I Am...

The documentary I Am by producer Tom Shadyac is a marvelous summation of our class.   Below is my own summation of the movie and in parenthesis are all the ways that I see the movie related to sociology:  -->

This documentary was created by Tom Shadyac a writer/director of many Hollywood blockbuster films: Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Bruce Almighty, Patch Adams, Accepted, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.  After a serious injury, Shadyac confronts the truth in front of him and sets out to find more meaning in his life and in our world.  The film displays a number of ideas and themes that we have discussed throughout our class.

Shadyac asks, “What’s wrong with the world? And what can we do about it?”

“Humanity is going to require a new way of thinking if it is to survive” – Albert Einstein

Science is a story. It changes over time.  Part of the story of science, since the Enlightenment, is that people are like machines; we are made from materials and we are mechanistic.  We operate in the world under that assumption.  We compartmentalize each other and our world this way.  This way of thinking creates a separateness (individuality), a competitiveness and a materialism that pervade Western society, especially the United States.  (Culture)

“Be suspicious of what you want.”  -Rumi

Native Americans noticed this way of thinking when Europeans first came to the Americas.  They have a word called “wetico” which means a sort of cannibalism where one culture eats or destroys another culture’s way of life.  What we now know is that we are more than the sum of all of our parts and we are connected to much more than ourselves.  Each individual is connected to all other humans, not just in the United States, but in the world.  And each human in the world is connected to all living things.  And all living things are connected to the non-living.

One myth that has been promoted that prevents us from realizing this interconnectedness is the belief that essential nature of humans is to be competitive, instead of cooperative to dominate instead of subordinate, to seek kingdom over democracy.  This is a myth promoted inaccurately by supporters of Darwin.  Instead, the basis of nature is egalitarian, cooperative and democratic.  Darwin mentioned, “survival of the fittest” twice and “love” 95 times.  Humans evolved to cooperate.  Sympathy is the strongest human emotion.  We have mirrored neurons that help us have sympathy.  Our vagus nerve helps us to elevate us to compassion.  Desmond Tutu says, “We belong because we need other to make us human.” (Socialization)  When we serve others with empathy, love and compassion, it creates deep contentment that literally makes us healthier and nourishes our mind and body.  Anger makes us stupid.  It inhibits our thinking.  Our heart is our primary access point to our higher self. 

“Do something that makes your heart sing.”

“What was said to the rose to make it open was said here to me in my chest.” – Desmond Tutu

“There is only one way to eat an elephant; one piece at a time.”

“The sea is only drops of water that have come together.”

We can’t solve global poverty, but we can do something about that guy over there.  Each of us should do something and because we are all connected it all makes a difference.  (Sociological Mindfulness)

Crash

Rather than tracing a main character throughout the movie, Crash (watch it on mediacast here)
traces the construction of race throughout the film. Try not to watch the movie literally, because it is obviously implausible that these characters are so interrelated. Instead, watch the movie and think about race metaphorically. There are many ways in which race shows up in the movie. Race is really what is interrelated to all the characters. Race is much more complex than the black and white way it is often portrayed. Race can be related to language, social class, religion, skin color, power, and other social constructs. Sometimes race divides people we would normally put in the same racial category. Sometimes race leads to explicit racism and sometimes it is implicit. The movie allows for viewers to interpret based on their own racialized ideas:
For example: Assumptions about the locksmith and robbing the store, or assumptions about the 2 young car thieves, or what was in the car thief’s pocket in the off duty cop’s car. Other moments when this happens:
What did you think Ludacris will do with the van and the people? Sell Them?
What did you think the business was that the Asian man was doing early in the movie before we saw the people in the van?

The movie looks at both explicit and implicit racism. But the question the movie implores us to explore is which is worse? The young cop tries really hard to not be explicitly racist, but he doesn’t realize the implicitly racist ways that he has been shaped. He assumes that the young black kid was not ice skating and is laughing at him and that he is reaching for a weapon.

The movie highlights that because we live in a society obsessed with race, our difficulties in our lives can be manifested into racism even though the real problem is social class, money and job opportunities, health problems, etc…

Another theme highlighted in the movie is that individuals might not be racist (or might be trying to overcome it) but they live in a larger society with racist dynamics. For example, the detective has to deal with his mom feeling that he left the family behind because he became a detective and got an education and moved out of the neighborhood. Another example is the tv director who has his own ideas about the show but he is forced to succumb to the will of the white producer who has his own ideas.

