298 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a35c2d05aa6a1750dc3ab9311882bdc3.mp4 f5d4d2533eda1e30b2afc769d9ff0676 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/80acad654035dba4f8c8b2edaa8fc212.pdf 1a9a17cd2107f484430a80c8fc5540fb PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Tom Cunningham Date: 1984 Part: 2 of 2 [Barbara] Where were we? We were talking about growing... [Tom] Oh yes, I gather it was a crucial decision sometime in the second and third year of William James College faculty. Where they decided not to grow exponentially, you know, for a variety of reasons. They wanted to get to know each other. Each member of the faculty. But I think it was an unfortunate decision. At the time Grand Valley as in whole and in general was growing. And there's a certain number of faculty positions that are open when you're growing that become closed by the times. Not to grab hold of those faculty positions, for whatever good reason, means they are going to be closed to you later. And you will not have those choices to make later. So, it seemed to me that the faculty was deciding that they would be of a certain size and no bigger, and that's permissible. But it also meant that you had one college that continue to grow, College of Arts and Sciences, which would continue to have something like eighty/ninety percent of the of the students on campus. And therefore, all the other colleges, now two of them and then the third to start later, would define themselves in the shadow of that much larger college. Whereas the foundation documents of Grand Valley and the wish of the President was that you would have a number of colleges, each the same size. You can do the things if you are the same size. I looked to Oxford and Oxford University, where you have all your college and you're a Trinity College… they're pretty much the same size. The Trinity does not step over [inaudible]. They're members of a larger unit and they get service to the university. Each doing it in its own particular fashion. I don't think that ever took place here at Grand Valley, because the College of Arts and Sciences just ballooned. Whereas the other colleges I had to find themselves to be smaller for variety a of reasons, and I think that's an unfortunate. I think that eventually assisted in the demise of William James College. [Barbara] As we're on this topic, can you comment further on some of the reasons why the school had to be closed after only eleven years. [Tom] I don't know whether it had to be closed or not. But I do think that… why would it close? I suppose because most of the functions that it had been doing and then taken over by other units. It seems to me that William James was on its slippery slope when it gave up the Administration and Information Management program. I had never thought about computers, personal computers notion. I had thought of mainframes as John Kemeny at Dartmouth is associated with twenty-five �years ago. If I hadn't really known about the personal computers and could predict that, I would have invested my money and Apple computers and be a millionaire and not be here. But it was evident that the administration information management was a high growth potential. [Tom] For one reason or another it never achieved that here in William James College, and indeed, William James College allowed the computer personnel to be removed from it. That to me was already an indication that it was in its death throes. I think after that simply a matter of time. Why did it end? One can always look for scapegoats. There is a conspiratorial view history, with which I'm not in agreement, which says all of my problems are outside made. And even Freud knew that most of our problems are within me. And at James you would say that, too, I think. I do think that institutions survive – even if they're unpopular – if they perform a function. Nobody likes a prison. Not the prisoners, not even the people that work in the prisons. And certainly not the people that live next to prisons. Prisons endure because they perform a socially useful function. I think William James College, in the certain sense, died because it ceased to do that. Or at least deceased to do that in a unique fashion or in any cost-effective fashion. I don't have the data on cost effectiveness but one could look to that it seems to me. What I do think in the decision not to grow made it evident that William James would define itself in terms of a counter cultural college. In other words, it would look to and react against the larger college on campus. Whereas it certainly had the opportunity to be as large as the largest of colleges. So, I think in the great refusal it sealed its own fate. [Barbara] Many years ago you had certain… you did readings, and you had a philosophy on what would be important to found a college. Now, it's 1985. Would you do it the same way with the same rank order of importance to your decisions, or what would you do differently now? [Tom] Well, it does seem to me that college is still must fill a socially and personally useful task, and I think the tasks that were laid out at William James, however imperfectly, addressed or were attempting to address those issues. I do think that every agent, I mention from Babylonian age on, does look to service type jobs, does look to careers, I would say, in a variety of functions. In a variety of hierarchy, see. Careers in business, careers in psychology or sociology or whatever. I do think most of the documents I wrote to William James would be useful in assisting and founding any college. And I think that would be particularly useful in founding a college in our own day. One that would look to assisting. For example, that in Administration and Information Management. That was where most of the jobs would be for the next century. As far as any data showed. University of Texas at Austin is putting something like fifteen [inaudible] professors. A million-dollar chairs exactly in information management. Not that everyone who goes and gets a degree in information management will become a �computer specialist. But rather they will use computers. I think computers, which is simply another word for handling information, is really where the growth of American universities will be in the next century. [Barbara] What about the question of community though, and preparing this tape? What I get from our alums is a passionate attachment to this college. Because it fulfilled something that wasn't available to let most run the society. That's gone from Grand Valley, is it not? Can you imagine another college being founded in the near future? A small college that has this sense of community? [Tom] I don't know, I doubt it. I don't know why community has to be founded in a college-wide unit. I do know, for example, our