Week of 9/16 - More Current Events!

Hey all, sorry that this is a bit late. This post is gonna be a quick one.

This week is another one of each of us discussing various things going on in the world today. John'll start tomorrow, and I'll be back on Friday. Enjoy!

Topic Announcement: Favorite Movies

So this week we are looking at an actual topic, which shall be our favorite movies. It is one of those weeks where we get to share our recommendations with you, and we hope to give you a chance to discover new and unique movies that you have not seen nor heard of before. I know we always have different perspectives on these kind of topics and our interests are varied and fun. Movies, after all, are a window into the human condition and an exploration (sometimes) into what it means to be us. Of course, there are also mindless action flicks, but those are often more fun than a heart-wrenching drama. I am sure that we will see enough of both this week to fill your movie needs. So let the favorite movies week commence!

Week of 9/2 - Current Events

Once again, this week will be about interesting recent events.  Kathleen will start us off tomorrow, and I will be back to finish up on Friday.

Week of 8/26 - Accessibility of Higher Education in the U.S.

Hi everyone! This week we'll be discussing the accessibility of higher education in the United States.  In some ways, higher education in the U.S. has become more accessible, in that there are more opportunities for financial aid; but in other ways, higher education is less accessible that ever before, because the cost of a higher education is higher than ever before and continues to rise.  Money is just one factor that we'll be discussing this week that plays into the accessibility of higher education.  One the main questions is: How accessible is higher education, and what factors play into its accessibility?  How do people think the accessibility of higher education affects the environment in colleges and universities, the workplace, and our society in general.  It'll be interesting to see everyone's experiences of and viewpoints on this topic.  Tomorrow we'll be hearing from Laura and I'll be back on Friday to wrap up this week's topic.  

Week of 8/19 - Current Events

Hey, everyone.  This will be another week of postings about (semi-)current events happening around the world.  We had some interesting articles a couple of weeks ago, and I'll be interested to see what our contributors choose to share this week.

Pendleton will be up tomorrow, and I'll be back on Friday.
Enjoy the week, everyone.

Week of 8/12 - Breather Topic: Favorite Books

I'm sad to start this announcement by saying that Kelsey will no longer be a regular contributor to the blog. We're looking for a new person to join as soon as possible, so if you're interested, shoot us an email at onbothsidesofthefence@gmail.com. Until then, expect something a little different and exciting each week on Saturdays.

This week's topic focuses on talking about a form of art/entertainment that has been around forever. The novel is in many ways one of the most respected ways of telling a story, and it offers more of an opportunity for the audience to fill in the blanks than many of the other more visual media we've discussed in previous topics like this one.

Personally, I feel like I don't read enough, and hopefully this week's posts will send a lot of us to the book store looking for awesome books that people recommend. John will start the discussion tomorrow, and I'll be back on Friday to finish this topic off.

Current Events and a New Format

Okay, I'm here to announce some structural changes starting this week. Normally this space (as you know) is used to announce the topic we've selected to discuss this week. But with this week, and every other week after, this space won't be as needed. That is because we elected the weeks to be "news story weeks."

Basically, I'm going to lay out the month format for you to see.

Week 1: Current Events
Week 2: Breather Topic (aka: usually in the style of "favorite ___")
Week 3: Current Events
Week 4: Serious Topic (aka: the stuff we've usually been talking about)

When we say "Current Events" we mean that each person is going to pick a news story for that week that interests them, and write about it. For two weeks out of the month we won't all be writing about the same topic, instead we'll be sharing something that we personally think is interesting and want to show you.

So I hope you'll find the new format enjoyable and as interesting as we find it ourselves. I'm am personally looking forward to what everyone has to share this week.

Week of 7/29 - Anti-Discrimination Law

Hey all. Laura's away at Otakon for the weekend doing awesome things, so I'll be announcing this week's topic. I hope you aren't all greatly disappointed.

As long as people have had differences, they've been used as an excuse to look down on others. Be it based on class, gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, or whatever, it's been a part of society that laws have either existed to promote or prevent. This week, we're going to talk about laws that have tried to prevent it.

How effective are current laws in protecting minority groups from discrimination? What can be done to make these laws more effective? Do these laws go too far and end up infringing on the rights of majority groups? Which groups should be protected by these laws? Which shouldn't? How necessary are these laws in today's society? These are just some of the questions that we're going to try to address this week, along with talking about some of our own experiences with the subject.

As always, our discussion is primarily going to focus on policies in the United States, as that's where all of us are from, though there may be some international comparisons made.

Kathleen will start us off tomorrow, and I'll be back to weigh in on Tuesday. Can't wait to see what everyone has to say!

