Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Fall 07 wrap up with grades

The following is a wrap up of the classes that I took for Fall 2007 at Judson University. This post had the original listings and which books I used (and how much I paid) as well.

Quick Stats: I now have 48 credit hours to my name with a cumulative GPA of 3.375.

BST101 - Intro to Old Testament.
Dr. Bob Erickson. GRADE RECEIVED: B.

I learned very little in this class. We had three grades from three tests, and that was it. I received a 93/100, a 74/100, and a 96/100, which is an average somewhere around 87/100.

College lesson learned: Never purchase all of your text books beforehand. I bought a new Bible for 29.99, and a brand new book for 22.99, both of which I did not open. I was able to borrow the main text for the class - I'm glad too, that would have been another 54.99 down the drain (Thanks David!).

HIS480 - History of the U.S. since 1945 to present. Dr. Craig Kaplowitz. GRADE RECEIVED: B+.

This was the most challenging course I took this semester and yet, it was my favorite. I am also most proud of this B+, as I feel I worked my tail off for it. I was expecting to receive a high C to low B, so a high B is especially rewarding. Kaplowitz is an engaging, approachable professor. He is extremely knowledgeable and can deliver his thoughts in a clear concise manner. He assigned a load of written assignments. I have 13 that I uploaded to Google Docs. 3 of those were medium sized papers (1800 - 2200 words), while most were one pagers. One was a research paper, but was only required to be of medium length. I read the most for this class as well. We made it through all four of the texts assigned (three were smaller volumes of primary source material, with some analysis, while one was a full text).

College lesson learned: Don't let your advisor sign you up for whatever... This was a high level class that will end up being nothing more then credit fodder as it does not count toward my final degree. And, it was stinking hard! Albeit rewarding.

HIS262 - History of Civilization II 1500 ad - 2000 ad. Dr. Craig Kaplowitz. GRADE RECEIVED: A.

I enjoyed this class. Kap did a good job with a subject that is boring to most people. (Not to me!) If you are going to take History of Civ II at Judson, and you will if you want to graduate at JU, take it with Kap. We had three medium length papers, in addition to weekly assignments, but there were NO TESTS, NOT A SINGLE ONE. We made it through the text, make use of the online resources with that text book (Worlds Together, Worlds Apart), it can save you a bit of reading.

College lesson learned: Make friends in your class. They can take notes for you when you miss, and even turn in papers when you know your going to 'be sick' that day.

MED240 - Writing for the Media. Professor A. Paul Mouw. GRADE RECEIVED: B.

Prof. Mouw is a wealth of experience, if a bit eccentric. If you are struggling with how to write, don't take this class. The lack of feedback after assignments will not help your style improve unless you seek out Mouw. If you are decent at writing, this class can show you ways to make your writing more effective. I took away a new insight for using different voices for different mediums.

College lesson learned: 8am classes stink. If you can take an alternative to a general ed requirement, do it! I took this class in place of my ENG102, and it was a lot of fun.

SOC151 - Intro to Sociology. Dr. Tim Johnson. GRADE RECEIVED: B-

Notes are critical, especially when you have a professor that writes things he wants you to know on the whiteboard. I took more notes for this class then 3 of my classes combined, the only other course that rivaled was HIS480. Johnson's notes are crazy... and they don't make sense unless you are there to hear the lecture. So, copy exactly what he writes... and then take your own notes on top of that. Johnson's tests are hard... mostly because he incorporates things from the reading that you may, or may not discuss in class, and expects you to know them. There were concepts, names, and readings that I was being introduced to for the first time while reading the study guide for the test. Without the study guides, and my notes, I would have failed every test we took (2, plus final). I am excited to expand on some of the ideas introduced in this class with Johnson next semester as I take Cultural Diversity.

College lesson learned: Get out of the classroom! As part of this class, I did an optional service learning experience. I went several times to feed the homeless in Elgin, and also went brown bagging in the city. Those experiences greatly enriched my learning.

Book total for Fall 2007 was $317.51 USD, I got back about $111.00 USD. THAT IS A NET LOSS OF OVER 200 DOLLARS FOR ONE SEMESTER. Half of the books I returned I did not read in great detail. One I never even opened. Most went for less than 40% of what I paid.

College lesson learned: Your campus bookstore is a blood sucking leech of convenience! DO NOT SHOP THERE, DO NOT RETURN YOUR BOOKS THERE! The only thing worthwhile about Judson's bookstore is that they sell clothes with the name Judson on them. I will be getting all of my books off of half.com or someplace similar for next semester. I will also try to inter-library loan as many as possible as well - you can't beat free.

So, all in all, a good semester. I'm thankful for my scholarship, and am in prayer that it will continue. If you are in the spirit of giving, you can paypal me some money and it will go for school required medical insurance and books for Spring 2008. If you want to make it tax deductible before the end of the year, you can give to my International Teams account which helps support the wage I receive and can serve to differ my travel related expenses this next Spring. Either way, an email to chrismwarren at gmail dot com can point you in the correct direction.

Cheers until 2008!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Do not turn away from me

Thank you for wrapping yourself in flesh and coming to this earth.

Thank you for living, dying, and living again.

Give me courage to live like you Jesus.

Give me strength to endure like you Jesus.

Father, embrace me as your son, do not turn away from me.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

More Than a Transcript Grade

Ok, here is a bit of substance to go along with that random interjection from earlier... (Caution, the rest is long.) Written for my Intro to Sociology class.

