There are a plethora of social media forums where individuals can package and brand themselves, presenting their virtual avatar as a product for the world to see, hear, read, watch, respond to, "like", "poke", reblog, etc. This has greatly fueled what Alan Kirby calls the age of "pseudo-modernism" in which "pseudo-modern cultural products cannot and do not exist unless the individual intervenes physically in them." Kirby notes, "somewhere in the late 1990s or early 2000s, the emergence of new technologies re-structured, violently and forever, the nature of the author, the reader and the text, and the relationships between them."

What follows is a discussion if a few forums for social media that I have started to use and my take on them.

Instagram

Late last night I discovered Instagram, a photo editing and sharing app for the iPhone. Instagram allows you to edit photos within the app and post them to Instagram's own forum, and/or directly to other forums such as Facebook, twitter, Tumblr, etc. I have started to edit my photographs and post them to share here as well as following friends. Instagram places the consumer behind the lens of those they follow with minimal text and no other distractions. You see what they see, albeit an impressionistic version due to editing and filtering.

Tumblr

I also discovered Tumblr last night. Tumblr is a microblog that allows you to share media as well as "reblog" media you enjoy and want to pass on. Reblogging takes away the onus of media creation and places the author more in a curatorial role, collecting social text and compiling the pieces based on (hopefully) common aesthetic quality. The consumer can follow bloggers who may not create or post original media but who she finds offer a desirable aesthetic taste.

While Instagram is exclusively a forum for photographs, Tumblr seems to lend itself best to image sharing but also has the capacity for text, video, quotes, links, and audio.

Blogger

Blogger, a more traditional blog forum (amazing the blog has become "traditional"), seems most conducive to text, with the advantage of having a far greater capacity for customizing layout, composition and presentation of the webpage itself. Blogger allows for a more thought out, curated, and enclosed presentation, in the sense that there are fewer interlinking media streams where posts are pulled away from the framed context of the page and exhibited in isolation of the original authors lens. While the audience can comment, the original author still has the near total control of the content.

Facebook

All the meanwhile Facebook is a torrential media melange allowing for little to no compositional control or curated presentation, yet with the most exposer and highest frequency of feedback from "friends." Media posted to Facebook has the highest chance of being seen within minutes and providing the author with feedback. Upon logging in, before a user can reach his own profile he is required pass by a stream of his "friends'" media, in the form of the Newsfeed. I find the volume of content flowing in the Newsfeed overwhelming yet still unsung myself trying pay attention to all of the disparate media nuggets like a dog chasing squirrels in the park.

So I will plan on using Facebook to see what people I know are doing with themselves and when I really want a comment of something, Instagram to quickly edit and post photos on the go, Tumblr to browse, collect, and mix images, and Blogger for longer, more composed articles.

So how do we do this???

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms | Video on TED.com

From the editors of Tin House Magazine:

". . . a really good piece of writing -- a well-organized, coherent piece with depth, with sentences that show a good understanding of the power of language yet are tightly woven, with no flowery extras -- has a great chance of getting in the magazine."

And later in the article,

"For such a small insect, cicadas sure show up a lot in poetry and fiction. It sounds silly to take issue with it, but the point is that it smacks of device, which in turn interrupts the dream."

So there you have it -- how to, and how to not, get published in Tin House Magazine.

If you have read Utterances before then you know that it now has a new look - a makeover, if you will.

This new design is the visual manifestation of a shunt to the theme of the blog. For the last two and a half years (Nov. 2008 - Dec. 2011) I was living and working in Lesotho, Southern Africa, as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer. During that time the blog primarily served to document my experiences "on top of the mountain."

I am fortunate to have made a safe return to the States where I am now faced with the daunting and dubious task of finding my place within American society -- a society of the short attention span and personalised technology, of American Idol and Donald Trump, of rest stops and four dollar per gallon gasoline. But also a nation of neighbourhoods and parks. Of coffee and bagels. Of National Public Radio and The New Yorker. Of Obama. Of the Naked Cowboy.

As I undergo this process of re-entry, a foreigner in my own land, the strongest desire I have is to write. I want to express, as the late David Foster Wallace expressed, "What it is to be a fucking human being today."

Let's see . . .

Thank you for the messages. I can't write much now. But, thank you.

The memorial here was very healing... We celebrated Tom's life. He

REALLY loved his site, LOVED the kids, and was such a good volunteer.

After someone dies you always say good things about them, but Tom

REALLY was one of the best volunteers this country has seen - he gave

so much in the time he was here and will be deeply missed, but always

remembered; always a part of each of us, his students, and this country.

With Love

Jack

This is extremely hard to even write, but I want to inform you of a

tragedy in my life and the lives of every member of the PC/Lesotho

Community: On Friday night my close friend and district-mate here in

Lesotho (there are about 8 PC volunteers in each district) was shot

and killed while in Maseru while he was attending my PC group's Close

of Service event. He was walking with another close friend and

district-mate when this happened - she is safe. WE ARE ALL SAFE and

most of the volunteers and staff are together now. We are experiencing

extreme grief and shock. There will be a memorial service here

tomorrow, Monday, at 4 PM (10 am EST). I simply ask that at that time,

if possible, you take a moment of silence to hold Tom, his family, the

members of the PC/Lesotho community, and all who knew Tom in you

thoughts and prayers.Below is a link to the Peace Corps press release, with photos of Tom.

IF you inform anyone else of this please refer them to this link and

please be respectful to not add any details that are not explicitly in

this press release to avoid the spread of misinformation.It is not neccessary for you to send me a message unless you feel you

must. I know that you support us and I thank you for that.Tom is and will be deeply missed and he lives on in our hearts. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1612&cid=rssnews

Economist.com Piece about Chinese in Lesotho

An excerpt from my comments on Economist.com:

I'm an American who has been living and working as a volunteer teacher in a rural village not far from Mokhotlong for the last two years. 

Unfortunetly, there are two distinct phenomena being conflated here: the noteworthy presence of a Chinese shopowners throughout Lesotho and the Chinese governments foreign policy in Africa. The shop owners are in most cases immigrant who came to Lesotho with little, and are building new lives and raising families here. They are here for the long run and are not exporting resources nor by any stretch of the imagination subjugating Basotho. As the article mentions, the shopmowners "seem entirely divorced from geopolitics." These small business owners are trying to make a livelihood in an open market and in doing so are employing local Basotho and providing goods and services (including building supplies for infrastructural development) to rural areas where such supplies were previously unavailable. Further, they often practice an efficient business model, strong work ethic, regular and predictable service, and a wide variety of supply. This puts the economic force on other local shop owners to improve their practices and ultimately the whole community benefits from the improved efficiency and supply. I know this sounds like a lesson from Econ 101, but I watch this process unfold daily. My best friend is a Basotho shop owner. We often discuss how he can gain a competative edge over the Chinese shop. By improving customer service and supply, he has done quite well. We are now making plans to build a bigger shop! 

Clearly adding the economic force of these new shops is not pleasant at first, as it forces other shop owners to improve their practices and can at first be perceived as 'outsiders' stealing business - such frustrations were partly the cause of the violence of 1998 - but ultimately the improved business practices and wider supply that results really is what is needed for the development of these rural areas.

    

I'm not going to comment on China's foreign policy; it's another, seperate, story - but that's my point. Emigre shop owners in Lesotho should not be conflated with the foreign policies of the country they left any more than emigre shop owners in Queens, New York.  

