On Racism and Criminal Justice

While pursuing my political science degree, I took an online summer course titled "Culture, Ideology, and Prisons". The final paper was a summation of the material and my thoughts on incarceration and the viability of its continuation. Although this essay is nearing two years old now, it remains tragically current and likely stands to remain so for the foreseeable future. I apologize for not including a list of references for the included citations., but I have no idea what I did with it. If it ever turns up, I'll be sure to add it. (If anyone specifically wants that information, I could make some time to reconstruct it.) I present the work in its original form, despite my impulse to make edits for readability.

My Introduction to the Gallatin Democrats

This past summer, an opening arose for me to pursue the Democratic Party nomination for Montana House District 68, and I was asked to give a five-minute introductory speech. Although I no longer have the final text as I presented it, the following is a fair representation based on my previous written drafts.

Election Day: When the Voting Ends and the Counting Begins

After a long and often bewildering campaign, we have finally reached Election Day—the conclusion of a season of charged rhetoric, legal posturing, and overwhelming early-voter turnout. Today, however, is only the end of a beginning. We the people have been tasked with selecting a title for the next chapter of American history, and after nearly two years of deliberation, the time for making a choice has come. Millions of us across the country have already submitted ballots, and millions more will cast votes before the polls close.

Tough on China: How a Trade Alliance Can Stop a Trade War

As part of my political science degree, I took a course titled International Relations Theory. For my final project, I drew a fascinating subject that I have been contemplating since the 2016 presidential campaign: U.S./China relations through the lens of neoliberalism/globalism. The following is my case study analysis, which if I were in a position to have a policy stance on the subject rather than just an opinion, this would be it.

The Value of Multicultural Education

I was recently showed an older video on fixing the U.S. education system through the elimination of racial and cultural identifiers and felt compelled to share some of my writings on the subject from my time in the Montana State University education department. What follows is actually a compilation of ten smaller papers in response to assigned readings from a course textbook. While it may at times read like a review, the supplemental research and context add substantially to the original work.

Dismissing the Cause of Scottish Independence

As a respite from the parade of daily essays I have been releasing in bulk, I’ve decided to dig up this paper I wrote for my British Politics class that preceded my trip to the United Kingdom. It seems to be an appropriate time to release this discussion on Scottish independence and UK devolution, given the subject of the third episode.

Great Britain and Historical Perspective: Episode III

Since I’m sitting quietly in the London Heathrow airport, I had just as well be productive, so posting the next essay seems a passable use of my time. Just as the legend of William Wallace is a valuable myth in Scottish history, I was tasked with finding a relatable tale from the United States that all Scottish visitors should be told.

Great Britain and Historical Perspective: Episode II

Episode Two in this saga brings us to the Scottish Parliament, where the assigned topic is clearly restated in the introductory paragraph of my essay that follows. I enjoyed the visit and greatly appreciated the time given by Scottish National Party MSP David Torrance. I would rate the experience 5/5 on TripAdvisor. (For the record, my mention of New Coke predates the announcement of a promotional re-release in cooperation with Netflix and Stranger Things and the subsequent issues with the marketing website.)

Great Britain and Historical Perspective: Episode I

As part of a faculty-led study abroad trip to the United Kingdom, I have been required to write topical essays each day on a subject of the professor’s choosing. The following is my first response on the moral costs of scientific and economic progress, originally written 13 May. The first series of haikus are based on the story of William Burke, a murderer who delivered his victims to the University of Edinburgh for profit.

Yes, We Can: Building a Better Future Despite Political Devastation

When news broke that Donald Trump had defeated Hillary Clinton in the Presidential election, countless U.S. citizens bombarded the Canadian immigration website, causing it to crash. While I understand the motivation behind their actions, I find this solution to be unreasonable. When encountering a wolf, one can sheepishly run and be chased into the woods or stare the wolf in the eye and make it feel your fear. Rather than viewing Canada as a potential sanctuary from the wolf that is Trump, we should all look to them for the inspiration to stand tall and roar.

Moving My Own Cheese: On the Finite Nature of Life and the Perpetuity of Change

Introduction

           

The book Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard, is a story within a story, teaching some readers about change and adaptation in work and everyday life. It portrays the concepts simply, using mice, cheese, and remarkably tiny people in a maze. As with any story, the book have an impact on some readers, but I found the juvenile presentation, redundant prose, and rampant clichés to be off putting. It served little more purpose than to remind me how chaotic my life has been.