geology majors in the College of Arts and Sciences in Grand Valley’s college now have always been closely knit. I think they're closely knit because their experiences on the digs. Our anthropology and our geology majors particularly are closely knit. I think something similar happens to our nursing group. Granted that there is attention there because only a certain number of spots are allowed for junior and senior years. But in anyone who shares an intense educational experience is an opportunity for community. I do think some of the community aspects maybe a function of the faculty meeting community more than students do. I think faculty come at a certain age, and you can go through community experiences at a certain number of times. But after all, if you're a normal faculty member you have your own family and that's where you will receive most of your community inputs. I do think that faculty require close interaction with students. I think that happens with majors, but I think the tragedy of American education in general, seems to me, is that the freshmen and sophomores are ignored, and the juniors and seniors majors in the field are prized. I think the inverse should be true. Freshman should be intensely worked with, that is where you develop community. And then the sophomores and juniors, they're around and they're your resources to talking to other freshmen. And I think that's what William James and smaller colleges tend to do. They have an intense experience with freshman students and that endures over the four years. I think in having large lecture courses in other colleges, for example, and now in Grand Valley in general. That sense, that opportunity for community is lost. So, I would say have freshman seminars, or perhaps even seminars directed to persons who might major in particular field as a freshman or plan on majoring. And you would have a community experience that could grow. [Barbara] Thank you. [Inaudible] I am out of questions, but I am not out of tape. Is there something else you would like to tell us? [Tom] No, I think you asked the basic questions. Namely how did it start. What occurred. [Barbara] I guess I do have one more question. Just something that doesn't feel real to me. �Lubbers asked you to do this. You say you did a lot of reading, but that cannot be the whole answer. How did you come up with this much this fast? [Tom] I worked… Isaac Newton was asked one day how he thought about gravity. And he said how he discovered the formula about gravity. He said by thinking on it [Latin?] day and night. I was working eighteen / nineteen hours a day for a period of three months. I have a picture of my newborn son who's born in September tenth, nineteen seventy. And he was lying on my chest. In fact, this jacket I wore when I interviewed with the President. I wore it. Well, my interview with the President (when he gave me those directions about the schools). Tommy was lying on my chest, and I was just sleeping between two o'clock feeding and six o'clock when I would get up. But I had been working steadily. I thought about education for forty-years. Twenty-years as a college student and university student. And it was a chance to put into practice all of my ideas. And I wrote them up because they were all of my ideas. I would also like to point out that Saint Augustine, someplace or other, says that most skills are learned in a short time when you're young or not at all. And I guess I wrote this material in a short time because I thought about it at great length under a period of many years. [Barbara] Quickly, what are your various educational experiences? [Tom] Three years ago I graduated law school. That was my ninth academic degree. I had studied physics as an undergraduate after serving in the United States Navy and Notre Dame. And, then I studied for the Roman Catholic priesthood and obtain six of my degrees. Three in philosophy, and three in theology. I picked up a doctorate degree in history science (medieval science) at the University of Wisconsin. And I think the degree I liked best of all is the master’s degree I obtained in education - history, theory, and criticism. That's basically what I do at William James College, was to lay out what I thought was important. [Barbara] Where is that master’s from? [Tom] From the University of Wisconsin. [Barbara] Wisconsin? Okay. [Tom] I did that University. One of the ways in which you see how ideas and science take root, is to see how they can transfer into a curriculum. In other words, Isaac Newton discovers gravity. How long does it take to get into a curriculum? That's what I did. That's why I majored in history, that's why I took a master’s in educational history. [Barbara] Okay. �[Tom] That didn't hurt it all. [Laughter] [Barbara] Thank you so much. That was very interesting. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_10_Cunningham Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cunningham, Tom Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Tom Cunningham interview (2 of 2, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Tom Cunningham by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Dr. Thomas Cunningham was a faculty member of William James College and longtime GVSU professor who was credited with heading the WJC Planning Task Force that founded the college. In this interview, Tom discusses the growth of William James College and how it played a role in the closing of the college after eleven years. This interview is part 2 of 2 for Tom Cunningham. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories College administrators Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/11cc0a8c7e5a170862bd06db1a335596.mp4 762baeffba01ff425bc7b6b2631cfa49 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d38c0b5861c8395a12fc620aea8462ef.pdf 10d42c29a0b9e9ed96608dbafbfb09b9 PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Tom Cunningham Date: 1984 Part: 1 of 2 [Barbara] Okay, the first question I have for you then is: Why James? [Tom] Why William James? As the name of the college? Well, actually he was… I thought him last rather than first. I thought about the entire structure of the college first and the notions of the college should be. I think I'd coined the phrase… yes, in fact, I know I was. Coined the notion of psychosocial humanism, rather than scientific humanism, or more classical humanism to describe what I thought would be the appropriate type of curriculum for our own day and had also coined the notion of college should be future-oriented, and person-oriented, and career-oriented. It is evident that we didn't want to go around call me in College III, that was the name of the task force I was asked to head. And so, what name? It's easy to name something before it's founded, then to name it after it's