  

We borrowed some horses from the priest and the primary school

principal. Also a man from the mission guided us in exchange for any

homemade Basotho beer we came across. The cost amounted to about 90 US

cents. We had a great time, though Mira and I were quite saddle sore

by the end of the ride. It wad a beautiful day.

(note: I've been updating facebook much more often than this blog. I'll try to update the blog more, but if it's not happening, check out my facebook page. Cheers!)

Mira came to visit for the last two weeks. The trip was wonderful. It was nice to have her meet the teachers and students, see the schools, garden, go pony treking and just share my mountain life with her. It feels go to be able to share the experience with her.

In other news a movie theater just opened in the new shopping center in Maseru! Seats are only 15 Rand, which is about two bucks US. I saw "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" last night.

Khotso, Pula, Nala!

I recently visited my PCV friend, Brett, in Qache's Nek in the south of the country. This was nice in and of itself, but an added perk was that he gave me some new New Yorkers, The Bedford Introduction To Literature, a Slavoj Zizek book, AND, most importantly, a hammock! I've installed it in my rondeval and it is simply perfect for reading and nesting. Yesterday it rained "people & cows"(the Basotho version  of cats & dogs) so school got out early and I came home read all afternoon in the hammock nest. 

The word got out with some of my African friends that it's Zoeann's birthday . . . they are all very excited! (p.s. I took all these photos)

As a young American who has come of age in a time of G. W. Bush, it is a great joy to have a president who is a critical thinker; as an American living in Africa, it was with overwhelming pride that I watched the peaceful transfer of power between two leaders of disparate ideologies; and, as a Peace Corps volunteer working to build cross-cultural understanding, which begins with dialogue, it is with great encouragement that I applaud President Obama's modality of not only reaching out, but stepping out, in an offering to begin a new chapter in the US Government's relationship with the Muslim world. It is wholly accurate that conflict will not come to a halt upon the close of Mr. Obama's speech in Cairo this week and the President has no expectations of the kind. For one, as Mr. Friedman (Obama on Obama) has aptly noted, “they” will have to take Mr. Obama's invitation to engage in open and honest dialogue; to acknowledge, sometime deep, ideological differences, but to accept them and seek a common ground to build upon. Peace is clearly a two way street. But, speeches like these are the seeds from which real change begins – how impressions in hearts and minds are formed.

Most importantly, after eight years of severe categorical alienation, the American government owes it to the Muslim world to reach out. While there are political advantages to doing this, President Obama seems to be doing it substantially because it's the right thing to do – and I'm quite proud of him. 

It was a great pleasure to re-read all of the letter, cards, and notes I have received. I feel blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. As I promised (though I'm several days late) I have assembled a collection of your many questions and will attempt to answer them.......NOW:

How long have you been there?We arrived in Lesotho November 15, so I've been in Lesotho for just over six months now. On May 15 there was a small birthday party here for another volunteer in my district and seeing as it was our six month "anniversary," we also celebrated that! Getting past the six month mark feels really good because it seems to have gone so fast but is a significant amount of time completed. 

Where in Lesotho do you live?I live on a Roman Catholic mission in the Thaba Tseka district of Lesotho. It is high up in the mountains (I live at about 2100 meters elevation) and extremely beautiful. The mission is located near the top of a mountain and there is a magnificent view of the  region from everywhere on the mission. The mission consists of a church, convent, clinic, primary school and housing for some teachers and students. The secondary school where I teach is also run by the mission but is located a 15 minute walk down the ridge. My house is a rondeval (circular stone hut with thatched roof) attached to a 'squaredeval' with a tin roof to form a keyhole shape if viewed from above (see 'my mountain keyhole' below). It is positioned on a cliff with my kitchen window looking out over the mountains. 

Do you live with a family?Many Peace Corps volunteers are placed with a host family where they are given their own rondeval. In my situation the mission provides my housing so I suppose the priest and the nuns act as my hosts. The  secondary school has stay-houses on the campus for most of the teachers, but these teachers go to their permanent home when school is out of session. Since the campus is empty during school holidays, they placed me on the mission for safety reason and so I don't get lonely.  What is your house like?/How do you live?In my opinion I live quite well; I love my 'mountain keyhole.' I have running water most of the time, a limited amount of electricity, lots of space, a make-shift ping-pong table, a beautiful view, a nice desk, a comfy bed, and just recently, a puppy. The plumbing includes a kitchen sink, bathroom sink, toilet, and bathtub. I do not use the bathtub for bathing because there is no hot water (there is a dysfunctional solar water heater on the roof just to remind me I could have hot water, much to my chagrin). To bathe I boil water in a large pot on the propane stove and mix it with cold water in a bathing bucket. The bucket's dimensions are roughly 3' x 2', which works out because I'm able to get my daily (or biweekly) ablution AND yoga in at the same time. Now that it is winter - the dry season - the water is only turned on for about two hours in the evening. When it comes on I fill up the bathtub to store the water for use throughout the day.

My electricity is supplied by a solar panel which charges a car battery throughout the day. I use CFL light bulbs, which use very few watts and last a long time. I can also charge my cell phone, iPod, and computer.  Recently though the battery has not been holding much charge so I have been using parafin lamps.And as I've said, I cook on a propane stove. 

And now a quick tour:

My Bed 

My Wardrobe

My Electricity Set-Up (Solar panel not shown)

Lovely Sarah 'all wrapped up in it'

My Cooking/Viewing Area

The Story of 'The Hungry Caterpillar'

My Desk and Photo Wall

My recently installed Mail Box to reminded me to write more letters(also Africa and Mohammad Ali)

My Front Yard

And Of Course...

MONA!

What are you eating?The standard Basotho food is Papa, a starchy base made from cornmeeal; moroho, overcooked and highly greased and salted cabbage; and nama, any type of meat. In the morning I eat eggs or cornflakes, for lunch at school, papa and moroho, and dinners are burritos, pasta, beans, tomatoes, onions, canned peas.... There is a store with a workable amount of food (I can meet all my health needs) but I have become quite creative with the limited supply of options. 

I also eat lots of these biscuits (cookies)...

and while I didn't like cola in the states, Coca Cola's a great treat here.

And, finally, when I'm feeling good I bake some bread.

Do you wear Basotho clothes?Nope. In general the clothing is similar to the west. The exceptions are women wear seshoeshoe, which is a nice patterned dress with head-wrap and everyone wraps themselves in a Basotho blanket. I may eventually get a Basotho blanket, but they are an investment and I have a nice Patagonia jacket. 

What are you teaching and to whom?

I teach math and science to what would be eighth and ninth graders. There is a national curriculum and textbooks to go with it. The text are decent in organization but need supplementary information which I bring in from encyclopedia, my personal knowledge, and other textbooks we have at the school. Our school also has many wonderful resources which are not being used to their potential, e.g. microscopes, magnets, globes, maps, books, ect. I see part of my role as getting those resources from the staff room to the classroom and into the students' hands. 

The students wear school uniforms and often sit two or three to a table-desk. They are very timid in the classroom, but wild with energy when class is not in session. I also teach using a Socratic questioning method which they are not used to....but there warming up. 

