Be informed

I consider myself an educated, in the loop individual. But even I was stumped by a lot of these questions. And most disappointedly, I think my worst score was in the Arts and Entertainment section. Take the quiz from Newsweek for yourself, and comment on how you do:

Global Literacy 2008

Because curlers would have no other claim to fame

This year's Olympics have mustered months of pre-game coverage, anything from Michael Phelps dominating his sport to Paul Hamm dropping out of the men's gymnastics competition to China building walls to conceal its less "attractive" members of society. But despite human rights violations, air the color of dirt and one of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen constructed for an Olympic stadium, I can't help myself: I love the Olympics.

I love watching the Opening Ceremonies and seeing a country with three or four athletes waving their flag just as high as a country with hundreds of athletes. I love watching the face of a competitor who has worked his or her entire life to perfect one skill and that hard work has now come to fruition. Regardless of the event, each athlete or competitor there has more determination and focus that I can hope to have in a lifetime. And even if I don't think there needs to be a distinction between swimming in an indoor pool or an open body of water, I'll watch both events with equal amazement.

I also love the predicable formula of Olympic coverage. There's the classic underdog, who rules the Olympic media coverage. Inevitably there is always someone from a country I can't pronounce who comes out of nowhere and blows everyone's minds, and then is hounded for the next week on every national talk show and news program imaginable. There's the athlete whose head looks like it's about to fall off from the weight of all the medals around his or her neck. But as karma would predict, there is also the inevitable mistake, the slip off the uneven bars, the missed turn in the triathlon, the trip of the foot right off the blocks. It takes two seconds for someone to go from almost guaranteed gold to sitting on the sidelines, empty handed.

So despite my doubt about China actually implementing democratic changes for the better, or the doubt that some athletes anymore aren't using steroids even if they don't get caught, or just the fact that I only care about cycling once every four years, I will still be a fan. In any case, I have to fill up on watching real talent, before the next season of "So You Think You Can Dance" redefines how terrible you can be at something and still win a prize.

A few Olympics links:
Create your own schedule of events
New gymnastics scoring

One of many "athlete from a war-torn country" stories
IOC turns up the heat on drug tests
Time Magazine's 100 athletes to watch

my strongest suit

When I wake up in the morning, I have two main concerns: what will take the least amount of time to eat for breakfast, and what I should wear. Breakfast is usually the choice between an apple for the road or a quick bowl of honey nut cheerios. But the second item proves to be much more of a conundrum. I would describe my workplace as "business casual," meaning as long as the appropriate body parts are contained and you don't wear a logo T-shirt, you're probably good to go. However, this still leaves a very wide range of combinations to choose from. This is a typical morning run-down:

"Hmm, I think the black skirt would be nice today. Except the blue top is dirty and with the black I can't wear the brown cardigan. Ok, green top it is. But it's a little windy outside so the skirt might not be the best choice. So just put the green top with the gray pants. But then do I wear the sandals or the close-toed flats? Ok what interviews do I have today? There's a chance that I could have to go out to Fort Walla Walla meaning I would want not-nice shoes, but I could also have to go meet with the lady at the VA office and that would require nicer shoes. But the grey pants are too short for the heels. I like the white bermuda shorts, but only men can wear shorts to work. And there's always the chance that I'll get assigned to breaking news at City Hall, meaning I should totally scrap the green shirt and wear something collared..."

I think I put more energy into my daily ensembles that most college interns, but it's not for nothing. Whether we like it or not, first impressions are a big part of success in the professional world. And your appearance is a significant part of that impression. Think about it: if you went it to meet with a bank to set up a mortgage, you would think twice about investing hundreds of thousands of dollars with someone who can't keep his or her shirt tucked in. On the flipside, if you went to a farmer's market looking for fresh local berries, you would trust the farmer who appeared to actually work with his or her crops, rather than someone who can't be bothered to get their hands dirty.

And unfortunately, I think this pressure falls more to women than men. I don't mean to go on another "women are treated as sexual objects and considered slightly incompetent in some professional settings" tirade. But the balance between feminine and professional clothing is often quite the challenge. If you dress too much like a "woman," meaning you highlight merely acknowledge the female figure, you're sometimes pegged as a flake or someone who really doesn't know what she's doing. However, if you wear a white collared shirt with black slacks and orthopedic shoes every day, people might say you don't care about your appearance, translating that apathy into a lack of interest in her work. As shallow as it sounds, I think "What Not to Wear" has been an invaluable resource for professional women. It teaches women of varying sizes, ages, and body types how to reflect their personalities and own styles, but within guidelines that are appropriate for a particular setting.