Here are some sociological questions to consider after watching the movie:
If race is not scientifically based, what is it based on?
What are some of the characteristics that our society uses to define race? What scenes/characters highlight differences that are not biological, but refer to “race”? Are there any moments in your life when you learned that race is not related to biology or science?
What are some stereotypes that are not true?
What are some of the stereotypes in the movie that characters hold that are not true? Which characters hold stereotyped beliefs about others in the movie and what were they? How were these stereotypes not true? Have you ever held a stereotype that you later found to be untrue? Have you ever felt stereotyped by someone?
Implicit vs. Explicit racism;What are some examples of explicit and implicit racism in the movie? Do you think that the hidden nature of implicit racism might make it just as volatile as explicit racism? Is it valuable to become aware of implicit racism and how our society shapes these attitudes? Thinking about the IAT test we did in class, how might implicit racism be a part of you? How does society shape us?
What can we do about racism?
Using the movie as an example, what can be done to help reduce the racism in society? How should some of the racist incidents be handled so as to minimize the racism in America? What can you do in your own life?
Race is more than a black and white issue…
What are some examples from the movie that show the idea of race is not just a black or white issue and instead race is much more complicated? What scenes/characters show this idea? Do you think that simplifying race to a black-white issue continues to create confusion over race issues in America?

You could pay more, but why?

Please remember that we are learning about how individuals are affected by social class.  This is not meant to make students feel guilty or feel bad for those in lower classes, it is just meant to show that although Americans believe that everyone is created equal with equal opportunity, the reality is that we are not equal.  There are different benefits and obstacles and life chances depending on what class one is in.  Another glaring example of social class is our school district.  Many students here are from families who have lived "the American Dream."  That is, their parents have risen in social class and now are living in the top of the social class ladder.  And so this often becomes an example for those students that anyone can make it in America - look at what my family has done.  Here are two questions for you to consider:

1)  Why would a family choose to live in Stevenson's district?  The taxes here are far and above that of surrounding areas.  For example, a $649,000 house in Long Grove might have to pay $16,000 per year in real estate taxes plus $1200/year in home owner association fees such as this house:

whereas a house in Wheeling might cost $299,000 and only $7,000/year in taxes.

If all it takes to succeed in life is to try hard, why would anyone want to pay so much extra for a house that is the same size as the less expensive one?  The reason is often because the house comes with so much more than living space: a higher achieving school district, a lower crime neighborhood, neighbors who have similar values to you (such as do well in school), lower pollution, etc...  All of these provide an advantage to the children growing up in that area.  I am not not saying that the advantage is wrong or that anyone should feel guilty for having that advantage.  I simply want to acknowledge that the advantage does exist.




2)  Try to objectively look back at your family's rise in social class and see the dynamic that fueled it.  Did your parents value education?  Why?  Where did that value come from?  What if your parents were born into a house where they were told that school was never going to help them?  Did your parents have parents at home to help them?  What if one of their parents was incarcerated for most of their life?  What if their parent was addicted to drugs?  Were your parents raised in a neighborhood in which they were subjected to violence?  Did they ever know someone close to them who was murdered?  How might the daily threat of violence affect them growing up?  How would they be shaped if they were forced to belong to a gang simply because of where their neighborhood is located?

Choosing poverty?

Who would choose poverty if there was another option? There is often a myth in America that people choose poverty. Okay, the choice isn't that simple, but many believe that people simply do not make choices that will lead them out of poverty. I understand that as humans our power comes in the form of consciousness and the ability to make conscious choices, but there still must be a choice in front of us for us to be able to make it. For example, there are parents that want so badly for their kids to avoid the pitfalls of inner city poverty: gangs, drugs, violence, the criminal justice system, poor education. These parents can want to choose the best for their kids, but if there is no real choice in front of them, then little will come of it. A radical experiment in New York is helping to highlight this. It is a school called The Harlem Children's Zone. Parents line up to get their kids into this revolutionary school. The school begins helping parents BEFORE BIRTH! That's right. It provides training from the beginning in how to be a parent. After years of molding students and parents, the school has done what few parents could do without it; it has equalled and surpassed test scores for white middle class students. Watch the CBS video below and see how the school is doing it and the success it has had. Realize that all of these parents wanted the best for their kids, but only the school made it happen. What do you think happend to the kids who weren't fortunate enough to get into the school? What about all of the impoverished students across America who do not have access to a school like that?