been in existence for a length of time. College of Arts and Sciences had not gotten a name, and apparently would never get a name for that very reason. There are too many persons that had a stake in this name or that name. It's like guessing what name to give that before it actually started. I had happened to have been reading about that a year before that some works on William James. I'd read James twenty years before as a phenomena – as a pragmatist. But some works by John Wilde particularly. From the Universal of Cal… University Florida. He had been at Harvard and Northwestern, he's a phenomenologist. He had written a rather interesting book on James as a phenomenologist. I never thought a James in that connection before and so it occurred much of the ideas that I had. Mainly the concerned with psychology, even social psychology. And the concern of manufacturing your own persona. So, it was a natural but when I had thought of the materials concerning psychosocial humanism and the other things that I wrote about, even talked about the divisions of the college that would come about. The emphasis on environment and so on. I had no name in mind. But then when push came to shove, I thought we better get in name before the college we founded and James just came to my mind. I had a difficult time convincing the committee to go for that name, to tell you the truth. [Barbara] What did they want? [Tom] They had nothing in particular. But it just looked like I was doing too much. Someone wanted to name it after a guy named Maxie. I don't know I think it was a Maxi training school for boys in the Detroit area. Some had some frivolous names, I thought. But I think much of it seemed to me that I looked like I was �having too much to say. But I thought James was a natural name for the orientation that they had voted on and was only a matter of time before they came around to recognizing it. I said: "Yeah, it would be an appropriate name." [Barbara] Maybe you better go back. [Barbara] I asked the wrong first question. Tell me what the charge was, and how you came up with the notions for the character of the college. [Tom] Well, I had finished my first year teaching here at Grand Valley, and sometime in the late summer or early fall I received a phone call from the President. And I knew it was him because my wife was about to have our first son as it turned out to be. President found me and asked me would I consider heading a committee to found a new college. The task force was in charge – College III task force. My inclination as a first-year faculty, having completed my first year as a member of faculty here was: one does not lightly turn down any of the President's requests. And truth to tell, I always have been interested in educational activities. I have a master’s degree in education among my degrees. I'm history and theory of criticism of universities. So, I thought this would be a time to put my ideas, if I had any, into practice. But of course, I had asked the President: "What do you want? What's the charge?" And there was a written charge, and it's written in the documents. But I thought more revealing was a conversation that I had with the President. I had completed my first year teaching at Grand Valley, and was about ready to start my second, And the president had completed his first full academic year Grand Valley. And was beginning to do his second. He had become president about eighteen months previously. Basically, had obviously had to learn this terrain, and the existing colleges on campus. There were two at the time: College of Arts and Sciences, and Thomas Jefferson College; and having grasped that, understood that then the obvious for him, too. I say it's obvious now, looking back, was for him to look at the founding Grand Valley State Colleges and to look to what was considered to be unique in the colleges. So, I give him full credit for that. He first took charge of the colleges that existed and then he very adroitly moved to begin a third college. Grand Valley apparently had been founded to have four relatively similar size colleges. That was the founding image twenty-five years before. Each college apparently had two or three thousand students total of between nine and fifteen thousand students on campus. That was the notion on the colleges were founded twenty-five years ago now. So, he said to me: "I have two bits of advice." He said: "One of them is I want to college that would enroll a large number of students, and then I would also point out to you that we do have one small college here in campus. Thomas Jefferson College." I think what he meant by that… I didn't think to inquire any further the times. I think what he meant by that was that the College of Arts and Sciences, at that time, enrolled something like twenty-two hundred students. Thomas Jefferson college had perhaps two maybe three hundred students. So, �the time two college is one of which enrolled between eighty-five ninety percent of its number students on campus. The other college, because of its nature, seemed unlikely that would enroll much more than three hundred students. [Tom] So, it seems me he was getting me a charge to have a larger college, then Thomas Jefferson and it's possibly the college’s largest is the College of Arts and Sciences. That in turn meant that look and see where students who have to enroll from then try to excogitate from those factors the likely orientation of the college. So, it seemed to me that the College of Arts and Sciences seemed rather traditional. You could either duplicate that, or else one can attempt to make something different. I chose to do the latter and make something somewhat different. But yet stick to the President's charge. It was to make something that would be different than the College of Arts and Sciences. But make something that would also enroll a significant number of students. With that in mind, the whole thing was my fields my students were interested in. I majored in philosophy, teach philosophy, and since I majored in physics as an undergraduate, and have some degrees in physics, history of science I should say, it seemed fairly evident that the college should not focus on physical sciences. A number of people majored in physical sciences. Very small to begin with. They tend to be traditionally oriented and therefore one of the orientations that some of the committee members wanted, namely, to focus on environmental sciences seemed to me to be misdirected. I have nothing against the environment, I enjoy environmental sciences. But the sheer fact of needing to know, in any serious way, work in environmental sciences – you need to know biology, geology perhaps, certainly chemistry – meant that you were going to limit the number student who would major in fields like that. Feels like time since we had one college [inaudible] all about the sizes which had very few majors and those fields seem to have it and we were not in this particular area. [Inaudible] another college I would have… would be competing for the same small pool. So we're not being [?]