Week of 7/22 - Legalization of Assisted Suicide

The topic this week is the legalization of assisted suicide. As of right now, assisted suicide is legal in only 2 states (Oregon and Washington), but is that too many or too few? Obviously, this topic is a bit narrow (for instance, my personal opinions on a topic may differ from what I believe the legality should be), so we're trying to broaden this topic to be as interesting as possible.

For example, should assisted suicide be a valid option if you get a certain number of doctors to verify that you have only a few months to live? What about non-life-threatening conditions that greatly reduce quality of life? What if there is a treatment but it's refused? Is quality of life a valid factor? Do "Do Not Resuscitate" orders count as assisted suicide? Should there be assisted suicide options for non-medical reasons? And is it ethical for doctors to be involved in this at all, given that their job is to save lives, not end them?

Around the world, this is a topic that provokes a lot of controversy. For example, in Virginia, assisted suicide is not permitted (no act may be taken to end a life), but withholding life-prolonging procedures does not constitute assisted suicide. In Germany, they can declare someone a Garantenstellung for the well-being of another and if purposeful harm were to befall that person (such as if they committed suicide themselves), the Garantenstellung would be guilty of homicide by omission.

So what do you think? Should someone's life be their choice, including whether or not it should end? Or should people be required to live if they're physically capable of doing so, because anything else would be immoral?

I look forward to seeing everyone's ideas on it this week.

Week of 7/15 - Breather Topic: Favorite Television Shows

Hi everyone! Since we've been discussing some more serious topics during these last few weeks, we're going to lighten this week up a smidge with a breather topic. This week, we'll be talking about our favorite TV shows and why we love them (even if it is sometimes a love/hate relationship.)  Maybe by the end of this week, we'll all have some new shows on our must-watch lists.

Thanks so much for reading, and feel free to respond to posts (part of what makes this fun is reading other people's thoughts, so feel free to jump in!)


      

Week of 7/8 - Traditionalism vs. Modernism in Religion

Our topic for your perusal this week is traditionalism vs. modernism in religion.

These days, most religions (among other things) tend to have at least two differing viewpoints within the same framework.  There are those who believe in a more traditional, literal view of their holy scripture, and adhere to that - for example, the commandment to "Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy".  The most immediate examples of this that I can think of are the restaurant franchise Chick-Fil-A, which is inevitably closed every Sunday, and the Westboro Baptist Church, which... ... well, topic announcements are supposed to be neutral, so I'll just say that they're very vocal about their beliefs.  The other viewpoint(s) that we'll be looking at for this week's topic deal with a more modern-day view of messages and teachings, and a belief in a more open-minded, accepting view of society and people in general - for example, a church that openly welcomes non-hetero members into its fold.

We'll be looking at these differing viewpoints across (potentially) multiple religions throughout the week.  I'm interested in seeing what thoughts will be shared about the validity of either (or both, or all) sides of the issues, and how our contributor's experiences may have influenced their thoughts.  Pendleton will start us off tomorrow, and I'll be back on Saturday to wrap up.

Week of 7/1 - What is Art?

Welcome to July! We're kicking off this month with a somewhat different topic: What is art?

Art is something that isn't clearly defined, and this week we're going to try to explore what art means for each of us. This week is going to be less about forming a convincing opinion on a subject and more about personal experience, and I'm interested to see what everyone has to say.

John will be kicking the week off tomorrow, and I'll be back on Saturday to finish it off. Enjoy!

Week of 6/24 - Nature vs. Nurture

For this week, we are going to dive into the more science/psychological side of things, talking the debate of nature vs. nurture. Within the psychological community especially (although the topic was briefly addressed in my 100 level Biology course), the debate surrounds which is more important in influencing who you are, nature - your genetics - or nurture - the environment you were raised in.

There have been studies looking into this, specifically with identical twins who grew up with different parents and in different environments, but I am certain our own specific experiences growing up shape our personal viewpoints on which is more important.

So according to my nifty calendar (and the fact the posting order is always the same) Brandon will be starting us off with opinions tomorrow. Let's hope for some very interesting opinions and a fun week!

Week of 6/17 - Breather Topic: Things That Bug You

Hello Everyone!

This is going to be a short post, since the topic is kind of self-explanatory.  This week's topic is things that bug you.  I'm sure everyone has a huge list of things that drive them crazy!  They can be big things or small things, since there is probably a mix that bug everyone.  I definitely can't wait to hear about everyone's pet peeves this week.

Kathleen will start us off tomorrow, and I will come back on Saturday to finish the topic off.

Week of 6/10 - Rehabilitation vs. Punishment in the Criminal Justice System

This week's topic is rehabilitation versus punishment in the criminal justice system. This is a multifaceted question because it affects so many things. Obviously, the goal is to reduce crime rate, but is the best way to do that by offering severe punishment as a deterrent? Or to provide effective rehabilitation to prevent recidivism?