Do you teach in English, Sesotho, or a mix?I teach in English 'fela' (that's it).  All of the classes at the high school level are taught in English. The students are supposed to only speak English at school and are punished if they are caught speaking Sesotho. English, with Sesotho, is one of the two official languages of Lesotho. This is fortunate for me because science and math are hard enough to explain in English, let alone Sesotho!

Here are some photos from school:

As seen from my house

Working Hard

PCV Pam making it crytal clear that she needs her markers back...four went missing

When not in class they just meander...

...or lean against the wall.

Principal Ketola watching for Sesotho speakers...

...and sometimes helping a student out.

When day is done, I walk on home.

What are the ages of the students?There is a range. Most of the students are the same as the states for the grade level (remember 8th and 9th grade) plus a year or two. There are some exceptions. Lesotho started providing nation-wide free primary education in 2005. This means that many people who could not go to primary school before, now can. So in the primary schools there might be a seven year old next to a 22 year old. Since this started in 2005, that wave has not hit the secondary school yet. But remember that it is only primary school that is free, so I'm not sure how this will affect the secondary schools. 

This brings up the point of school fees. We have them. They pay for classes, books, uniforms, etc. A majority of the students are either single or double orphans (largely due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic - Lesotho has the world's 3rd hieght prevelancy) so they receive govenment support for a portion or all of the amount. Also, though we are a private Church school, the teachers are paid by the government.   

Is there a history of PCVs at your site or are you the first?The PC/Lesotho education program is set up such that each school can apply for and be provided with three consecutive volunteers, then other schools get a turn. Ostensibly this is effective because I've met many people on buses and in stores and such who say that they used to have a PCV in there school or in there community. It's a small country and PC has been hear since '67 so we are pretty well known. 

How is your Sesotho?Since almost all my time is spent either at school (where we speak English) or at home I don't get much time to practice my Sesotho. In route to school or home, at the shops, and when I travel (which is very rarely) are the only times I really use Sesotho. As such, I have the basics down, but not much more than that. Often I will start a conversation in Sesotho, get through the greetings, then when we get to the important stuff we have to switch to English. The teachers at school speak Sesotho in the teacher's room, but its too fast for me to learn, so I zone them out and focus on my own work.

How close are other PCVs?The mission is along a road that goes from the camp town (district center) through the district to a small town about 6 km away. There are two volunteers about three km down the road which goes down my mountains, across a river, and up to their village. There are also three volunteers in the camp town who I see when I'm there. There are two other volunteers in the district, but they are on the other side of the camp town, so don't make it out here. We are pretty far up in the mountains (one to two days of travel for most other volunteers) so we don't get visitors too often. 

Is it hot?NO! In fact it's VERY cold. Lesotho is near the southern tip of the continent and we are high up in elevation (Lesotho has the highest low point of all countries). Also there is no indoor heat and no shelter of trees so the wind blusters across the mountains making it quite chilly. The radio predicted snow for tonight, but here in Lesotho they are NEVER right. Not the Africa you imagine, huh? The summers are a very pleasent temperature and I'll be able to escape the mountians for most of June and all of July where part will be a nice beach vacation in South Africa, Moz, and Swazi. 

Do you own a horse?The main mode of transportation in the mountains is horse or donkey, so this question is valid. I do not own a horse... but I do have Mona! Since I live close to the where I work and near a road PC does not provide me with a horse. Some volunteers who do not teach at one school but travel from school to school have horses...but not I. 

What do you do for entertainment?The first thing I had to do was slow down from the fast pace of American life and needing to be entertained all the time. That said, my days are very full and many days I find I don't have time to do some of the things I would like to - like write on the blog. 

During the school week I wake around 6:30 am, have breakfast and off to school. At school when I'm not teaching I'm sometime prepairing lessons, but most the time doing my own work. This includes reading philosophy, the encyclopedia, studying vocabulary, writting, etc. I find these things entertaining.

Also I am starting my secondary project of building a library for the school. We have the books (1000) from the African Library Project, which the school applied for and received with the previous volunteer. We have just built a new building of classrooms which opened up a room for me to move the library into. Recently, two volunteers and I painted a big world map on the wall as the first step, so that's fun.

Occationally I'll go to the tavern were all the men hang out and play some pool. 

At home I spend a lot of time reading a variety of material. I have philosophy, history, politics, but also classic novels and some silly teen books for light reading. I'm trying to read a lot of the classics that I've always wanted to read. I also have magazines (you can always send more!) and a book of Darwin Awards. 

Since I'm on the mountain I get good radio reception. Each night while I'm cooking I listen to either BBC World Service or Voice Of America on short-wave. I occationally get a pop music station from Durban which plays mostly American pop music I would have never enjoyed in the states but dance around my house to here because it reminds me of home. 

I also have my computer with some movies and a few TV shows. There are a lot of movies in digital format that PCV in country swap and share. I spend a LOT of time hanging  out with the children who live on the mission with me. We play chess, cards, table tennis, hacky sack, and good ol' throw-the-ball-around. Since I got Mona we have been playing with her a lot too.

Painting is ALWAYS fun

The radio's great, but sometimes needs fixing

When it was warm we played outside

Lots of kids come

Now that it's cold I just hang with the dog

And finally...

Are you happy?

I am.

My dear friends - Here's to you! Congratulations from your friends in the Mountains Kingdom, the Roof of Africa, especially this friend.

Best of luck to you all, wish I could be there! I trust most of you to not to trip or throw-up on stage....but to those of you that do, don't worry there won't be any journalist there to... oh, wait, Fareed Zakaria is listen to, watched, and read by a significant portion of the English speaking world - on second thought, you're screw! Good luck any way! 

Much love

Jack-o

My dear family, friends, colleagues, and al' the rest of y'all, I sincerely apologize. I have faulted in the maintaining of my blog and failed to keep you updated on my ventures here in The Mountain Kingdom. First I ask your forgiveness and offer insufficient reasoning for this negligence:

I - When I first arrived at my site, I was without internet. Yet some time ago now, I obtained a special internet card which uses the cellular telephone network to access the internet. Yet, by that time I had become accustomed to neglecting my blog. II – Said internet internet card works by charging it with a prepaid code that allows a certain number of megabytes of upload/download information. Since photos, usually, eat up a good amount of this allowed capacity, I figured I would wait until I was in the lowlands where I could get free internet. Problem – I very rarely leave my site. Also, if I shrink the photos, I should be able to upload a few.

III – Life here moves S...L....O...W... and I have adjusted. Things just don't get done with a fraction of the diligence as is standard States-side. Also, when night falls it becomes hard to work on anything. Since I am at school most of the day, come home and cook, then perhaps read before sleeping, some things get pushed back until tomorrow, or next week, or when I get out of the mountains, etc. Yet, while Peace Corps Volunteers are called upon to integrate into the community....it is to a DEGREE! We are still Americans and there are many characteristics that I would like to hold onto (thank you very much). One of which is getting things done – like writing on the blog.

Now for those of you that are reading this, something has drawn you back to this meager blog of mine. I have received many kind and thoughtful notes from friends and family, both through snail-mail and electron-mail, and most, in kind but certain terms, inquire “What the hell happened to your blog?!” This is usually followed by a myriad of questions I did not realize remained unanswered. My first task is to apprise you in response to some of those unanswered quires. Then I will write on some of the interesting episodes of my time here. With due diligence I will set a deadline of Friday 29 May to have reviewed the letters, collected the question, and uploaded answers in addition to having written on two (2) episodes of my time here. If I fail to meet this deadline, I deserve and expect a a barrage of emails consisting of what should amount of to a severe (verbal) kick-in-the-ass.