. Environmental sciences, in my mind, should be the focus of the new college. It should contain that, it seemed to me, as a program, but not as a complete focus. Some had thought of focusing the college on the University of Wisconsin's Green Bay which is focused on Environmental Sciences. Others had attempted to focus the college pretty much on, as I would say, Thomas Jefferson College had been focused. Namely imitating Evergreen College in Washington state, as a possible way of organizing college too but it tended to be a small college, and therefore seemed to me that that would not obey what the President had laid down. So, the notion… once again I'm concerned about the persons and the focus on Evergreen College, and colleges of that sort aren't developing a person… seemed to me to be utterly and totally important and of grave concern for anyone in our own day. Where the sense of the self is more problematic perhaps than in previous centuries, and where the students who would come to us would tend to have a more diffuse identity than students at more traditional colleges. It seems to me that students come to Grand Valley as students in �general in our around modern age do not come from a [?] background, do not have what sociologists I think all described notions, rather they achieve their self. [Tom] And so it seemed that rather than having a college where one would fit in because one's grandfather had gone there, or because one was a member of a certain class. You would really have to have a college in which some opportunity would be provided to assist the student to grow as a person and that the notion of a person oriented it also cemented the notion in my mind of psychosocial humanism. So those two things work together. However, psychosocial humanism also borders on how one gets along with people in social context, not merely how one develops internally. And therefore, it seemed to me that one could use this facet to develop the person. To recognize a person's development communities. To recognize also that communities have functions to take care of and so, granted that the one focus or one division of the unit on Environmental Sciences. And another concern with Social Relations, it seemed fairly evident that Social Relations would have in generally a larger market for possible auditors than say-Environmental Sciences. However, Social Relations… there are a limited number of jobs. Large, but a limited number of jobs for sociologist and even a psychologist it appeared to me. But most of the jobs in our own age, and throughout history have been concerned with business. People seem to forget that. I happen to have degrees in history of science, and one of my specialties was in studying Babylonian clay tablets. They're about ten to fifteen thousand clay tablets, about as big as your hand with inscriptions on them. And everyone remembers, whoever studies the history science, those are Babylonian clay tablets which talk about astronomy. Or talk to some degree about how the geometry. Really looking on the… what do they say, the Pythagorean theorem. Square of the hypotenuse equals how many squares of the other two sides. It's a famous tablet that shows that in algebraic form shows these triads. But, as a matter of fact, of those ten to fifteen thousand tablets there's only about two hundred tablets which would be called scientific. There's another hundred two hundred tablets which should be called, oh, casual. There's this one tablet that I remember reading where this student is writing home asking for money. [Laughter] Fits in with what we normally think of student life. but leaving aside those for five hundred maybe a thousand tablets which have to do with what we would consider intellectual matters. The great plurality of the of the tablets had to do with a simple computation. Business dealings, they were business records. So, I'm saying in Babylonian epics, in our own epic, the tendency of society is to have business and social concerns or service concerns attached to some sort of records and keeping records. It seemed fairly evident then that, like it or not, the business of America is business. As one of our former presidents said, and therefore most of the jobs would be in business. So, I had the third and most important part of the colleges, it seemed to me, would be in what I named administration and information management. I like acronyms so it was AIM – “Aim.” I had also copied this, I must say from a professor at Dartmouth College �who later became its president, John Kemeny, a great mathematician. [Tom] So, it seemed to me that the largest of those three units with these administration and information management, and that would where be where William James College would have the largest number of those majors. I have to admit that's one thing I had not entered my mind was to have media group but, as soon as it’s proposed by a committee members I certainly assented. It seems to me that if William Shakespeare were alive and writing today, he would be writing as Lucas does or any of the cinematographers who would be writing for cinema or for media. So those four units seemed to me to fit in a nice package. Administration and information management being where most of the jobs would be concerned. Those who would work in such professions would learn about how to govern people, and how to govern themselves from such relations component. They would learn a deeper reflection on man from their emphasis on psycho-socio humanism. And they would also learn about the world in which they… members by the concern for environmental science. [Barbara] This may be a troubling question. Did you do any marketing research as they would be running around doing today? [Tom] Did I do what? Market? [Barbara] This came from your sense of things. Did you run out and test these notions? That this would be where the students were. [Tom] Well, in in a very indirect way. One of my roommates in college is a fairly significant, at that time, was fairly significant member of IBM Corporation. And I consulted with him informally over the phone. I also did read the literature. Seems like one of the easiest things to do rather than make your market research is to read literature. Much has been printed before by persons whom we could not afford to hire. So, I did a great deal of reading in what was written about universities. From the beginning and then studied particularly Canadian universities over the last twenty years. Because Canada underwent an enormous expansion between nineteen