If we prioritize punishment, are we telling criminals that they'll always be criminals?

If we prioritize rehabilitation, are we being soft on crime?

And in addition to the criminals themselves, how would the country's attitude toward crime affect victims of crimes, especially violent ones? In addition, which options are more expensive? What does the country currently have the money to fund?

The criminal justice system is very important to people of all walks of life because, whether we participate in it or not, crime exists and affects all of us. Many people would agree that the system in the United States needs to be fixed, and I'm interested to see what kind of opinions my fellow bloggers have on how to do that.

See you guys on Saturday!

Week of 6/3- Online Education

Hey y'all.  For this week, we're discussing online education.  In the past few years, many schools have begun to offer students the option of taking approved courses online for credit.  People have many different reasons for taking online classes.  Sometimes these courses are taken outside of regular school hours on the student's own time, and sometimes they are taken during school in the library or computer lab in place of a regular class period.  Many home-schoolers also rely on online education for some of their studies.  In addition, online education is also utilized by a number of U.S. undergraduate and graduate degree programs.  I've found that many people have differing experiences with online education ranging from terrific to terrible, so it'll be interesting to hear about everyone's experiences and how those experiences have shaped our opinions about online education.
Kelsey will be posting on Monday, and I'll finish up this week's topic on Saturday.
Thanks for reading!
   

          

Week of 5/27 - Desensitization of Violence

This week's worth of entries are going to revolve around the idea of desensitization of violence.  This is a fairly broad topic, and it'll be interesting to see what sources our different members observe in discussing it.  The common line of thought around this topic is that violence has become something ever-present in both media and everyday life, and something that people have come to accept as "normal".  I'm curious to see opinions on that idea as a whole, as well as any examples, concerns, or other musings that our bloggers might share.

Pendleton kicks this week off tomorrow, and I'll be back on Saturday to finish this week up.  Enjoy!

Week of 5/20 - Breather Topic: Favorite Music

I don't know about you guys, but I feel like the bulk of this blog's content has been very serious. Don't get me wrong, it's been really great to see everybody's viewpoints on more serious issues, but we realized that we'll need to occasionally take a week off to talk about issues that are a lot more lighthearted and fun. Obviously, since the point of this blog is really to discuss the things that matter, these weeks will never occur more than once in any given month, but they will definitely pop up on occasion when we need it.

With that, I bring the first breather topic: favorite music. Music is in everything we do, and most of the people involved in this blog are at least mildly musically inclined. Hell, the title of this blog was inspired by music. We'll be talking about music that may have had a profound impact on our lives, music that not many people have heard of that we love and want to share with the world, or maybe just music that we really like and want to talk about at great length. With any luck, you'll stumble upon something this week that you may not have heard of or just never got around to listening to.

John will start us off tomorrow, and I'll be back on Saturday. Enjoy!

Week of 5/13 - Education Reform

For our third week we will be discussing Education Reform.

Our group resides in the United States, so our experiences are all influenced by the American educational system. For any international readers, I will try to briefly summarize how our system works. We go to school from we are around five to about eighteen, although the age varies between states. Unlike some other school systems, people do not go to a separate high school depending on the occupation they are looking into; everyone attends the same school and takes similar style of classes until college. After finishing school at 18, people can go to college if they wish, or enter the military or some sort of trade school or just enter the workforce.

Here, most of the thoughts behind education reform try and address two problems -  the idea that our primary and secondary education system is falling behind the rest of the world, especially in poor urban or rural areas and that the cost of college education is becoming unsustainable just as a college degree is becoming practically necessary to holding a good, high paying job.

I am interested in reading how our group's experiences with education have influenced how they think it could be better. I am looking forward to how many of our posts address other country's educational systems, ways reform is being tried here, or perhaps their own, untested hypothesizes on how we could better educate our futures. But as with all opinions on reform, perhaps some will address whether it is actually necessary, and how plausible it is to try such reform, and whether such broad institutional change would actually be possible, especially in a federalist country such as the United States.

See you all this Saturday, as I weigh in with my own opinion on the topic.

Week of 5/6 - Birth Order

For week two we’re going to be discussing birth order.

Basically, we’ll all be sharing our opinions on how your rank by age among your siblings affects things like a person’s personality, their attitude towards certain situations, intelligence, success, and other components of someone’s life. We’ll also be discussing our personal experiences that have brought us to these conclusions.

Hopefully this will help everyone see from all sides and may explain opinions on future topics. With that being said, I know we all will have varying views on this topic and I know I can’t wait to see what everyone has to say.

Tomorrow Kathleen will be here to kick us off and I’ll be back the twelfth to finish things up. Everybody have a great week!