With that,

Cheers to all, I love and miss you, Cordially,

Jack/Katleho  

This entry is a long time coming, but alas, here it is....

The rocky road took a sharp turn to the left and this is what I saw

"Wooh....IT'S SO FAR!" Ntate Peter, my trustworthy Peace Corps driver and increasingly good friend, chimed in, "Abuti Jack, do you see those furthest mountains? That is where you will live." My new home.

The digital clock on the dash of the standard white Peace Corps Land Cruiser presented the numbers 4:48; numbers that surprised me since I had not taken my gaze off the changing view out of my left-side passenger-seat window long enough to look at the clock since we had left around 8 am that morning. The reason I looked at the clock now was that I could tell Ntate Peter was anxious to drop me off and return to Thaba Tseka camptown before dark. Meet Ntate Peter:

As part of Peace Corps pre-service training after our placement sites were announced (the place where we will live and work over the next two years) we were given the opportunity to visit and stay at our future homes for a few days. This was actually a great part of training because it allowed us to see what our new houses, villages, etc. would be like before we swear-in as volunteers. We were able to reflect on if we would be able to live and work there for the next two years. Also it allowed us to bring a good amount of our belongings to our new homes in Peace Corps vehicles rather than somehow trying to bring them on the buses and taxi.

Ntate Peter drove myself and two other PCTs, Vic and Nicole, to our sites. The reason Ntate wanted to get back to town quickly was that we had just dropped Vic off at his new rondeval, yet there were some kinks. Upon arrival at Vic's new place, first there was no one there to greet us and unlock the door. Then when we did get a hold of his 'Me and she let us into the rondeval this is all that we found

That was it! No bed. No stove (we did bring our own propane tanks which are useless without stoves). No dresser.

Now, I know what you're thinking, "at least the guys got lots of potatoes to eat over the next two years - that's something." Well, when we finally did track down his 'Me and were let into the house, the first thing she and her sons did was not to help Vic find some furniture, but rather to take away the potatoes. With Vic's 'Me now involved, Ntate Peter wanted to rush me to my site and make sure I had a key and furniture. Then he could return to Vic and help him out. Yet, he had a deadline. When the sun goes down in Lesotho, there is no business but drinking business and drinking was not going to help Vic find his furniture, so Ntate had to return soon.

------------

Let's take a step back to that morning. The day started with Ntate Peter and four PCTs. We could not fit all of our belongings into the Land Cruiser so, 'Me Karen was cut from the team and then there were three (PCTs). We all contributed to loading the Land Cruiser in preparation for our LONG drive. I had never been to the mountains so this trip was my first introduction. All of the PCTs were very excited to see their sites and spirits were high. (Ntate Peter on top while texting)

We began our drive early because our journey that day would take us up the west side of the country into Butha Buthe were we would drop off Nicole. Then we drove south east across most of the nation, past the Katse Dam to Thaba Tseka district through the camptown where Vic was dropped off and then on to St. Thesesa's about 1.5 hours further into the district/mountains.

The first part of the drive to Butha Buthe was familiar. It was the Lesotho I knew. Yet after we dropped off Nicole, we headed south a bit and then took a hard turn toward the mountains. We could see them looming off in the distance and I began to get excited to drive up and into them. What I did not know was that we would literally drive straight UP into the mountains. My first glimpse of the mountains as we got closer was this

and it only got better from there. Ntate Peter pointed out the road that we would drive up over the pass and we could see it go up and up. It wound around a series of ridges as it rode these massive steps up from the lowlands.

The weather was perfect and I loved to lean out the window and enjoy the cool crisp air....becoming noticeably cooler and crisper with the passing minutes. Though, I think Ntate Peter was not used to the cold air in the same way that my Maine tainted blood made me love it.

I thought once we had made it up this ridge then we would stay at elevation and work our way around the mountains....yet, it turned out that after that long way up, we had a long steep way down

The more that we drove into the mountains, the more I felt an understanding of how far out we were...then we would drive some more and I would get a better sense of how far out we were....then we would drive more.....and we would still be nowhere near my site. I wondered what life would be like to always be out on these mountains, knowing fully well that I would very soon have the opportunity to gain first hand answers to that question.

One group of people that can answer that question better than I will ever be able to are the herd boys. These boys (or men) tend the animals and often live out on the mountains with them. They will often build very basic huts and corals to keep the animals and they will live on the mountains, especially in the winter for very long periods of time. In the image below you can see two herdboys huts and corals on the hill. The little cones are the basic rondeval huts and the circular stone wall is the corall.

As the trip continued and the roads become dirt, we could start to see the difficulty in transportation around these areas. There is one CHED (Community Health and Economic Development) volunteer who actually lives geographically much closer to Maseru than I do, but there are no good roads or public transportation to get to his place so he is flown in by a group called the "Flying Doctors." This is partially because this river stands between him and the "main" road.

Actually I have to cross this same river further downstream to get to my site. As we drove along the ridges next to the river I spent my time wondering where the water was going. Where it came from, what was it like for these drops of water to go through the Katse dam. When we arrived at the place where the road crosses the river, there was a small concrete bridge that was the crossing. Not much, but a bridge none-the-less.

We crossed the bridge and up another mountain we went. With each mountain ridge we overcame, I was sure that I would live on the other side of that mountains. But as I was wrong, twice, thrice, ... , eight times, I started to understand that Ntate Peter really meant the FURTHEST mountains. With each mountain we passed I hoped that my place would be there. As we drove I was seeing some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen and I prayed that we would not come down from the beautiful tops of mountains. Finally, as we listened to a carefully selected music mix from my ipod, we went over one last ridge and finally Ntate Peter said, "Here, this is where you'll live." I was not disappointed.

Ntate Peter somehow knew which place was mine and drove me right there. We parked behind the priest's house because you cannot drive all the way down to my house. But you could see my house and this is what it looks like

I call it a ronda-squaredeval, because it includes both a rondeval and a square section. Really the best description is that it looks like a keyhole....and it's my keyhole! My home for two years and I love it.

But before I could go in and really declare my love for it I had to wait for my principal and counterpart to get there with the key. Ntate Peter called them and they said we had just passed them along the road unknowingly so they were still walking in our direction. Ntate Peter really had to get back to Thaba Tseka town to help Abuti Vic so we unloaded the Land Cruiser and I thanked him greatly. Then soon after he left, a loud clap of thunder sounded. All of my stuff was sitting there on the ground begging to be protected from the rain. I could not bring them into my house as I did not have a key. So I moved all of my stuff under or into the cab of an old decommissioned pickup in the yard. Soon my counterpart and principal arrived with big smiles and welcoming phrases. Then I was ready to move in....but I needed the key. Well, they had left it with the priest in case I arrived and my counterpart or principal were not there.