Watch CBS News Videos Online
An excerpt from the report:

"You grow up in America and you're told from day one, 'This is the land of opportunity.' That everybody has an equal chance to make it in this country. And then you look at places like Harlem, and you say, 'That is absolutely a lie,'" Canada told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

"So you're trying to level the playing field between kids here in Harlem and middle class kids in a suburb?" Cooper asked.

"That's exactly what we think we have to do," Canada said. "You know, if you grow up in a community where your schools are inferior, where the sounds of gunshots are a common thing, where you spend your time and energy not thinking about algebra or geometry, but about how not to get beat up, or not to get shot, or not to get raped, when you grow up like that, you don't have the same opportunity as other children growing up. And we're trying to change those odds."

A letter from Chile...

Hello Stevenson students! I am Cala O'Connor, and I graduated from Stevenson in 2008. I attended DePaul University, studied Early Childhood and Bilingual Education, and graduated last June. I am currently living in Chile and teaching English to 8th-11th graders here through a program called English Opens Doors. I emailed Mr. Salituro last week and asked if he would be interested in doing a pen pal sorta deal with his students, and he said yes! It takes 3 weeks for a letter to get down here, so we figured email might be faster. I had all 80 kids in my sophomore classes (segundo medio = second grade upper = sophomore) contribute to a letter to you, telling you about their life here and asking questions about what it is like to be a teen in the USA. I know you all probably have a million other assignments and sports practices and clubs and what not, being Stevenson students, but if you could find the time to maybe answer a few of the questions, or share what it is like to be a teen in Chicago, I would really appreciate it, and so would the students! You can either respond here on the blog, or email me at calaoconnor@gmail.com. For anyone who is really interested in teaching abroad or what it is like, feel free to email me or check out my blog at www.ontheroadtochile.blogspot.com. Thank you so much!!
 -------------------------
Dear students,

Hello! How are you? We are fine. We are students of Colegio Gabriela Mistral, we live in Coquimbo, Chile. We are 14-16 years old. We would like to learn about your life. We are learning English. Learning English is so-so, sometimes easy and sometimes hard. Is it difficult for you to learn Spanish? Or other language? Do you like to skateboard? What is your schedule like? We go to school every day at 8:00am and leave at 5:00pm. We have 15 minute breaks between our classes. They are 90 minutes long. We also have 45 minutes for lunch. What is your schedule like? Do you have breaks? Do you have uniforms? We hate our uniforms. Do you buy your clothes at Forever 21? Here in Coquimbo it is fall. It is usually very sunny, sometimes cloudy. The average degree is 17 Celsius. It does not rain at all only in the winter, and it never snows. Is it cold in Chicago? What is snow like? Do you like snow? What is Chicago like? Are the streets dangerous at night? What cities of the United States do the black and the hispanic people live? Is it true in New York they kill doves? Do you like soccer? We love soccer. We love the teams Colo-Colo, Coquimbo, Arsenal, Tottenham, Barcelona, Católica and Real Madrid. Do you like bananas? We also like basketball and Lebron James. What sports do you like to play? We like to listen to music. What music do you listen to? We like dubstep, pop (we love One Direction and Justin Beiber) Reggaeton, Bachata, Taylor Swift, Skrillex, System of a Down, Slipknot, Wiz Khalifa, Chris Brown, Usher, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dog, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, and more. Do you like My Chemical Romance? Do you watch WWF and John Cena? What do you like to do in your free time? We like to listen to music, play computer games, play xbox, play guitar, skateboard, play soccer, hang out with friends, chat on the internet, read, sleep, and watch TV. Do you like Starcraft? Do you like hip hop? Would you like to come to Coquimbo? What do you want to know about us? Here in Chile when we say goodbye, we say chao. Chao! Los alumnos de Segundo Medio (The students of the sophomore class)

White Privilege and the Boston Bombing

One sociological way to look at the Boston investigation into the bombing is with the idea of "white privilege" in mind. Here is an essay from Tim Wise, a sociologist who writes often about racism and white privilege:

