on raising awareness and visibility of usability engineering and user centered design, is currently being organized by volunteers and local event coordinators from around the world. Whether a usability professional or just an enthusiastic (or frustrated) user, each participant is making a contribution to “making life easy”.
Check out the worldwide usability events map as well as the usability webcasts schedule.
Are you addicted to the Internet?
Take this Internet Addiction Test and find out.
In other news — Wendy and I are off to Iowa on Wednesday for a visit with the “Fam.” Feel free to leave comments, however, my parent’s dial-up connection usually keeps me offline. It’s actually nice to go on vacation and unplug.
By the way, getting to Iowa from Oregon is neither easy nor affordable. Wendy and I will take 2 airplanes, 1 hovercraft, and a 415 foot aluminum slide to get to Columbus Junction, Iowa.
Kudos to OSU’s Office of Admissions
Oregon State University’s Office of Admissions website now displays a link to the Oregon University System Application Fee Deferral Form. The fee deferral is a terrific benefit for students who cannot afford to pay the $50 application fee.
By linking to the fee deferral form, Oregon State University’s Office of Admissions has removed a potential barrier for students who have high financial need.
Oregon State University’s Fee Deferral information availability rating is now 8/10
(the form is described and linked).
For more information about Oregon State University, check out the OSU Admissions Blog.
(Yes, this is a plug for the OSU Admissions Blog 
I created the OSU Admissions blog using WordPress and Dan, Blake, and Julie are making it one of the premiere Admissions Blogs in the US.)
Blogs and Student Learning
Here are the PowerPoint slides from the “Blogs and Student Learning: Making Meaning and Connections through Graduate Student Portfolios” (PDF/2.3 MB) presentation that I co-presented with JW at the NASPA Western Regional Conference.
The presentation evaluation is located at ericstoller.com/blog/evaluation.
Blogfolio Blogging Presentation: Links
Here are all of the websites that JW and I gathered for our “Blogfolio” presentation.
Sites that were featured in the presentation:
Racism and Sexism in Arizona and Michigan
The state language of Arizona is now English.
Affirmative action has been banned in Michigan.
Arizona | Proposition 103: English as Official Language
Would make English the official language of the state of Arizona and significantly reduce government sponsorship and funding of dual language-printed material for circulation.
Michigan | Proposition 2: Restrict Affirmative Action
Proposed amendment to Michigan Constitution would “prohibit the University of Michigan and other state universities, the state, and all other state entities from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.” On June 23, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, ruled in favor of affirmative action in the University of Michigan’s admissions policies. The Bush administration opposed the university’s pro-affirmative action admission policies.
Substantial Cruelty Sanctioned by US Government
I read a New York Times article titled “Medicaid Wants Citizenship Proof for Infant Care.” It bothers me…a lot.
The Bush Administration announced that as part of a “new federal policy,…children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants with low incomes will no longer be automatically entitled to health insurance through Medicaid.”
When an undocumented woman has a baby in the US, the baby is automatically a US citizen. The socio-economic status of most undocumented folks means that the babies qualify for Medicaid coverage. “Under the new policy, an application must be filed for the child, and the parents must provide documents to prove the child’s citizenship.”