As it turned out, the priest had to go over a few mountains for a funeral and was not around. Knowing, somehow, that the key was inside the house, my counterpart and the mission handyman started to crawl through the priest's windows looking for the keys. More time passsed, more people arrived and somehow we got a hold of the key and moved me in! (Inside I found that Ntate James had left a large amount of very good, very useful stuff. My house has a thatched roof rondeval where I sleep. It also has a bathroom with a toilet and a kitchen area. My keyhole is right on the edge of a ridge and the window above my sink faces out over the ridge so that every morning I wake, go to wash my hands and begin breakfast while looking at this

and when I open my front door in the morning I see this

So, then I was able to settle in, unpack my stuff and explore every nook and cranny of my new place, like a kitten might explore a new house. I like to keep the door open to let some air in, but while I was making dinner that night I let something else unexpected in. I was cooking in the kitchen and I turned to go to the bathroom and there was a chicken also exploring every nook and cranny. I understood that she simply wanted to explore like I was, but since she would NOT be living there and I would I felt entitled to stop her fun and chase her back outside.

The next morning, my counterpart Ntate Paki Motlalehi was supposed to come and show me around but when I awoke it was pouring rain, lightning and thundering. I did not expect Ntate Paki to come in the rain so I was able to stay in bed and read, which was SOOO nice in my new home. Eventually Ntate did come to show me around the mission and school. Meet Ntate Paki:

By the way, I live on a Catholic mission. So it is not really even a village. There is a clinic, a church, a primary and secondary school, a convent (if that is what you call where the nuns live) and the priest's house. At first I was not sure how I felt about being on the mission, but in my time there it felt very comfortable and relaxed. Also I don't have a host family to be overly involved in my life which I think is very very nice. It gives me a little bit of personal space. Another positive aspect of being on a mission is that the people are there to work toward something. We all have goals and are working toward them creating an atmosphere of activism.

Ntate Paki and I had a great day walking around and ended the day eating Moquanea (balls of fried dough) , drinking coca-cola, and playing pool with the local boys. We agreed to take the bus into Thaba Tseka the following morning so he could show me around and so that I could see how the bus works. We met at the stop and we could see the bus comeing over the far off mountains. We expected it there between 6 and 6:30, but it came about 7:30. There are actually two busses and the first one was full. So we hopped on the second one and off we went for the 1.5 hour ride to the camptown...or so we thought.

As the bus approached the river where the road crosses, the bus slowed down quite a bit, then came to a stop. This is what we saw in front of us

Let me give you a better perspective of what's going on

SO, remember that small concrete bridge "but a bridge none-the-less?" Well, now it is less than a bridge. So all the cars, buses, and taxis were stopped and we did what we do best....Waited. I'm not sure why the bus drivers thought they could judge these things but they guaranteed that the water would go down in two hours and we could cross then. Well I had been meaning to teach Chess to Ntate Paki and so what better time. We set up the board on the mountain above the underwater bridge and played chess

As everyone waited

and watchedThen some time passed and it didn't look to me like the river had gone down at all. So we still played chess

and we watched

Finally a little more than two hours which translated into maybe 4-5 chess games had passed and people started to load onto the first bus to cross the river. I was a little bit worried and would not have gotten on the first bus. So, since we were on the second bus, we were able to allow the first to be our guinea pig. So they started their engines and (drumroll please) ...

THEY MADE IT!!! HURRAY! So then it was our turn and the bus loaded up with many more people than were originially on it and off we went. Off we went and across smooth as butter. As we were crossing the river, Ntate Paki pointed out that there was a boat that goes across operated by the government that we could have taken. It may be hard to see....but if you look closely

That evening I stayed with Vic in his newly furnished rondeval. On the day we were dropped off, Vic was fortunate because I happened to have my sleeping pad with me, which I lent to him. He ended up having to use it, sleeping on his floor the first night. That night that I stayed with him, he was able to sleep comfortably in his new bed and I, in turn, slept on the floor. The following morning we got up early to get a seat on the bus to Maseru and the rest is history! (I'll tell you about the bus ride from camptown to Maseru because its long, intense and crowded....but another story for another day.)

CheersJack

Swearing In Ceremony Speech – 8 January 2009 Maseru, Lesotho Jack Murphy

Hello and welcome: US Embassy,

Lesotho Ministry of Education Supervisors and Counterparts Peace Corps Staff, Trainers and Volunteers and, of course, fellow PCVs....who have recently traded in their Scarlet “T” for a coveted “V.”

My name is Jack Murphy. Some of you may think of me as John, but don't let my birth certificate, drivers licence, passport or PC ID fool you...I assure you my name is Jack.

So here we are. Months and in most cases years of thought and preparation for today and the two years to come. For two of those in our group, much of that time, I'm sure, was spent asking “Do I really want to leave all my friends and family at home to go live in a hut halfway around the world....YET AGAIN!?” Well, ladies, we are all glad that for the two of you the answer was “yes”.

Each of us asked ourselves many similar questions. We have decided to come here for different reasons and we have prepared in our own unique ways. Yet, OUR story as a group starts exactly 58 days ago in the little American hamlet of Philadelphia. This story, as it has been written thus far, contains tales of an airplane flight that ended exactly where it began, many many hours of training sessions, the Great Biscuit Riot of 2008, the Great Pen Skirmish, land crusers, and the simultaneous soaking of both our boss and the US ambassador to Lesotho in one now infamous maneuver I affectionately call the “Cullenball”... yet there are many entries to come which we begin to write today – metaphorically and for those of us with blogs... quite literally. (see you on the back porch after the ceremony) I dare not attempt to tell that whole story now, but if you're interested I encourage you all to visit ...

So, 58 days ago. 58 days ago I walked into the conference room where these 19 souls first converged. I arrived, for the sake of full disclosure, late. The fortunate aspect of my tardiness was that it granted me the pleasure of observing this group in whole... as I do right now. During the weeks and especially the days building up to staging, much of my time was devoted to envisioning who you all would be, what skills and experiences you would bring to Lesotho and whether you would be a tolerable, let alone enjoyable, group to spend an ungodly amount of time with - often in exceptionally small spaces. When I walked into that room, nervous as hell, and first laid eyes on all of you, I thought to myself... “This here is an extraordinar...ily pitiful group of wide-eyed wet-behind-the-ears dilettantes. I asked myself “is it possible that this group upon arrival might single-handedly set development efforts in Lesotho back a year ... even two.”

Yet as the days turned into weeks... turned into months.... turned into.... 58 days, you have all thoroughly and definitively proven me wrong. Through our discussions in-route, our participation in the plethora of workshops and practice teaching together I have learned that we all share a passion and commitment to working with, learning from, and helping to improve the lives of the people of Lesotho. I have come to know the skills and experience you all bring to your work, the creativity you bring to the classroom, your willingness to support and encourage fellow volunteers and perhaps most importantly, your openness to improving yourselves.

Now, before we get too full of ourselves, our preparedness to swear-in and begin service as PCVs today is only partially attributable to the preceding factors. The lion's share of acknowledgment deservedly belongs to our exceptional team of trainers who were there at the Mashoeshoe I International Airport with open arms to warmly welcome us ... twice. Personally, I would have said “Their on their own” after the first time BUT THEY returned on day two and not only welcomed us but proceeded to guide us through an intensive yet effective training program producing the prepared and confident group we are today. So, to Me' M and all the training staff ... Rea Leboha.

So, are you guys ready? “Are you still committed?” Yes....why? What do we get out of this? I know what you're thinking....its the money. If this was your incentive, hopefully you got the hint when the first phrase they taught us on arrival was “Ha ke na chelete.” Now, if THAT was your first hint, I'm Sorry. For the rest of us there must be some other reason...right? When Phillip here, a well educated engineer holding a masters degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering working at a well respected firm in LA told his employers that he was leaving they asked him how much it would take to keep him on. He told them he was joining the Peace Corps and they realized that while a higher paying salary may be hard to compete with, the salary of a volunteer is the hardest....AND the reason is that we are, in fact, not in it for the money. We're here for other reasons. I will not try to define what these reasons are as I'm sure they range greatly. But whatever each of your reasons, I honor it and thank you for being here with me on this adventure.