When I heard about the bombing at the Boston marathon, I did not say to myself, "Oh please don't let the bomber be a white person or our community will suffer a backlash just like after the Oklahoma City bombing." Say what? If there was ever a glaring example of white privilege, this is it. Because we well know, ever since 9/11, millions of Americans of Muslim or Arab descent (or those who might "look" like them) are de facto suspected terrorists. Such racism has been lethal for a number of citizens whose skin color or clothing sparked knee-jerk violence. Other survived the violent attacks while some Muslim mosques and schools did not. The Right, hours after Monday's bombing, was already casting the blame on Muslims. As Steven Rosenfeld notes in AlterNet [2], "Almost immediately predictable hysterical right-wing voices jumped into the debate — and surprisingly were featured on liberal Salon.com — including the anti-Muslim media hound Pam Geller, who immediately blamed a Jihadi for the bombing." The Langar Hall website reported on Monday [3], "Some right wing pundits have been even more blatantly racist this afternoon in response to the explosions. Fox News commentator Erik Rush went so far as to tweet this afternoon that Muslims are evil, and 'Let’s kill them all' after immediately blaming the explosions on Muslim terrorists without any evidence." For sure there have been calls from progressive as well as mainstream media to not jump to conclusions and make assumptions. But the problem goes deeper because if the bomber does in fact turn out to be a person of Muslim descent, a whole community will face the wrath of many in white America. In his latest commentary, Terrorism and Privilege: Understanding the Power of Whiteness, [4] anti-racism writer and educator Tim Wise underscores how, even as we grieve the victims, the Boston Marathon bombing is a powerful lesson about race and white privilege. “As the nation weeps for the victims of the horrific bombing in Boston yesterday, one searches for lessons amid the carnage, and finds few. That violence is unacceptable stands out as one, sure. That hatred — for humanity, for life, or whatever else might have animated the bomber or bombers — is never the source of constructive human action seems like a reasonably close second. But I dare say there is more; a much less obvious and far more uncomfortable lesson, which many are loathe to learn, but which an event such as this makes readily apparent, and which we must acknowledge, no matter how painful. It is a lesson about race, about whiteness, and specifically, about white privilege. I know you don’t want to hear it. But I don’t much care. So here goes. White privilege is knowing that even if the Boston Marathon bomber turns out to be white, his or her identity will not result in persons like yourself being singled out for suspicion by law enforcement, or the TSA, or the FBI. White privilege is knowing that even if the bomber turns out to be white, no one will call for your group to be profiled as terrorists as a result, subjected to special screening, or threatened with deportation. White privilege is knowing that if the bomber turns out to be white, he or she will be viewed as an exception to an otherwise non-white rule, an aberration, an anomaly, and that he or she will be able to join the ranks of Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols [5] and Ted Kaczynski [6] and Eric Rudolph [7] and Joe Stack [8] and George Metesky [9] and Byron De La Beckwith [10] and Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton and Herman Frank Cash and Robert Chambliss [11] and James von Brunn [12] and Robert Mathews [13] and David_Lane [14] and Michael F. Griffin [15] and Paul Hill [16] and John Salvi [17] and James Kopp [18] and Luke Helder [19] and James David Adkisson [20] and Scott Roeder [21] and Shelley Shannon [22] and Wade Michael Page [23] and Byron Williams [24] and Kevin Harpham [25] and William Krar and Judith Bruey and Edward Feltus [26] and Raymond Kirk Dillard and Adam Lynn Cunningham and Bonnell Hughes and Randall Garrett Cole and James Ray McElroy [27] and Michael Gorbey [28] and Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman [29] and Frederick Thomas [30] and Paul Ross Evans [31] and Matt Goldsby and Jimmy Simmons and Kathy Simmons and Kaye Wiggins [32] and Patricia Hughes and Jeremy Dunahoe [33] and David McMenemy [34] and Bobby Joe Rogers [35] and Francis Grady [36] and Demetrius Van Crocker [37] and Floyd Raymond Looker [38], among the pantheon of white people who engage in politically motivated violence meant to terrorize and kill, but whose actions result in the assumption of absolutely nothing about white people generally, or white Christians in particular. And white privilege is being able to know nothing about the crimes committed by most of the terrorists listed above — indeed, never to have so much as heard most of their names — let alone to make assumptions