forty-five and nineteen sixty-five with their universities. For a very narrow base, classically oriented universities, to a much broader set of universities that was encompassing. That we're allowing for a person who never come to college to go to college. So, I did reading rather than having survey done. [Barbara] We're going to run out of tape. We have another tape it’s just that we just don't want to interrupt an open answer. [Camera operator] [Inaudible] �[Barbara] We have another five minutes? Okay. [Tom] My face was not very mobile, was it? [Barbara] [Inaudible] I'd like to ask. Would you say something briefly about synopticity, which seems to have started right away. [Tom] About what? [Barbara] Synopticity? [Tom] Oh, yes. That was actually--I liked that very much. [Barbara] And then your comments as someone from the outside do you think we grew in the right way or did we get skewed off? And then something about the courses that were working against the success of the college. If you have any observations on them. [Tom] Alright. [Camera operator] [Barbara] This is not the right tripod. [indistinct mumbling] [Inaudible] It’s not the right tripod. [Camera operator] Okay. [Barbara] So authenticity seems there from the beginning. [Tom] Oh, yeah. Yes, the synoptic lectures here. That was probably the third thing of which I'm most proud in attempting to develop within James. It seemed to me that the most difficult thing for a regional college is how to keep the faculty active. And it's for that reason I designed the synoptic program. The synoptic program I envision would be rather similar to actually what William James had done. In the gifted lecture series, that were later titled, “The Variety of Religious Experience.” A way to bring to a… to Edinburgh a matter of fact, in James' case. To bring to a campus a visiting dignitary who it in ten twelve days open up his entire mind and give you his view of the universe. And I call them synoptic lectures. They would take place here at Grand Valley. I recognize them as highly significant to the students. I think the most important thing you can do for students to give them a view of the universe. That it allows people to tie together in some sort of a fashion. The diverse notions they have and to make an intellectual synthesis to the degree they have as well. About their entire status, and the entire stance to the universe. But I really thought of it is crucially important for the faculty. Grand Valley State College is in the middle of the peninsula. Grand Rapids is a good �size city, but it's not a metropolis. [Tom] It doesn't have the resources available to it as Chicago, or New York, or Detroit. And so, to me, it seemed to be crucial to keep the faculty active; to have a variety of persons from the faculty over a period of years would pick. As becoming some master teacher in their field to come to campus and to enunciate to students at a common level, not a technical level. The great ideas the faculty had. And I was following a man named Jerome Bruner. A good cognitive psychologist. In fact, he was one of the synoptic lecturers I had invited, as well Jean Piaget, who said that: "One can always explain, in a decent way, any idea at a level that would be capable of being understood by a particular audience.” So, that was the whole notion of a synoptic lecture: to give us a view of the universe for the students, but also to give the faculty chance to plan ahead for the great mind that they would consider dominant in that field. Plan ahead for that person visit to initiate students in that, and of course keep the faculty active. So, in a sense, I was looking to the faculty. Students come and go after four years. But the faculty can be here for twenty years. And it could easily turn over old ideas many times, unless one had stimuli from such great minds. Such as Jean Piaget, or a person like that. [Barbara] Would you comment on your observation from the outside that the development of our college… [Tom] Well, I guess, I did stay outside William James College. I tried to start off as best I could, you know with the committee. We did the best we could to get it going. And then I thought once you hire faculty, let the faculty do what they considered best. And obviously the fact that they proceeded in the certain direction. I think I would express concern. Seemed to me that the faculty either did not understand or did not pay attention to what President Lubbers said and asked in his first year. Namely that it would be a large college, and that it would enroll a wide variety of students in a broad number of fields. It seemed to me that the college never put the personnel into any administration information management program that the numbers of students would justify. I think when the faculty decided for whatever reason, probably very good reasons – I was not a member of the committees at the side of these – that they would not grow exponentially. But rather they would only replicate. I think that was crucial. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_09_Cunningham Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cunningham, Tom Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Tom Cunningham interview (1 of 2, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Tom Cunningham by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Dr. Thomas Cunningham was a faculty member of William James College and longtime GVSU professor who was credited with heading the WJC Planning Task Force that founded the college. In this interview, Tom discusses the origin of the name "William James College" and how the character of the new college was created. This interview is part 1 of 2 for Tom Cunningham. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Lectures and lecturing Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/414504e8b2b1a25b691357ee031bcde1.mp4 8b50623872c79a6ed0b59347afe9af58 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dff76c9144326b8e832dadb1fcaecbcb.pdf a48043e603338a344b6690f614f4e555 PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Jean Doyle Date: 1984 Part: 3 of 3 [Barbara] Could you think for a minute, if you had to sum up William James education-What's unique about it? In just a sentence. [Jean] One sentence?! [Barbara] Well, two. [Jean] I think the unique… one of the most unique features of William James education is that it was learning as a group project. And that I never heard from any teacher there that: "I have the information, I'm going to put it in your head." I heard from every teacher: "This is subject I really turned on about and if you're have turned on about it right now, I hope by the end of this experience you will be. And let's go!" And that was sort of an adventure spirit that I loved. I felt respected, like my mind was being