HW 30: Citizen Symposium

On Tuesday, November 6 I attended a session at the Keene State College Citizenship Symposium, called "Voting Theory and the Questions of Fairness", which was presented by a mathematics professor at KSC, Vincent Ferlini. He spoke of the different kinds of voting methods, presenting them through a power point, with vivid description and visuals. These voting methods that best describe the will of the people, were for the most part free of flaws regarding fairness and unfairness, and have tend to work well. These different methods included the Plurality Method, the Jean-Charles de Borda, Plurality with Elimanation Method (also known as Instant Runoff Voting) and Method of Pairwise Comparisons. The different methods produced different results and each method exhibits characteristics associated with the fairness and unfairness of a voting method. Each slide presented a model diagram of the voting method described by the number of voters as well as the 1rst, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th choices that were elected. One thing I found interesting was when Vincent Ferlini spoke of the Keene Mayoral Election. He described how there are two rounds of voting, which can create problems since it is expensive and time consuming, yet the outcome may be more prominent. In the first round each voter votes for his or her first choice of mayor, yet no candidate wins in this round. In the second and last round, the top two finishers in the first round compete in the second round to finalize the winner. In one of Vincent Ferlini's first slides he explained a term, "ostraka", which was also gone over again in the end of the session. “A voter would use a broken pot called an ostraka to record a vote, which is the root of the modern world ostracize" (Vincent Ferlini). The setting of the session seemed like a rather small audience for such a large auditorium, and he made a few connections to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. He wrapped up the session on voting theories and the questions of fairness by encouraging everyone to vote and to not assume that these new methods are stupid, but instead to be open to new things.

HW 28: Dear Riverbend

Dear Riverbend,
As my reading of your book "Baghdad Burning" has progressed, I have developed many feelings and emotions that contribute to your experiences in Iraq. Your accounts of the 2003 war have informed me of more information and understanding of the war than would ever be shown through a US news channel or Internet site. Living in the opposing country that has conflicted with Iraq, I now have a more direct understanding of the other side of the war. Hearing your personal side of these unnecessary events saddens me. I feel sorrow and distress for the loved ones you and your country have lost. I know it must be hard, but you and every fellow citizen are brave for the grief put upon you. I sit back and think of how the war has effected me and the ones that I have lost in the events of 9/11, but then I think of the tremendous pain that your country must feel everyday while you sit in fear and anticipation that you will make it to the end of the day alive. I found it interesting and informative when you explained that the war began as a war on weapons of mass destruction, yet none were found, so the war then transformed into a "War against Terrorism", yet no links were made to Al-Queda or Osama Bin Laden, so the war is now just a "Liberation". You continued to state that "Call it whatever you want- to me it's an occupation" (Riverbend 15). Both my troops and your troops are out there everyday, fighting for our country, and in a very large way, it now is there occupation, it is their job to invade each others country and life to the fullest, a horrible but true statement. While reading your book I think how almost every citizen in our country has continued to live each day to its fullest, laughing, joking, and vaguely stopping to think about what is really going on right now; your book has informed me of this. It is mind-boggling to think that the women of your country cannot step foot out of the house without a male escort, and how the women to men ratio with occupations were 50:50, yet woman have now been deprived of this opportunity. The Iraqi population now has 65% of you unemployed, which to me seems like a serious problem. I am sorry that you cannot wake up each day and attend your job that you once loved, leaving you to sit and worry each day about the safety of you and your family. Lastly, I would like to speak of your government problems you have discussed, in other words the "Nine Puppets" that run the Iraqi world. Though I have disagreed with much of what Bush has said and his decisions, I am confused at the way your government is run. A country that is governed by a different president each month seems like some kind of big mess if you ask me. Despite the complications of the government, you are one brave citizen to jot your experiences and feelings down of your day to day living. I want to thank you for informing me of your anguish and distress that this war has compelled against you. Keep being strong Riverbend!
Sincerely, Alicia