about the role that their racial or ethnic identity may have played in their crimes. White privilege is knowing that if the Boston bomber turns out to be white, you will not be asked to denounce him or her, so as to prove your own loyalties to the common national good. It is knowing that the next time a cop sees you standing on the sidewalk cheering on runners in a marathon, that cop will say exactly nothing to you as a result. White privilege is knowing that if you are a student from Nebraska — as opposed to, say, a student from Saudi Arabia — that no one, and I mean no one would think it important to detain and question you in the wake of a bombing such as the one at the Boston Marathon. And white privilege is knowing that if this bomber turns out to be white, the United States government will not bomb whatever corn field or mountain town or stale suburb from which said bomber came, just to ensure that others like him or her don’t get any ideas. And if he turns out to be a member of the Irish Republican Army we won’t bomb Dublin. And if he’s an Italian American Catholic we won’t bomb the Vatican. In short, white privilege is the thing that allows you — and me — to view tragic events like this as merely horrific, and from the perspective of pure and innocent victims, rather than having to wonder, and to look over one’s shoulder, and to ask even if only in hushed tones, whether those we pass on the street might think that somehow we were involved. It is the source of our unearned innocence and the cause of others’ unjustified oppression.” Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. He has spoken in all 50 states, on over 800 college and high school campuses, and to community groups across the nation. Wise is the author of six books, including his latest, Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority (City Lights Books) and his highly acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son. Source URL: http://www.war-times.org/node/562 Links: [1] http://www.war-times.org/writers/felicia_gustin [2] http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/boston-bombing-tragedy-lets-not-rush-blame-muslims-or-people-arab-descent?akid=10328.268597.gX7AZx&rd=1&src=newsletter825186&t=5 [3] http://thelangarhall.com/news/prayers-for-boston-for-an-end-to-racist-backlash/ [4] http://www.timwise.org/2013/04/terrorism-and-privilege-understanding-the-power-of-whiteness/ [5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Kaczynski [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Robert_Rudolph [8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Austin_suicide_attack [9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Metesky [10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_De_La_Beckwith [11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing [12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wenneker_von_Brunn [13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jay_Mathews [14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lane_%28Neo-Nazi%29 [15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_F._Griffin [16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jennings_Hill [17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Salvi [18] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Charles_Kopp [19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Helder [20] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knoxville_Unitarian_Universalist_church_shooting [21] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_George_Tiller [22] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_Shannon [23] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Wisconsin_Sikh_temple_shooting [24] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Williams_%28shooter%29 [25] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Spokane_bombing_attempt [26] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Krar [27] http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18426038/#.UW2JJ79vETM [28] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081502078.html [29] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96206272 [30] http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/01/4-suspected-us-militia-members-charged-in-plot/?test=latestnews#ixzz1cYhQoCRQ [31] http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/04/28/us-texas-abortion-bomb-idUSN2719258620070428 [32] http://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Christmas_abortion_bombings [33] http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?id=9766 [34] http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5395773 [35] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Family_Planning [36] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/wisconsin-planned-parenthood-bombing-fbi_n_1402897.html [37] http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/homegrown-terrorist/Content?oid=1125783 [38] http://archive.adl.org/mwd/mountain.asp

