NOTE: Blog for this week

Thinking about the blog this week, with two days off it certainly poses some challenges. So, let's move the blog deadline to monday, classtime. However, I would appreciate if you tried to post by tomorrow if you get the chance. You can post about freaks and geeks, the social construction of reality, or the snow day.

Snowmaggedon 2011!

This is my driveway where the snow had drifted to 30+inches! It was higher than my snow thrower. If you are interested in thinking about the snowpocalypse sociologically, here are some ways to do that:
My first thought was about how out of tune (disrespectful) we are of nature. We live in an age where we want to go about our days despite nature, whereas our ancestors would have scheduled their days around nature. This was most evident on Tuesday afternoon as people attempted to drive home as the storm approached. There were even dozens (maybe hundreds) of people who simply abandoned their cars on the road. Do you see how we attempt to ignore nature? Do you think that being in tune with nature copuld be good for all of us?
A second way to think about the storm is the social cooperation it brings. Usually with storms and acts of nature, sociologists note that this brings people together in greater social cooperation. I saw many neighbors helping each other and socializing throughout the storm. Did you witness any of this? Were you a part of it?

Changing the World

Two service opportunities that often get overlooked are politics and protests. We often forget about the importance of local races. Our state government determines how much college costs, how much financial aid students can get, where and what roads and tollways get built etc...Furthermore, it is easy to overlook mundane tasks like stuffing envelopes, or calling people to remind them to vote. But these little things make a big difference. The spring 2008 issue of The American Sociological Review includes an article called "Can Power From Below Change the World?" by Frances Fox Piven, author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America (Polemics). Her article basically said that we are all tied to each other and so our connection to those around us can be a source a power that creates social movements that can alter the course of America. It is in a sense seeing a sense of power in a sociologically mindful way. This reminds me that for a service project, students can go to a protest. They just need to document it with pictures. Have you ever been to a protest? What would you be willing to protest for? What you be willing to be arrested for?