respected. That I had a place to express my thoughts, think my thoughts, and find out what my thoughts were. And that's more than one sentence. But I think that's a unique feature generally. [Barbara] Actually that was more than one sentence… it's more than one thought. But that's okay. [Inaudible] Okay, I am through with my questions. [Jean] Okay. [Barbara] What do you want to say? [Jean] I really love the people that I met at William James. I think that's a large part of why didn't leave. Robert Mayberry is an incredible teacher. Ros is incredible. I tended to repeat their classes over and over. I mean, or you know, take their different classes because I was just so, you know, just so loving them. And Steven gave me so much. I can't… I wish I could think of how to describe it. Barry, sitting in seminar with him and there was almost a religious sentiment about it. The learning was so important. We were discussing in this one seminar on school and society things that were so important to us in that room. There was only four people in the seminar and it was rich, and it was good. There's just been times and conversation with people that, you know, you just bring them with you for the rest of your life. I loved William James College. I loved the coffee machine in the morning and going there and meeting with all those people who are so good. I can't talk right now. �[Barbara] Okay. Let me turn it off. [Jean] It's hard to… [Barbara] White balance again. [Crinkling paper] [Barbara] It's warming up. Come on thing, do it! [Barbara] First black people felt very close and why that had anything to do with education at all [?]. [Jean] I'm not exactly sure why people felt close there. I know they were feeling close when I got there, so I felt safe to open myself and to feel close to them. And it felt real good and it felt really different from attitudes that I had seen. And I was sort of developing this theory about the nuclear fear, the fear of nuclear holocaust, infecting people's minds to the point where they are driving their life like a car down the road. And they are isolated from other cars on the road, and they're going to this destination. They don't care how they get there, or why they're even going, but they have this point and they're going there, and the hell with everyone else. And at William James it was like we were in a big bus, and we were all going somewhere together. And it mattered where we were going, but it didn't matter how long it took because we were having a good time as we are going. So, we were happy. There was a family feeling and that did within the classroom allow, I think, for more freedom of speech. That you weren't so afraid of speaking your mind or of trying out a new idea because you knew beyond, you know, maybe this intellectual point there was something else you shared with these people. And you weren't going to be disregarded or heated or rejected from the whole group for expressing a weird thought. Now, as far as why community is important in education, I believe that it's because if you sit at home alone and read a book. And it could be a wonderful book, and mean a lot to you. And be doing all kinds of things inside of you to be taking this in, and that's fine. But if you have a book, and you have twenty copies of that book, and everybody's read that book, and everybody has their own view of it. And everybody's view is respected of it, when you bring everyone together to discuss it, there is something about the collectivity of the minds meeting and working together that I believe will open to wider vision. And the Jamesian sense of why we are here to share perspectives. Because having a community in which you feel safe to express yourself is so important if you're going to really do that Jamesian approach to learning, of having people's view of the whole coming together to make a larger vision. And that really seem to have hit William James. It happened for me and I learned a lot from my contemporaries and teachers and I believe we learned it in that way… by turning on each other's minds. And that you know people who are kind of dragging their feet got caught up in it, and it was contagious. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_08_Doyle Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Doyle, Jean Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Jean Doyle interview (3 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Jean Doyle by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Jean Doyle was a student at William James College and a graduate from Grand Valley's class of 1984. In this interview, Jean discusses her overall thoughts on the William James education, in addition to her love of its community and adventurous spirit. This interview is part 3 of 3 for Jean Doyle. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8ee39a5b5414d9b1d03c17830572ef79.mp4 3a0edb7fa219c3623c7a772bb7e4894c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d74c2ceee996f1cec1384a19e37b7f1b.pdf 601c8e0df1c3bbdf4c60d5bac40065db PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Jean Doyle Date: 1984 Part: 2 of 3 [Jean] Okay, remember… I believe it was my first year there, and I just met and fell in love with Claire Porter and Sally Labheart (?) I was finding so much strength and joy in the dance department. I was so happy. Dance was my, you know, it was just my thing. It was where I'd go and be away from everything, and just have what I needed, and wanted. I was learning a lot and it was great for my body. I felt real good. Then all of a sudden, I hear: Tom, Sally, Claire. All the people I thought were the highest of the high were being pink slipped, fired, let go! That the Performing Arts Center as a body was being annihilated. I just freaked out. I just I could not believe it. I thought: "Now this is the one thing that I found so far that's outstanding on this campus, that is excellent. Why is the administration, or whoever is responsible for this decision, afraid of excellence? Why are they striving towards mediocrity? What is it that they're afraid of?" And so, they left, and before it was finally finalized, we're going to have sitting around the library. And I thought well this is it, finally. My first sit in, and I'm so excited. We made posters and the day of the sit in it rained. About three or four people showed up, and it was just a real discouraging. PAC just sort of fizzled out, and it was gone. Those fine people left that campus and I still had room one twenty-one where the dance studio was is my retreat, and my sacred space. But you know, I didn't have the golden teachers to bring me to higher things. You know, everything I did had to come from inside myself. Christine is a very good teacher and a very good friend, but she was sick a lot. She just was really involved with