This environment-appropriate appearance is just as important in journalism, I believe. But here, the game is more about camouflage. You have to create rapport with sources, and if they get a vibe that you are either way above or below their environment, you're toast. Granted, doing your research beforehand, especially when covering a topic or feature outside your normal circles, is crucial. But fitting in and looking like you can relate to a person I feel is just as helpful to getting better quotes and a more conversational interview.

get on down the road

As I was driving back to Walla Walla Sunday night, I glanced down at my dashboard to see how much more gas I was going to have to pay for this summer. And my eyes missed the gas gage altogether when they caught a glaring "2" in the odometer. Yes, that's right: my junk of a car has finally hit the 200,000 mile mark. As of this morning 200,058 miles, to be exact. I have never seen a car over the 200,000 mark, let alone driven one on a daily basis. But this milestone (pun absolutely intended) has come with a price. Since I bought it in November of 2004, my little red 1983 Honda Accord has had:

-3 belts replaced
-1 head gasket replaced (right after the belts were done. no good.)
-required the assistance of the AAA tow service at least twice a year
-2 starters replaced
- 1 rear view mirror fall off in mid-commute to school one morning
-1 battery run down by my lovely sister, who left it running with the radio on for half an hour
- sported the label of "Bootylicious Bacon" across the back windshield
- 1 incident of being completely wrapped in caution tape by my loving friends
- carried a body in the trunk for approximately 6 months (it was a dummy, but very realistic)

And this year my Whitworth compadres will get the terrifying privilege of riding along for the next 200,000.

Teenagers are again destroying all moral value in society. Or are they just changing the values?

One of the top New York Times reads over the weekend has been an article that explores the pros and cons of online literacy. And though I've emailed the link to a few of you, I thought a more in-depth look at the article would be appropriate. I've pulled out a few key quotes or topics to highlight, since the article is, ironically, four web pages long:

1. "Deborah Konyk, would prefer that Nadia, who gets A’s and B’s at school, read books for a change. But at this point, Ms. Konyk said, “I’m just pleased that she reads something anymore.”

This is a fundamental compromise I think a lot of parents are reaching these days when it comes to the Internet. They think that if their child is spending five hours on MySpace, at least they're chatting with friends from school and not potential child molesters (although 1 in 5 children under 18 will be solicited by a sexual predator online). The same applies to reading. They say "well reading Harry Potter is better than not reading at all." And while I agree that the world of Hogwarts has kept a lot of kids engrossed in a book, there are just as many books geared toward a teenage audience that have just as much intellectual or entertainment value.

2. "Some Web evangelists say children should be evaluated for their proficiency on the Internet just as they are tested on their print reading comprehension. Starting next year, some countries will participate in new international assessments of digital literacy..."

This is an interesting concept, although the article goes on to say such testing is not being explored in the United States. It's like taking a required keyboarding class to learn home row and pump out 60 words a minute. It might lose the art of putting a literal pencil to literal paper, but over time, typing has become essential to survival in the workplace or academic environment. I would be interested to see exactly how "digital literacy" is defined.

3. When a friend introduced Nadia to fanfiction.net, she turned off the television and started reading online.Now she regularly reads stories that run as long as 45 Web pages. Many of them have elliptical plots and are sprinkled with spelling and grammatical errors...Nadia said she preferred reading stories online because “you could add your own character and twist it the way you want it to be...Nadia said she wanted to major in English at college and someday hopes to be published. She does not see a problem with reading few books. “No one’s ever said you should read more books to get into college,” she said."

I wonder what Nadia considers "published." I find it encouraging that an online storytelling site can encourage young people to become writers themselves. However, I still cannot ignore the fact that almost any professor or writer will tell you that the best way to become a good writer is to be a good reader. If all she is reading is online amateur works, regardless of length, she will never be exposed to the types of more formal and sophisticated works that she could potentially aspire to create herself. And her last statement just makes me want to smack her upside the head.

4. "Reading five Web sites, an op-ed article and a blog post or two, experts say, can be more enriching than reading one book."

