Brown v. the Board of Education

If you are not familiar with it, Brown v. the Board of Education was a landmark case in the civil rights movement, which abolished racial segregation in school.

The quote that I wanted to share that relates directly to this case comes from Linda Brown (the daughter of Oliver Brown, the main plaintiff in the case):

. . . like I say, we lived in an integrated neighborhood and I had all of these s of different nationalities. And so when I found out that day that I might be able to go to their school, I was just thrilled, you know. And I remember walking over to Sumner School with my dad that day and going up the steps of the school and the school looked so big to a smaller child. And I remember going inside and my dad spoke with someone and then he went into the inner office with the principal and they left me out . . . to sit outside with the secretary. And while he was in the inner office, I could hear voices and hear his voice raised, you know, as the conversation went on. And then he immediately came out of the office, took me by the hand and we walked home from the school. I just couldn't understand what was happening because I was so sure that I was going to go to school with Mona and Guinevere, Wanda, and all of my s...

What was the racial segregation really about, besides pure selfish pride. And although racial segregation is not as rampant today, why do some in today's society feel that we need to uphold our own selfish endeavors? Why can we not accept the simple, yet powerful outlook of Linda Brown, and outlook where nothing of that kind matters and we are judged on who we really are?

What are your thoughts?

Technological Advances and How They Relate to Society

I came across the following article online the other day, and it fascinated me. Not only is this a massive advancement in the field of medicine, but it caused me to reflect on our discussions in socratic regarding society.

Through our discussions, we seem to have come up many times with the statement that there can be no such thing as a perfect society. I agree with this, to the extent that humans, by nature, are not perfect. However, I believe that it is possible to strive for that idea of “perfectness”.

This statement, of course refers back to the principle that everyone has a differing opinion on what the idea of “perfectness” is. Each of us has a set of guidelines and morals which govern our behaviors, and as a result two individuals might come up with conflicting ideas of what is perfect. This also refers back to the statement that everything that we do is based on one driving moral, which for most is based of a selfish desire (whether it be self-preservation, self-satisfaction, etc.) So referring back to the article, did the scientists who created this new advancement do it for selfish purposes (self gain) or for the betterment of society? Of course we cannot know the thoughts and motivations behind the decisions of others but it is evident that even if they were based off a selfish motive, the application of the product can serve to better others.

So is everything that an individual does based off of a selfish desire? I would say absolutely not. Although many times we are able to link actions that are seemingly selfless to a selfish desire, I believe that this is not always the case. For example, some would argue that people complete acts of service so they can get the “warm fuzzies” that come from doing it. Although this can be true, I think that there will always be people who find that getting those good feelings are only a signifier that they have done something beneficial rather then serving only for that purpose.

So although society seems to be on an ever lowering standard of selfishness, I believe that there will always be those who are able to be above that standard.

What are your thoughts?

Article:

" A snakebite antivenom has been developed that is more powerful than conventional antidotes and works even when it is unclear exactly what species of snake has bitten the victim.
Snakebites kill tens of thousands of people each year, yet supplies of traditional antivenom are drying up. The inventors of the new antidote hope it will be taken up in the poor countries where it is most needed.
Snake venom contains a complex tail of tissue-destroying enzymes. The only antidote till now has been the antibody-rich serum extracted from the of horses after they have been injected with venom milked from snakes.
In recent years, big companies have stopped making antivenom as it is increasingly unprofitable: the serum needs to be purified to meet stringent safety standards, animal rights activists object because the horses suffer, and most of the people who need the product can't afford it. Serum against African snakes is now especially scarce.

Simon Wagstaff and colleagues at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK have now made a serum without using snake venom. Instead, they started with the DNA of the carpet viper, which is responsible for the majority of snakebite s in west Africa, and looked for the genes that are active when the snake is refilling its venom sacs.
A dozen of these genes code for metalloprotease enzymes that destroy vessels and cause haemorrhaging. From these genes they created a “consensus” sequence that resembles as closely as possible all the different genes.
From this generic gene they took seven DNA stretches that code for parts of the outside of the protein molecules and should therefore elicit antibody responses in the body, and joined these together to make a single strand.
Sure enough, when they injected this synthetic DNA into mice, the animals made antibodies to these parts of the protein. When serum extracted from these animals was tested on other mice it was more powerful than classic serum against carpet viper venom, but also against other west African vipers, and even a viper from north Africa."

UVU Write Now! Workshop

Last Saturday, I attended the Write Now! workshop at UVU. It was a very interesting program, and I learned about many new forms of writing, including technical communication. Technical communication has to do with combining graphic design and writing to create a work that persuades an individual or group to do something. Part of this workshop was to create your own piece of technical communication, persuading someone to go to prom with you. I paired up with Lizzie Leake and we came up with this (I'm not sure how anyone could be persuaded not to go after being presented with this):

Haiku

As a result of the discussion of Asian poetry from last week, I decided to post a haiku. Tell me what you think:

A coyote stalks
Through canyon moonlight looking,
Silently walking

Thoughts on Islam project

Although our Islam projects were relatively a while ago, here are some thoughts that I had on mine:

Although Islamic culture has always interested me, I had not previously studied the details of the culture and religion. It was very interesting to be able to study some those aspects through personal experience, namely the fasting for Ramadan and abstaining from pork and pork products.

Throughout the Islamic calendar month of Ramadan, Muslims fast each day from dawn to dusk. The principle of fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam (Sawm). For part of my project I decided to fast for a few days, by the standards of the Ramadan fast. Fasting from dawn to dusk was not quite as difficult as I previously imagined, although I can’t even comprehend trying to fast throughout the entire month. I did, however, gain some insight into the positive side of fasting.

Fasting, in that way, becomes a disciplinary tool for both your body (abstention from food/drink) and your mind. It can also become a useful tool for managing your anger. During this fasting period, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into refraining from impatience. This can be a very difficult thing to accomplish in normal circumstances, and is only magnified by hunger and thirst. Being able to fast throughout the entire month is a vast testament of their religious devotion.

The other component of my project was abstaining from pork and pork products. Abstaining form pork is outlined in the Qu'ran: "Forbidden to you for (food) are: meat, and the flesh of the swine and that which hath been invoked the name other than Allah.” It is also a medically sound principle. Pigs are often times carriers of parasites and diseases because of their indifference to their food source.

Refraining from pork in and of itself was very difficult because I did have to abstain from common things such as pork roast for Sunday dinner, and bacon for breakfast. This gave me some insight (on a smaller scale) into what Muslims deal with every day. The abstention of pork products, however, was not very cumbersome. This is because lard, which showed up in many foods (Oreos, Twinkies, Hostess pies, etc.) is no longer used because of its high concentration of fat.

In conclusion, this project was very beneficial to me in learning and experiencing at least a small portion of the Islamic culture. It was fascinating to be able to gain the additional insight into the beliefs in the Islamic faith, and I am eager to share my experiences with others.