Open Letter to the Society for Neuroscience

Dear Society for Neuroscience,              

This is an open letter concerning the recent launch of the new open access journal, eNeuro.

We welcome the diversification of journal choices for authors looking for open access venues, as well as the willingness of eNeuro to accept negative results and study replications, its membership in the Neuroscience Peer Review Consortium, the publication of peer review syntheses alongside articles, and the requirement that molecular data be publicly available.

An Open Letter to the AAAS About Science Advances

Dear  AAAS,

This is an open letter concerning the recent launch of the new open access journal, Science Advances. In addition to the welcome diversification in journal choices for authors looking for open access venues, there are many positive aspects of Science Advances: its broad STEM scope, its interest in cross-disciplinary research, and the offering of fee waivers. While we welcome the commitment of the Association to open access, we are also deeply concerned with the specific approach. Herein, we outline a number of suggestions that are in line with both the current direction that scholarly publishing is taking and the needs expressed by the open access community, which this journal aims to serve.

Adventures in Professional Development: Episode I–Fossils and You

I think my apartment is haunted. Next to my computer is a list of asked questions from my time here at Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry and every time I look down at it, a voice says, "Answer them! Aaaaanswerrrr themmmm. . . in a seeeeries of blog poooosts. . ." In an effort to appease this oddly specific and surprisingly concerned ghost, I have decided to finally initiate the limited blog series I seem to recall mentioning in my last post. What follows will be somewhat informative, possibly useful, and at the very least, some light reading to kill a few minutes of your day. Brace yourselves for the fantastical first episode of Adventures in Professional Development!

Things About Stuff and Other Miscellany

Before I even get started, I should be honest with everyone. The following paragraphs will contain little more than brain droppings. I do have some more in-depth topics that I wish to cover, but I'll be saving those for future posts. Today is just a transitional piece to provide an update on what's been going on in my life and in my head since I last wrote. I apologize in advance for the impending randomness. To be fair, it's actually a pretty accurate representation of how my mind actually works.

Blogiversary Isn't a Real Word

Apparently, as of today, I've spent the past year not blogging nearly as much as I'd like, but infinitely more than I did before. I could make this post a retrospective of the topics I've covered, but all of my previous work is readily available for perusal. Instead, I'll use this space to cover an event that took place seven months ago, because this way I kill two birds with one stone. For any of my readers that attended the Dino Shindig in Ekalaka, Montana, this will be a nice flashback. For everybody else, prepare to have your minds blown. (I may be overselling the magnitude of the event and/or the quality of my writing, but I'll claim artistic license.)

No Sale! Science Trumps Money in San Diego

The San Diego Natural History Museum today lowered the gavel on several fossils from their collection that were up for auction and science was declared the winning bidder. The museum released an official statement announcing cancellation of the sale scheduled for 19 November. The news comes only days after several notable paleontologists sharply criticized the museum's administration upon the original announcement of the proposed sale.

Adjacently Fossilized Dinos: The Science of Selling a Story

Peter Larson of the Black Hills Institute in Hill City, SD caused quite a stir at the 2013 annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Apparently he presented a poster depicting research performed on specimens that are about to go to public auction, which seems to be in conflict with standards set by the scientific community. Larson also allegedly misrepresented his research in his submitted abstract and used the poster session to promote the fast-approaching sale. Unfortunately, Larson's history can sometimes precede him and cast a negative light on his work before it is properly assessed. I find that too much time can be spent examining the intent of an individual when the actions should be the focal point.

The Shutdown of the US Government

I won't be saying much about this topic. I merely needed a forum for sharing what I received in an email today from the Veterans Support Center here at MSU-Bozeman. I am fortunate to have enough money to make it through the shutdown, but the impact nationwide on many veterans is impossible to ignore. I understand that this situation affects everyone in the country, but I maintain a small level of bias for my brethren and also have an increased level of valuable information to offer on the subject.

The Liebster Award and Other Things Interesting

It's amazing how busy a summer can be for an unemployed college student. I haven't done half of what I intended when the spring semester ended, but I can't say my time has been wasted. As is my usual this time of year, I have spent a majority of the past two months playing babysitter for my sister. For the uninformed, four kids make reading difficult, especially when the book in question has dinosaur pictures in it. Luckily, I have managed to get some learning done and feel that I'm ready to springboard into some of the more brutal material.