On our first day in Lesotho, Ntate Ted asked us each to stand up and mention a person or group we admire. I mentioned that I admired everyone present then. Well the same is true this morning. I admire all of YOU, all of the people here today, because we are together engaged in a great project of cooperation; simultaneously visualizing and acting toward a better future. In fact , this project is greater than we can immediately know. While we search for measurable accountability of our effect, the truth is the greatest effects are often hidden from us several steps down the causal chain. For example, a student who we help to think critically years from now takes an unconventional look at the HIV virus and finds a breakthrough; a teacher who we help to bring creativity into the classroom inspires a class of students who in turn inspire a generation of Basotho to gain the confidence and skills necessary to guide their nation toward their own image of a better future; a child in the states who listens to my (very long) stories of Lesotho in turn decides to commit her life to service sustaining this chain of positive effects.

Or maybe some of the ripest fruit of our labor here will not manifest in the large scale, but rather on the small scale in individual lives. For instance, a young women in our class gaining the confidence to advocate for herself both at home and in the workplace; a young boy who learns about HIV/AIDS prevention and takes the necessary steps to protect his and the lives of many others. Maybe that boy will also feel comfortable talking to his friends about safe sex helping to encourage open conversation on the subject. Rarely, if ever, will we have the pleasure of seeing such results of our work here come to fruition but we must remember we are planting seeds that will grow and bear fruit long after we are gone.

We also must remember that our task need not be overwhelming. We are NOT here to solve the problems of Lesotho. Rather, we are here to share our skills and experiences. To work in partnership with host country nationals, assisting them in finding their own solutions to challenges they face. I believe both specifically for Lesotho and more generally for Africa that sustainable solutions to Africa's challenges will be created and implemented by Africans themselves. Our task is to do what we can to help the Basotho leaders of tomorrow gain the confidence, knowledge and skills necessary to take on these challenges. That is why we are so lucky to be here as education volunteers; social and economic change begins with education.

So, let's go now and not only teach, but also work in partnership with students and educators to encourage critically thinking, support active problem solving, as well as build friendships and enjoy our time in this beautiful mountain kingdom. This is our task as I see it and there is no where I would rather be today than here with this group taking our first steps in Lesotho as Peace Corps Volunteers.

Thanks you.

Rainbow to welcome us to Ha Mofoka

Rainbow on the day of arrival at village

The Ha Mofoka Post Office

My Rondaval

Me and 'Me

'Me Mapiti

My Nephew and Niece

My Host Family Home

Above Ha Mofoka

From My Front Door

The Letuka Family and I

Excitement to get in the Photo

Thanksgiving at the Ambassadors

Bo Abuti

Bo 'Me Sing

Ntate Paul and the Ha Mofoka Boys

The Famous Basotho Hat 

My Abuti, Letlolonolo

Mural at High School

Peace Corps Security at Training Center

Classroom at St. Josephs high school

Students at the Primary School

Our Classroom at the Training Center

Dancing Trainers

The Training Center in Maseru

Welcome from the Trainers

Arrived

The question of how to assess student work and the role that assessment should play in the classroom is both a prevalent and important one. Often students are given an assignment with some criteria and a deadline and they receive either a numerical or letter grade in return. These types of assessments allow students to compare their quality of work to that of their fellow students but lacks vital information about what criteria were not met and how student could have done better. The assessment process has so much more potential to benefit the educational process and CAPITAL, through working with teachers, has found several ways that this can be done.

Through implementing formative assessment teacher can “guide students in developing scientific habits of mind and also gauge students’ conceptions – or misconceptions – about scientific ideas [along the way].” These types of practices not only assess the students work, but also help student further develop their understanding and help the teacher adjust the lesson plan appropriately. While changing ones methods of teaching can be difficult and “scary”, the benefits can be great.

Formative assessment can be implemented by allowing the students to conduct self- and peer assessment. Such practices have the benefit of providing the students with a great deal of information about what the instructor expects and what a good product looks like. Many teachers give criteria for what needs to be accomplished, but often leave out the other aspects that they may be evaluating, such as clarity of writing, understanding of material, ability to work with other. By allowing this information to be open and accessible, the student will think about these aspects of their work - while before they may have just thought about getting it finished. The type of expectations of good work will also be abundantly available to them resulting in the life practice of considering quality of ones work in addition to completion of it.

Further, by conducting formative assessments students will better be able to track their work and improve it before the completion of the project. Often students will begin a project and do not receive feedback until the project is handed in and nothing can be changed. Using formative assessments teachers can better guide the students to do good work. Teachers can also show their students exceptional examples of work from previous years. This allows the students to work around the image of what is quality and develop it further with their own style.

After giving feedback at different stages in a process, students should be given the opportunity to improve their work. Some teachers go so far as to require their students to revise their work again and again until it is of an acceptable quality. This seems like an extremely valuable practice, especially at a young age because it develops in the students a practice of working until their quality is good, and not just working. If the students develop this work ethic at an early age, as they grow they will contribute to a culture of where quality is expected, no matter what. It is most important to develop this practice at an early age. If at the high school and college level, instructor start to require more deadline (as will be necessary in many working world situations), the students will benefit greatly. Not only will they have the experience of producing quality work, but they will have the understanding that all work should be revised until it is satisfactory. Students will hopefully have these concepts so deeply ingrained in who they are that doing low-quality work simply is not an option and they will require themselves to begin their work early, allowing time for revision. Such a simple practice developed at an early age could raise the next generation of world citizen in a culture of quality of work, improve quality of life for all.

We have started a Student Climate Movement at Bates call Bates Energy Action Movement. We are working to make Bates College Carbon Neutral and a leader in the clmiate movement. Also we are joing the national student climate movement. It is all very exciting. This issue is our generations Vietnam. We need to Step It Up! NOW and I encourage everyone to get involved. There is lots of information at the BEAM blog or you can email me at jmurphy3@bates.edu

"The Bates Energy Action Movement is a movement at Bates College dedicated totaking direct action to fight anthropogenic global climate change by promoting Carbon Neutrality at Bates and direct political participation."

I have been devoting most of my time to the Bates Energy Action Movement (BEAM). Please check out the BEAM blog.

I think it is important to have discussions about what is going on...but I also think it is important to take action. It is counter productive to criticize one persons/groups effort without suggesting more beneficial uses of our or your energy. There is nothing to lose in what we are doing and everything to gain! As far as facts about climate change- You are correct that GHG's account for a very small amount of the total volume of the atmosphere, but very small amounts have a VERY large effect. It is not only the GHG that are heating...it is the blanketing effect that the small amount of GHG's have on the entire atmospheric system. "The Earth's atmosphere is made up of 78 per cent nitrogen and 21 per cent oxygen. Only about 1 per cent is made up of natural greenhouse gases, but this comparatively small amount of gas makes a big difference." from http://www.science.org.au/

nova/016/016key.htm.As far as hurricanes- the climate system is very complicated. It is difficult to make direct connections in the causal chain. We cannot make a conclusive statement that “this (GHG) caused that (Hurricane Katrina)” but hurricane Katrina does serve as a tangible and powerful example of the effects we know will be magnified and more frequent if aggressive mitigation does not occur. It is not worth playing Russian Rolette with the planet…So we are taking action NOW. ...