a lot of things going on with herself. You just can't have one teacher and who can teach you everything. Because they, you know, she's… her expertise is in a certain kind of modern dance, and there's many kinds modern of dance. There's many kinds of, you know, everything that really need to be dealt with [inaudible]… [Jean] … would leave the profession because they can't make a decent living at it, you know. Tell you… that was excellence. [Barbara] So, why don't talk about the closing of James. [Jean] Okay, that was significant to me and number ways. I really love Barry, Robert, and Steven for the help they gave the students to deal with it. They spoke to us about different languages and that we couldn't just express our needs and our interest in terms of that we were familiar and comfortable in talking with and have that mean anything on an administrative level. That we had to take our terms and translate them into terms that would be understandable and acceptable. When �Stephen and Robert were advocating for this college at those meetings, I just felt like it was a new spirit of seventy-six where you know they were like Thomas Jefferson or something. Fighting for a new nation or a new state that ought to exist, that deserve to exist in its own right. That they were being very reasonable about it. [Jean] That they were passionate but dispassionate at the same time about it and they were at those meetings and they had their thoughts together and they had them organize and they had them put out in a way it could be understood by anyone, in any terms. It still didn't do any good. [Barbara] What meetings were these? [Jean] They were reorganization meetings, I think. They were going on in Zumberge Hall. It was like the year or so before the final verdict came down that we were closed. Do you remember those? [Barbara] Kind of. It all blurs for me. [Inaudible] Blurs. So, what you remember is, you know… [Jane] Yeah, it was, I believe it was there that they'd would, you know. They'd have to cancel class here and there even because the meetings were not arranged for convenience. They would go and come back. They'd look very tired and worn. But I know that they gave it their very best shot you know. [Barbara] But then you were talking about when the closure actually came. [Jean] Well, the closure came with no closure. I guess William James being place a where process was something that was espoused, was appreciated, was reveled in, was maybe drawn out too long, and every decision that was ever made there as a group took so much to do, but it was always worth it. When the closure came its sort of like there was no closure, there was no finishing, and it just sort of dissipated and that was very distressful to me. I really missed that. We had a William James (our last synoptic that while we were still in college) and it was one where a lot of alumni were invited. And Adrian came and I'll never forget she read this poem and I have a copy of it now. It's called "To Be of Use." It's beautiful a poem about, you know, what is the meaning of life? It's to be useful, and to put yourself into a task fully. There's a lot of other alumni who came back and talked about what they felt about the school and what the entire experience it meant to them. And that was the birth to the William James Association from that meeting. And so that was April when we had that synoptic discussion. Then in May, at the end of school, it was last week of classes. There was this meeting of the William James Association the first meeting and I almost cried when I was there because there had been two or three hundred students. And of those two �or three hundred students of the present time, myself, Linda Rogers, Henry Hardy, Mark Zepatowski (?), Ralph, you know there was just a handful of us there. It sort of seem like everybody just went "Well it's over. Okay, onto something else." You know, and that it didn't mean anything to them. [Jean] It probably did, but just at that moment it felt like: "Where are you people? What is your experience here? Where are you coming from?" And there was a lot of alumni there, and people who had really cared, but I think the rest of my fellow students were burnt out from all the haggling and fighting for the right to exist. We just sort of had reached a point of exhaustion and apathy where they just said: "You know, oh well. What are we fighting for? Let's stop fighting, let's go home." So that's, I think, where that boils down to. It was real disappointing and real anti-climactic. [Barbara] What was the funeral like? [Jean] The funeral was a statement made… Mark Zapatowski and his unique way conceived the idea of a film to document this whole experience. Which I really appreciated because it felt like there was someone in fact, a group of people, the [inaudible] who cared. [Barbara] I changed the shot, so you kind of just pick it up. [Jean] Okay. Anyway, Mark had conceived the idea of the system documenting what it happened through the whole devolution of Grand Valley State Colleges. And so, we got all of us together for this one shot. This one idea he had. No actually this is the original idea, and then it evolved into the starch blob (?) the whole documentation. But this is just a commemoration of the death of Thomas Jefferson College, which was the first of the murders on the campus. We all became very… using words like that. Like murder, assassination, annihilation--as if it were human bodies being knocked off because it was sort of death that was happening all around us all the time. And we were just… felt real wounded and so the funeral happened on a summer day. We had a huge box just full of costumes, and musical instruments. We were at the farmhouse, and we got all dressed up and we drove over to Grand Valley. We went to the Lake Huron Hall, which is where Thomas Jefferson used to be, and someone was filming from the balcony and someone from the street. We came around, and this procession formed, oh there was everyone there. There were monks, the barbarian, the sprites. It was a wonderful long procession of different spirits and characters. It was just… do you want me to tell you about the film not being there? [Laughter] [Barbara] [Inaudible] [Jean] The funeral was to sort of… trying to bring some closure to that very [inaudible]. �Nothing was said. There was no announcement made. It just became realities that suddenly this college didn't exist. And then they were doing it to William James, and that was in the works. [Jean] I think that's why Mark got the idea to it to make something about the finishing off of Thomas Jefferson College because nothing had been said. It just ceased to be, and we were realizing that we were in the process of having our school ceased to be. And it was a scary time, and so we wanted to say