Well if this is true, I've read approximately three books a day this summer. But joking aside, I still wonder if this is actually comparable data. Growing up most of the books I read were fiction, or the occasional biography. The article goes on to talk about the plurality of ideas available through reading multiple websites on the same topic. And for things like politics or world affairs, it's true that I, an avid book lover, am more likely to skim headlines and commentary than I am to sit down with 400 pages on one topic in a bound edition. But again, the art of the fiction, or even non-fiction, novel cannot be equated to reading various blogs (unless Harper Lee has suddenly returned to the literary world via a daily short story posted online).

5. Some literacy experts say that reading itself should be redefined. Interpreting videos or pictures, they say, may be as important a skill as analyzing a novel or a poem.

“Kids are using sound and images so they have a world of ideas to put together that aren’t necessarily language oriented,” said Donna E. Alvermann, a professor of language and literacy education at the University of Georgia. “Books aren’t out of the picture, but they’re only one way of experiencing information in the world today.”

I won't go into this one a ton, except to say it's the classic struggle for educators and students alike, trying to find textbooks and materials that are both engaging and informative, without having to dumb down a lesson plan or find a way to make everything "fun." (That's for my dad, who always complains that his students expect every class to be entertaining.)

6. "When researching the 19th-century Chief Justice Roger B. Taney for one class, he typed Taney’s name into Google and scanned the Wikipedia entry and other biographical sites. Instead of reading an entire page, he would type in a search word like “college” to find Taney’s alma mater, assembling his information nugget by nugget."

All I can think is of a Whitworth professor's threat that she would haunt the dreams of any student who used Wikipedia for research purposes. And as the 2007 AP Stylebooks notes, the Internet is "1/4 wheat and 3/4 chaff." A little dramatic, but it gets the point across.

Just one of the reasons why I'll never be as bad ass as my mother

A few weeks ago when my mom was rummaging through the years she stores in dusty boxes underneath my parents' bed, she came across many things (one of my favorites being her 7th grade cheerleading squad photo, in which she's front and center). But she also found two notebooks she then lent me for "education of why you're lucky to be a woman when you are." The notebooks are a faded yellow, with black binding, and labeled Spokane Elementary Schools Composition Book in a sans serif. At the top of one, a smudged print reads "Home Economics Cooking Unit. Judy Jeanes, Adams 8th." This would date it to approximately 1961. Here is just one of the entries:

Table settings and manners
pages 154-163

1. In selecting linens servicability, durability, and cost must be considered.
2. Silver plated ware and sterling silver should be chosen carefully. Either should used daily to increase its beauty and to make the meal attractive.
3. In selecting china cost, suitability, ease of replacement, and attractiveness must be considered
4. Glassware is relatively imexpensive and gives a certain sparkle and attractiveness to the table.
5. All these table accessories should be chosen with care and should be suited to family income and use.
6. The individual cover depends upon the menu and the type of service.
7. Family service is an attractive, simple, and hospitable service used most frequently in American homes.
8. Formal service is used for occasional dinner parties if well-trained help is available.

Below the list is pasted a magazine cut-out of a formal table setting, complete with gold silverware and candesticks of appropriate height. The opposing page lists recipes for a fruit salad I and egg salad sandwiches. And yes, my mother forgot a crucial verb in the second sentence of the second item. That may have contributed to the B written in bright red ink in the front of the book as her final grade. Or it could have been that she always wanted to take wood shop instead of home economics.

I stole this idea from Sarah

Things I tolerate in life only out of social necessity:

1. the Mango. I do not enjoy eating mangoes fresh, frozen, or as a flavoring. I only occasionally like their smell in lotions and potions. But mango is the "it" flavor right now, in everything from margaritas to sno cones. I just don't enjoy them. I realize that they're good for you and a really pretty color and seemingly a flavor you can't go wrong with if offered to a large group of people. Not for me.

2. drip coffee. I know it sounds high maintenance and spoiled to say I only like certain lattes made with certain coffee from certain places. But it's true. I cannot just walk into a coffee shop and order a vanilla latte and expect to be satisfied. I will drink regular coffee with creamer, but it almost always makes me really nauseous and just leaves a general sense of not feeling good. My wallet definitely wishes this was not the case sometimes.

3. watches. A lot of people cannot function in life if their watch isn't in the exact place on their wrist. I own two watches (one of which currently has a dead battery), and the second was only bought out of necessity for my job last summer. I don't like having something on my wrist all the time, and I inevitably bang it into filing cabinets or injure myself. I just don't find them convenient, or necessary.

4. exclamation points. use your words, not your punctuation.