HW 27: Baghdad Burning will be beneficial

I am very excited to continue to read "Baghdad Burning". I think the style of the book is presented very well. The book is about a twenty-four year old Iraqi girl, who goes by the name of Riverbend, living and encountering the war before her eyes. From what I have read so far she will be reenacting what she sees each day. I believe this book fits perfectly into the course of the class. The Iraq war that is occurring has affected many, but at the same time many people look past the conflicts that have arose. Iraqi's are discriminated against in airports, in society, and day to day life. A bystander like Riverbend will enhance our learning on the war as well as the anguish and terror other Iraqi's like her have to experience all the time. It is narrated by a woman, who is discriminated against for her race and culture, and this ties into the theme of our blogging class. This book will benefit our class greatly as Riverbend walks us through part of her life and world.
Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2005.

HW 25: A Look into "Baghdad Burning"

This week I began reading "Baghdad Burning". The foreword was written by Ahdaf Soueif and was a brief introduction to Riverbend and the way that she will be narrating the book. Riverbend is in her mid-twenties and is living in Baghdad with her mother, father, and brother. She will be reporting accounts of the Iraq war from a real-life perspective, to the point that the reader can experience the anguish she feels as she sits on her roof each night with her brother "E" watching the Baghdad Burning. In the very first sentence of the Foreword it states, "I wish," says Riverbend, towards the end of her blog, "every person who emails me supporting the war, safe behind their computer, secure in their narrow mind and fixed views, could actually come and experience the war live." This introduces the reader that she will be bravely speaking of what she experiences living in Iraq, to give the reader, such as an American as I, a clearer view rather than what we see on TV. Soueif explains how the book is not about explaining the theory of how the war came out and George Bush's view on the war, as the media is already circled around questions of this, but about what is happening as we speak in Iraq. The Introduction gives a very detailed background of the history of events that has led us to where Iraq and the US are now, and how Riverbend's family is dealing with this sequence of events. Until I had read the introduction in "Baghdad Burning", I knew almost nothing about the events that led up to the war. I now feel almost guilty for being so blind as to what my country and our allies and enemies have encountered over the past years. He explains how many of the controversies that have arose have dealt with religious issues and how the US had planned sending troops to Iraq even before the events of 9/11. Riverbend speaks of the US in terms of trying to establish a pro-American "puppet" government. I learned that major components that have led to the Iraq War included the Gulf War, World War II, and the struggles that different groups of Muslims that live in Iraq have dealt with in order to stay safe. Riverbend and her family fear each day as they watch the war before their eyes, and now Riverbend is allowing us to see for our self the anguish and terror that as accumulated in their community.

HW 24: Do you have a Room of One's Own?