The human body is a great analogy for the earth-THE EARTH WILL ADAPT TO THIS! The catch is that one way the earth might adapt is to get rid of these pesky humans. Yet, as we go down, we are taking all other living organisms with us- Not Good. When people argue that the planet has gone through hot and cold ages in the past, they forget (I can't imagine how!) that humans where not there to see it. The reason that we are working to limit our effect on the planet is because we are pouring jet-fuel on the fire of global change. Eventually the planet will be uninhabitable, but if the change happens naturally, then that will not be for millions of year- a time period that makes the apes seem like not-so-distant cousins. That is why this is not just an environmental issue, it is a humanity and every-other-living-organism issue! The rest will adapt, but we should try to get a little more shelf-life out of the comfy state of the planet we have now.

This weekend we had 16 people make the trip from Lewiston, Me to Middlebury,Vt for the Global Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality student conference hosted by Middshift and Sierra Student Coalition. We learned a ton about emissions reduction and neutrality and how to organize a movement on our campus and join the national student movement to address anthropogenic global climate change. The weekend was inspiring and the students we were blessed to be surrounded by were extremely intelligent and motivated. They also have accomplished some amazing and important tasks. Every member of the Bates group was inspired and came back filled with information and motivation to get the movement going at Bates. I am so impressed by my fellow students and excited to work together with them to take action.

A series of events has just lit a fire under me. These last few days as we celebrated the legacy of Dr. King and all others who struggled during the Civil Rights movement, I could not help but feel passion. I also could not help but think of my lack of political work since my high school years. I have justified this with the understanding that I have the privilege to be educated in a wonderful institution and it is my moral obligation to use that privilege of education to promote change in the world; that I should focus on my studies now and work toward change later. But I unrelentingly feel the hot coals in my heart ready to burst into flames.

While these thoughts lingered in my mind, I was invited by a friend to join him at a global climate workshop held at Middlebury College this weekend. At dinner, the same friend made a simple statement- "I can't think about other environmental issues while global warming is a threat!" which struck me. After talking with him about it, it became clear that he has been working on other environmental campaigns around campus but he can't stop thinking that global warming is of the highest priority. We began to discuss this at the table which developed into an intensive drive to start a movement. While getting dessert, another friend asked why I would not be playing in the snow at the Winter Carnival this weekend. I told him I couldn't because I had to make sure that I can play with my children in the snow on weekends to come.

Global climate change can and must be my generation’s movement! This past year’s release of "An Inconvenient Truth" helped to solidify the consciousness that global climate change IS an issue. In addition, the last few winters have provided us with our first direct and immediate impact of global warming; the lack of snow! Here at our small liberal arts college in the northern New England, skiing and winter sports are very important; we miss our snow. I couldn't count the number of times in the last month or two that it has been a sunny warm day (in Dec. and Jan.) and I would hear my friends say, "It’s global warming." We know why it is warm, now we need to do something.

The first step in a movement is to show people that there is a problem. I think that this year we have reached a point where the majority agrees that global climate change needs to be dealt with. But now that we are scared and aware, its time for a Turning Point! It is time to get excited, get aggressive, get behind the movement, and GET CONFIDENT!

We are starting to get scared because we are starting to recognize the severity of the situation. This is big, REAL BIG. But we MUST NOT GET DISCOURAGED! Now that it is on our minds, we must start to THINK POSITIVE and DEVELOP CONFIDENCE. We can change, and we will change. Not changing is simply not an option (neither is giving up on earth and going elsewhere).

Yesterday, I was honored to sit in a room with Rev. Ruby Sales as she told us about nonviolent change. Her clear message, the message of the weekend, and of the Civil Rights movement was that change must be driven by love and positive thinking. Further, Sales made it very clear that we must not shy away from conflict. We must embrace conflict and from it gain passion and promote change. These ideas relate directly to the movement that needs to drive our work to combat global climate change.

We must shift our consciousness about Global Climate Change from fear and thoughts of impending doom to thoughts of love for our planet and confidence that we can find the appropriate course of action to take in response to what we have learned. There is NO reason not to take action and every reason to. WE CAN DO THIS! This is our generation’s issue, though not by our choice, but it is real and ours. This must be what we rally behind and we must do it together. EVERYONE must make changes. WE CANNOT CONTINUE BUISNESS AS USUAL! WE CAN MAKE CHANGE! WE MUST MAKE CHANGE!

WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

WE MUST DO THIS TOGETHER!

Please let the fire in yourself burn. Combine your fire with others, I know you feel it. Others around the country have already started to join their fires together; let's do it too!

Only a massive fire will turn down the heat.

Campus Climate Challenge Climate Neutrality SummitJanuary 19-21, 2007; Middlebury College, VT This summit, hosted by the Sierra Student Coalition and Middlebury’s student climate neutrality campaign, will be an opportunity for students to share strategies, plans and ideas, unify efforts, and discuss how climate neutrality victories on campuses can create demand for climate protection policies in broader society. The summit will be in a retreat-type format and will be primarily "open source." The summit will be free and lodging and food will be provided.

Sierra Student Coalition

Campus Climate Challenge

A good math or science teacher first and foremost must inspire. They need to start by helping the students be open and interested in learning what is to be taught. There is no way to force students to learn if they are not open to it. But this task is not easy.

Our society seems to have an inherent fear of math and science. We tend to think it is inhibitivly difficult and that only a few specialists have a handle on the subjects. There is a sever disconnect between science and culture; a consciousness that science does not relate to the everyday experience. But this could not be farther from the truth.

Science and math deals with the world around us that we cannot escape; it deals with us! A good math or science teacher must get this point across to the students. She must point out everyday common experiences that can be better understood through science.

Further, a good math or science teacher must quench the student’s fears. Many people think that science is too hard or that they just don’t have the mind for it. But I think that anyone can understand scientific concepts and do the work if they have an open mind. A good science teacher must welcome the students and provide a comforting environment in which to learn.

Pedagogically, I think a good math or science teacher will present the material in clear steps and interweaving interesting tangents. The material is in fact often hard, but with a little mental work and organization the reward of the “Eureka!” moment is well worth it. The teacher must focus on providing each student with at least one “Eureka!” moment. That is the hook.

She must also be willing to stop and address the questions of the students. Math and science cannot just be presented and expected to be taken in without any dialogue, as so often it is. Math and science learning must be dynamic. The teacher must keep in mind that they are working with the students as guides and must help the students make connections to what they already know. If the student is unable to connect a concept or principle to something they already know, they will feel lost and defeated. But, on the other hand, if they are able to connect the new concept into there large picture of the world and even relate it to their own experiences, it can be one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences! The teacher should be there to help the student achieve this.

I am planning on applying for funding to do an interdisciplinary (physics and philosophy)

project in which I will examine and try to clearly determine why and in what way(s)

quantum mechanics is so at odds with our intuitive understanding of nature. I plan to

examine Bell's inequalities, multiple interpretations of QM, the Einstein Podolsky Rosen

(EPR) paradox, and other relevant topics. My goal is not to solve the problem, but rather

to clearly and precisely define the problems as well as arguments for different

interpretations and the implications that follow. I would like to figure out how I would

best interpret QM and what principle I think we might have to disregard or adhere to, but

my own opinions will only develop upon intensive investigation.