More Than a Transcript Grade

“How can we worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore on Monday?” In his book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, Shane Claiborne describes a true life event that forever changed his life and those of the people involved[1]. The quote from above is painted on a banner that someone had hung over the entrance, and is the first thing that greets Claiborne and a few of his friends when they meet this group. The setting is that a group of homeless people have begun to squat inside of an old vacant cathedral in Northern Philadelphia. After Shane and a few of his friends stumble onto this makeshift community, they learn that the city in conjunction with the local diocese which owns the abandoned parish are going to forcefully evict the new tenets from the property. In a flurry of grassroots activism, students from the college he was attending turned out en mass to support the fledgling community.

Shane and his friends are struck by the reality that our Lord and Savior was indeed a homeless man. The gospels even highlight several times where there is anxiety and concern that there might not be enough food for the crowds that gathered to hear Jesus speak[2]. Jesus did not live “the good life” like so many of us in the United States enjoy. It is impossible to ignore what is becoming epidemic in this country (and many other nations as well). In the U.S. up to 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year[3].

To bring some of my experience in working with the homeless here in Elgin, and in Chicago over the course of the past semester and compare it with what we have been learning in Dr. Johnson's Intro to Sociology course has been extraordinarily enriching. I often find myself in class thinking of living examples of ideas we are reading out of the text[4].

In my first Service Learning Experience Paper (SLEx Paper), I discussed the social order of the homeless briefly. I feel that to truly dive into and evaluate that, I would need to spend more time being inside that network. Recently, Mike Yankowski was on campus leading our Spiritual Enrichment Week here at Judson University. There were five chapels that week, instead of the requisite three that there normally is. I had heard a little of Mike before he came (He is somewhat of a figure on campus, thanks in large part to him being here the year before, and his book now being required reading for some classes), and just before he came a friend of mine from Denver (Who actually works for the Denver Rescue Mission where Mike stayed) recommended his book Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America. The book is a reflection on the six months that Mike and his friend Sam spend living as homeless men in six different cities in the U.S. Mike told a story in chapel of a man they met in San Fransisco who was known among “the park people” as “The Jesus Guy.” The Jesus guy is actually George[5]. In chapel, Mike described even more than what is found in the book. George is actually living in government housing himself, and spends much of his income on food that he brings down to the park to share with other homeless people. This stands out because it marks a clean delineation within the homeless community. This man who barely blips on the social radar of the lower class in America is actually doing well enough to be a provider to a group of homeless that live in Golden Gate Park. Instead of saving as much money as he can to propel himself higher within “normal” society, George is intentionally positioning himself in such a way to maximize what he can offer to the others who live as he recently had.

Mike also told a story of an elderly man who approached them one night with a loaf of bread. The man walked up, asked them if they had eaten, broke the loaf in two and handed them the crusty hunk of bread. Seeing that this man was frail, they insisted that he take all the bread. The man simply responded that God had provided enough for him today, and that he should share the excess with others in need. Again showing that even within the homeless community, there is a network of social support. To evaluate the effectiveness, or measure the reach of this network is not my aim here, it is simply something that is there.

Near the end of the semester in Sociology, we began to study labor markets and how they are split into two distinct echelons. The primary labor market typically being described as “white collar” and the secondary labor market as “blue collar.” We studied some of the more intricate details and some of the “why's” of this reality, but near the end Dr. Johnson spoke of “channeling” into the labor markets. I was struck in that moment that the homeless exemplify that, they are victims also of labeling. Once you are homeless, there is a what is often referred to as a “vicious cycle” of employment obtainment. Jobs are hard to find in the current economic trend, and if you don't possess the basic skills for a given job, you are out of luck. But, even when you possess the requisite skill, if you are without a permanent address or phone number, you may be denied employment as this demonstrates “unacceptable risk” on the employers part. This comes full circle when you realize that to obtain housing, one must have income.

In the end, I feel like participating in SLEx enhanced my study of sociology. You might have titled my SLEx “LIF110: Intro to Urban Problems”. The early mornings serving breakfast, and the aching legs after wandering around Chicago passing out lunches are positive memories. That along with readings from Shane Claiborne's and Mike Yankowski's books lead to true life education. I was able to experience what I was being taught. I was able to see case studies come alive before my eyes. Definitions and statistics translated into true life, theory became practice. As I have already noted, I have just begun learning about homelessness and urban problems in America, but I move on from this semester with more than a simple grade on a transcript.

Citations

1. Shane Claiborne. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. p. 56.

2. Matthew 14:15.

3. “http://lahsc.org/wordpress/educate/statistics/united-states-homeless-statistics/”Accessed: 06 December 2007.

4. Stark. Sociology, Tenth Edition.

5. Mike Yankowski. Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America. pp. 138 – 142.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Finals - Fall 07 Edition.

Bah.

Finals are coming in a week.

I just took my last test (so basically a final) in my Intro to Old Testament class tonight. I am supposed to be writing a couple of assignments for tomorrow now... But, I simply have no motivation.

Next Tuesday (which is actually a reading day) I have one paper, and one serious project (which has seen little headway in recent weeks) due by 5pm. And, I need to make up the articles for my Media class that I have been delaying.

That said... Tonight was a free meal (for commuters) at the cafeteria. That brings the grand total to meals eaten in the cafeteria this semester to three. It was decent, the ham was even good, but the salmon was awful. Seriously, I am getting sick just thinking about it. I hope no one ate it.

Free ice skating for commuters on Friday! haha.

After classes end I will finish getting all the written stuff up here, as well as provide the grades I receieved on each one... And eventually the course grades too. Good stuff.

I will be back in Tucson from December 19th to the 28th. Lets party.