Virginia Woolf pointed out at the beginning of the novel that in order to write fiction, you must have a room of your own. Throughout the novel I have acquired the knowledge of what it means to have a room of your own, and I do believe I have a room of my own. Women throughout the centuries have gradually gained acceptance in society. In the beginning of the novel Virginia Woolf presented many points that granted the inferiority of men. Women have slowly overcome the hole they have been stuck in for so long. They are slowly climbing out, discovering new possibilities and their capabilities. Women are proving to men, as well as themselves that they too have the capabilities to write fiction, and do what they were once not allowed to do. It is our responsibility as women to believe in what we do, and follow through on something to enhance your own abilities. Once you are confident in yourself, your mind opens up to endless possibilities. Women have been portrayed as a weak gender for so long, while men have empowered us for even longer. Woolf spoke of a reading, Diana of the Crossways, as she presented the relations of mothers and daughters in relations to men. "It was strange to think that all the great women of fiction were, until Jane Austen's day, not only seen by the other sex, but seen only in relation to the other sex. And how small a part of a woman's life is that; and how little can a man know even of that when he observes it through the black or rosy spectacles which sex puts on his nose" (page 82). Men have dominated the industry of jobs and the acceptance in society while women have constantly struggled with it. Women have adapted their own creative mind in which they can expand their horizon to speak their mind through their words. This was not always allowed. The relationship between women and their own room has slowly developed as more women have created their own room. They have adjusted to society and to themselves, in which they can be comfortable in who they are. A women who has a room of her own, as I do, has a sense of knowledge in which they do not feel dominated by men, but rather equal, allowing themselves to be an individual. Virginia Woolf begins to see and accept the relationship between men and women when she encounters a man and woman who are getting into a taxi. "Perhaps to think, as I had been thinking these two days, of one sex as distinct from the other is an effort. It interferes with the unity of the mind. Now that effort had ceased and that unity had been restored by seeing two people come together in a taxi-cab" (page 97). She experiences not only the unity of the mind, but the unity of two people. She concluded that the mind ponders to various such areas, and there is no single state of being. A woman has the right to feel, say, and do as she should. As i thought about my own room of my own, I found that it shows that I have my own creative mind which can lead me to my own experiences. As an individual it allows me to experience things that I would not have once been able to a number of years ago. The power of woman has come a long way throughout the years and has enabled me to challenge myself in ways that I once would not been able to.

HW 23: With Apologies to Virginia Woolf

When viewing the website Jezebel I came upon some fascinating blogs, and I found that each one contained gossip and stories about women, which brings me back to when I encountered such headlines in the papers during my research of women and fiction years ago. I stumbled across one that caught my eye. The post, titled "Otherwise Engaged", found on http://jezebel.com/gossip/otherwise-engaged/-313922.php, spoke of a horrifying event. I'm not sure if the man was insane, or just down right like every other man. A 60-year old farmer proposed to a 28 year old woman in Malaysia, and if that doesnt show you anything yet, than keep listening. With respect to herself im sure, she denied the proposal, but the farmer did not cooperate with her decision. His male dominant side of himself slowly came out as he took on the antics of kidnapping her and forcing her into his car; a horrible unecessary event that would never result in a marriage. Thankfully, a witness reported the event to authorities, yet the man ended up releasing the woman with no harm done, and continued to submit himself to the police. This occurence shows the foremost willful side of men that come out when things do not go their way. As I browsed other posts I came across many that depicted women poorly, announcing the latest news in their life as if we all actually cared. Yet, do you see any of these women bringing out a psychotic side of them for the information about themselves posted for the world to see. A man ain't nothing but a hollow-minded freak to go through the footsteps of this 60-year old farmer.

HW 22: Patriarchy is in England

After reading the second chapter in Virginia Woolfe's, "A Room of One's Own" I found that patriarchy is certainly still alive. Men are well known for and still hold the role of being the dominant figure. Virginia Woolfe argues and ponders this disposition through examining such questions which prove that there is patriarchy. When she makes her way to the British library she finds that there were numerous books written on females, and the lack of books written on males, yet the books on women speak of the inferiority of women in society. She becomes angry at the pieces of work she reads, because the author speaks in a certain tone and presents and depicts women on the low end of the hierarchy with men vs. women. When Woolfe read the headlines of a paper she spotted on the chair at the British museum she again had anger filled inside of her. Each headline presented a male dominant side, portraying women poorly. "The most transient visitor to this planet, I thought, who picked up this paper could not fail to be aware, even from this scattered testimony, that England is under the rule of patriarchy." (p. 33) She explains how men are portrayed in the paper as more important then women and have more power. The men in England are controlling what is written, which is often speaking poorly about women, like the author of the newspaper, of what is spoken. I went onto The New York Times website and found that England's way of perceiving women seems to be different then the way The New York Times portray women and men. There did not seem to be any controversial issues that would give a transient visitor to our planet the impression that the United States is a patriarchy, yet if a transient visitor was to have a glance at the way England presents their women, it would be evident that they are still under the rule of patriarchy.