I would hope that this would develop into a thesis and to continue on to do graduate work

in philosophy of physics (and of course become rich and famous).

"You realize that...on that little blue and white thing, is everything that means anything to you- all of history and music and poetry and art...on that little spot you can cover with your thumb..." Apollo Astronaut "Rusty" Schweickart

I often wonder about the value of space exploration, as I'm sure do many. I have not examined the subject in depth, but it has been lingering on the edge of my mind as I have continued to invest more and more time in science.

At what point does space exploration benefit science?

What are our main objectives in such endeavours?

Is space really the next frontier, or rather a whole new ball game?

Is it worth it?

Richard Feynman in his video-recorded interview turned book "The pleasure of finding things out" (1) criticises space exploration claiming that no significant scientific breakthrough has ever come from our presence in space. Some have contended this, and I have not taken the time to investigate particular instances. (please feel free to give any cases you can think of) Still, off hand, I can think of no great scientific discovery that would not have come about without our presence in space. So what is the benefit?

Clearly communications satellites have revolutionized modern daily life in developed countries and thus have driven globalization. Could we have ever known during the space race of the '60's that such technology would develop? We did not have to. We only needed to predict that if the tools were provided, great technologies would be developed. But here we are considering unmanned crafts. What tools are being acquired by way of manned space exploration?

As those driving the space race of the '60's may not have even been able to predict what tools would be provided as a result of their efforts; as the many similar cases of exploration in the past with no prediction as to future benefits, perhaps we need to keep exploring, as we, mankind, always have. The story goes like this:

We wondered what was outside of the cave and we took a look. We then became curious as to what lay beyond that hill, then over those mountains, then over the sea...and now we must head Up! But, something is wrong here.

First, this story is eurocentric. For example, in the sequence of exploration we habitually count the "discovery of the new world". Yet, I need not point out that humans, animals, and other living organisms counted the "new world" as their home long before it's "discovery". It might be argued that the true discovery was when the area was first called home. But all parts of earth have been called home (maybe not explicitly by trees and company) since not long after there were humans, animal and other living organisms. Yet the same cannot be said for locations of space.

Living organisms, especially humans, are not meant to be in space. That is not to say that we should never go there, rather, it's simply not a good place to live. As they say in real-estate: it's about location, location, location...and who is going to pick a location where there is nothing to eat, drink, or even breath!

Space is not the next frontier. At least not like any of the frontiers we have seen before. Life is meant to be on earth, and we, living beings, have been exploring places on earth. Sure we have started to explore the deep seas, where our kind is not meant to live. But how many manned missions have you seen to the depths of the ocean? How much public demand have we seen for exploring the deep blue? The answer is not much. Why then have we turned our sights upward? Why do 74% of Americans agree that the "U.S. should continue the manned space shuttle program?" (2) Are we giving up on our little blue home?!

If this is the case, are we looking to move? Perhaps this is our main objective in manned space missions. Are we recognizing that we are treating our little blue home like a frat house and we need to cut our losses and find a new place to live? Problem- the market is not so hot right now and there is no up-swing in sight. No one is selling.

Are we really considering living on the moon? I can think of no other reason for President Bush's push to re-explore a place we have already been. I mean was he like AWOL during the '60's or something...Oh, right.

I am not claiming that all space exploration should be discontinued. In fact I would much sooner suggest cutting funding from defense -US spending in the range of $520 billion, over NASA -~$30 billion.(3) While it is true that $30 billion allocated differently would make a real difference in the fight against hunger and disease, we could make the choice to find that money in our budget if we really wanted. I do think that we need to keep our eye on realistic accomplishments and benefits of our space exploration. Unmanned space endeavours are unarguably less expensive, less dangerous, and more productive than manned missions. The value of having localized human control does not outweigh the burden of man in space. Again, what are the benefits?

We must ask ourselves if our value for our little blue home would be so great without having ever seen it from above?

"...the beauty of the planet has been an epiphany eliciting deep concern for earth's health, a visceral understanding of human 'oneness,' and clarity about the interconnectedness of things. Unlike those of us here among the trees, they have seen the forest.... Many consider the Apollo images invaluable to the ecological movement's jump start in the 1970's."(4)

But has our space adventures made us realize how small our home really is, then led us to think that we can find another. Perhaps we are forgetting how big a place space really is. Sure, we have shown that we can go to the moon, a mere 238,856 miles (on average), a trip of about three days. (5) But the moon isn't really the most comfortable place to live. So we ask our real estate agent about the reddish planet. It will take a bit longer to travel the 48,000,000 miles (6) but we're humans, we can take it, right guys? Yet, Mars is even less hopeful as a comfortable new home. So we check out the rest of the planets revolving our sun and become even more discouraged about real estate prospectives. The only chance we have to find a comfy new planet is to check out new neighborhoods around other stars. Here is were we REALLY start to get discouraged. The next closest neighborhood, the three stars of the Alpha Centouri system, which we're not even sure have any planets available, is 4.36 light-years away- that's 25,630,259,200,000 miles- not a trip I want to take without a pit-stop. (7) My point is we have nowhere to go. We can play in our own neighborhood, even run around in the adjacent yards, for life is no fun without a little adventure and we might even learn some valuable lessons as we grow. But after the play, when mom calls us home for dinner hopefully we will realize that mom's cooking will always be the best and she will only feed us if we clean up our room and straighten the house. If we want to eat, we better do our choirs...then we can go play some more.What do you think the benefit of space exploration is? Notes:

(1) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6586235597476141009

(2)http://www.pollingreport.com/science.htm

(3)http://www.federalbudget.com/

(4) Our expanded View. Seed Magazine, December 2006

(5)http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/maan.html#v76

(6)http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/mars2003.html

(7)http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/alpha_centauri_030317.html

"Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science."--Edwin Powell Hubble

Science begins with Wonder. We ask "Why?" and go from there. What we do next we call Science.

We watch, feel, listen, taste, smell...then interpret. We use reason to relate what we experience to what we have experienced. We group and categorize our experiences, cutting the world into individuals then grouping the individuals into categories.

We pick out objects and note events with those objects as the players.

We note temporal relationships of events. We note frequency of one occurrence followed by another and call common trends causal. When this happens enough we call it a law.

We are skeptical. We amend our law when the evidence is against it. We appeal to no authority but Nature.

Nature is the most beautiful story, the most intricate and elegant game, and we are simply trying to listen to the story and from what we hear learn the rules of the game. We translate the story into the language of mathematics and simplify. We know that Nature is complex, but not convoluted; simplifyable to very basic rules.

The process of simplification is long and tiresome...but the "Eureka!" (I've got it!) moment is well worth it. The simplification takes time and often it seems that it is just too damn complicated...though, with time and effort the pattern will unfold and it is guarantied to be beautiful. The initial appearance of convolution is what I think scares most people...but if well explained ANYONE can understand.

Science does not strip Nature of its beauty! It allows us to see its beauty in all its glory, in all its magic, in all its grandeur.

And after all this, we still wonder "Why?" For we can always try to understand the rules of the game but to try to understand why the game is being played is a much greater task. But we must start with the rules, and enjoy the game...for it truly is the Greatest Game Ever Played.

"This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it."--Thomas Carlyle