Here an example from

From Adweek, here is an example of gender discrimination worldwide:

Powerful Ads Use Real Google Searches to Show the Scope of Sexism Worldwide Simple visual for inequality By David Griner

 

Here's a simple and powerful campaign idea from UN Women using real suggested search terms from Google's autocomplete feature. Campaign creator Christopher Hunt, head of art for Ogilvy & Mather Dubai, offers this summary: “This campaign uses the world's most popular search engine (Google) to show how gender inequality is a worldwide problem. The adverts show the results of genuine searches, highlighting popular opinions across the world wide web.” Each ad's fine print says "actual Google search on 09/03/13." While Google users in different countries are likely to get different results, a quick test shows that several of these suggested terms definitely come up in U.S. searches. Since its creation, autocomplete has become a popular device for social debate and even inspired a recent epic visual from xkcd, but these ads do a stellar job driving home the daunting fact that enough people around the world share these vile opinions that Google has come to expect them. Check out all the design versions after the jump. Via Design Taxi.

 

Valuing Vulnerability?

Vulnerability is not a value for those of us who live in the United States, but some social scientists say it should be.  Watch the video below by Brene Brown at a TED Talk.


Brown explains that to feel really fulfilled in life, we must live whole-heartedly.  But to live whole-heartedly, we must allow ourselves to be vulnerable to others.  It is a very difficult proposition because this rides against the flow of our culture.  But in a follow-up TED Talk, Brown explains that vulnerability is not weakness.  Try to watch the video above a few times.  It takes time to really understand it, but it is so insightful.

$ = :-(

Because most of us buy into the values in the United States, we seek success and materialism through hard work and personal achievement sometimes even alone as individuals.  We assume that happiness will be a part of this equation but notice it is not.  Sadly, we often isolate ourselves from others in our quest for success and this makes us less happy.  So, today's lesson is to carefully select the values we want to hold dear to us.  Be mindful that your culture is always tugging at you to follow it, but that doesn't mean it will lead you where you want to go.  A growing field of research has been exploring happiness and why it is so elusive. What could be more important than real happiness - true happiness, contentment with our lives? This research reveals that although we are vastly wealthier than a few decades ago we are less happy as a nation. Sociology, psychology and economics all have been exploring happiness and I think it relates to our culture and how we live our lives.
A 2008 sociology study found that happiness is more difficult for parents :-( me! But our culture thinks that it is taboo to talk about how difficult raising children is. Other sociologists have written about how we as Americans try to consume happiness through our spending power. Sociologist Karen Sternheimer writes

You are no doubt familiar with the cliché that “money can’t buy happiness.” Yet so many of us presume that if we just had a little more money (according to Easterlin’s research, 20% more) we would be happier. Maybe we could buy more, pay off some bills, and feel less stressed about money.
But Easterlin found that this just isn’t the case. In fact, he says many of us buy into the “money illusion”, which guides how we spend our time as we focus on trying to get more money. Of course, this is a very American pursuit: our capitalist economy is based on the constant striving for more.

On the psychology of happiness, Tal Ben-Shahar teaches the most popular class at Harvard, The Psychology of Happiness. His book, Happier, is a psychological understanding of how to live a happier life. He also maintains this website with articles and tips on being happier. You can also see Shahar on John Stewart's Daily Show.
Economists have been discussing happiness at great lengths lately. The most interesting to me so far is Richard Layard who wrote Happiness. Here is an excerpt from Layard's book:

There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. We all want more money, but as societies become richer, they do not become happier. This is not speculation: It's the story told by countless pieces of scientific research. We now have sophisticated ways of measuring how happy people are, and all the evidence shows that on average people have grown no happier in the last fifty years, even as average incomes have more than doubled.

The central question the great economist Richard Layard asks in Happiness is this: If we really wanted to be happier, what would we do differently? First we'd have to see clearly what conditions generate happiness and then bend all our efforts toward producing them. That is what this book is about-the causes of happiness and the means we have to effect it.

Until recently there was too little evidence to give a good answer to this essential question, but, Layard shows us, thanks to the integrated insights of psychology, sociology, applied economics, and other fields, we can now reach some firm conclusions, conclusions that will surprise you. Happiness is an illuminating road map, grounded in hard research, to a better, happier life for us all.

Service Oppportunity: A Just Harvest

A Just Harvest is a community group that fights poverty on the border of Evanston and Rogers Park(Chicago). They also run a soup kitchen called The Community Kitchen. Here is a description from their website:

The Community Kitchen The Community Kitchen A Just Harvest’s Community Kitchen began as a ministry of the Good News Community Church (United Church of Christ) in 1983. In the beginning, we served meals a few days per week. Today, with the help of more than 40 partnering organizations and nearly 10,000 volunteer hours, our Community Kitchen is the largest and only self-standing community soup kitchen in the Chicago metro area. We serve hot, nutritious meals 365 days per year to anyone in need. Last year, the Community Kitchen served more than 54,000 meals. For more information about volunteering, click here. Anyone in need is welcome. There is no need for referrals or to present identification. The Community Kitchen is a welcoming place for children and families. Doors open every day at 4:30 p.m. Dinner is served from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the weekends and national holidays.

On Fri, April 26 and Fri May 10 Mrs Fainman will take students there to prepare and serve meals to low income residents. If you are traveling with her, plan to miss 8th period. If you have a class you need a permission slip. If you are driving on your own, I would bring change for parking meters and I would leave by 3:20 or immediately after 8th period.