something. We wanted to point something out to thin air, if nothing else, you know. [Barbara] Do you see that commune, that was historically active closing James, had anything to do with the closing of James? [Jean] Actually, it could. Now, historically it was kind of concurrent. There were several incidences where people from this group, and also with SRX. Where they got silly and wrecked some stuff. And that can't be tolerated, on any form. I mean destruction of property is bad behavior. And writing things on the wall about people who look at it every day, it's not an intelligent move. It was real politically incorrect of them. I'm sure it was innocent; it was naïve, too. I mean they weren't realizing the implications they felt at that moment; that we were eternal and there was nothing that was going to hurt us. So, they could say what they want, and express their anger, and destroy things that belonged to people that, you know, they would like to spit upon. So, they did foolish things in that sort of young silly way. I think some of those things just was like: "Well look at these people!" You know, got generalized everyone. And academics were no longer looked at, and it was just that we were an undesirable element then. A bunch of destructive of brats or something. So, I would imagine it had something to do with the beginning of the process that eventually closed the school. I wouldn't be surprised. It's because it was sort of around the same time. So, I really don't know. Yeah, there was so much tension then. There was so much tension. Always fighting, and… there's a good, I mean, we were all politically aware and active, and we cared. Somehow things got taken too far, and the political activity just turned to destructive behavior. It was no longer political it was tantruming. [Barbara] That's an interesting answer. It hadn't been what I was expecting you to say, because I wasn't talking about trashing. I mean did you guys just go on and live communally? Oops, we're going to run out of tape. Live communally as a... � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_07_Doyle Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Doyle, Jean Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Jean Doyle interview (2 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Jean Doyle by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Jean Doyle was a student at William James College and a graduate from Grand Valley's class of 1984. In this interview, Jean discusses her experience with the closing of William James College, the final WJ Association meeting, and the "funeral" that took place outside Lake Huron Hall regarding the closing of Thomas Jefferson College and William James College. This interview is part 2 of 3 for Jean Doyle. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Dance Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c2897a75cd31ab8ecd308ef3867df5b3.mp4 3f3657dfeed9afa38fb826176a7a39ea https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5549389bc97b38e47ba975a062a606cc.pdf 0df4f78460413454d2ca380352a6f4f5 PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Jean Doyle Date: 1984 Part: 1 of 3 [Barbara] Okay, Jean. Why on earth did you come to William James? [Jean] Is this the real thing? Are we starting? [Barbara] Yeah. [Jean] Okay. [Sighs heavily] I grew up in Chicago and when I was about twelve, I met a deaf kid. Through meeting him and wanting to communicate with him, I thought I invented the theory of art therapy. [Laughs] And I thought how wonderful it would be if by painting, or reading, or writing poetry, or something that this kid could express or relate to other people what he was experiencing from nature. And so that just became a goal and I call it art therapy in my head, even as a kid. And I just started looking for places that offered coursework in art therapy. A counselor at a high school in Chicago, she wasn't my counselor, it wasn't my high school, she told me about William James. So, my mom and I took a drive up here and we looked at it. I didn't really know what I was looking at or looking for. And I said: "Well, this must be it, you know, this must be where I meant to be." So, in September I started. And, it was, well-- Are we going to get to frustrations right away? [Barbara] Whatever makes you feel most comfortable. [Jean] Okay. It was so strange because once… as soon as I got there, I immediately realized I'd been given misinformation, which I translated to as I was lied to. Because in the in the catalog, you know, it talked about Thomas Jefferson, College IV, William James, and CAS. And when I got there, Thomas Jefferson had just been axed. And there was just no words about it. But I didn’t know enough to get angry yet. That came in time. But I met a lot of people who had been part of Thomas Jefferson and became more acquainted with their frustration and their anger. But we progressed, and then at the end of the first year that I was there Cathleen O'Shaughnessy (?) left. She was a key art therapy person at that time. And she was gone, and that was it. And so, I'll never really understand why I just didn't say: "Well the hell with this. I'm out of here. You know, I came in for something; it's not here. What am I doing here?" But I never left. I just, I don't know, there was something about the community of the place, the friends I was making, and the rapport with professors. That I really felt it was worth sticking around, it was worth waiting, and knowing in my heart someday I �would be an art therapist and I would work in art therapy. But for the present time, I had other things to learn, I had an education to get, and I felt like I was in a good place to get it. Working with good people and that became a priority to me and of great value. [Jean] My father, at the home front, he was questioning greatly what the hell I was doing there when it came out that there wasn't what I was seeking there, and there wasn't, you know, any hope of things getting better in terms of a career-oriented thing. He respected that aspect of liberal education. But he felt that if I just wanted a liberal education that I should continue St. John's, which is where I started my undergrad work. He felt that it would be more sensible to go to a prestigious college, and to have a nice degree at the end of it; especially, if I was going to get something as general as liberal arts. And, as you know, easy to pass off. Or, you know what I mean, people don't really just say: "Oh what are you going to do with that degree?" You know? So, there was a lot of tension there, but I just stuck it out. A sense of loyalty, a sense of connection, and commitment that was felt around me, and so I just want to desert that whole front. [Barbara] Do you know, something that hasn't really come up in the tapes so far is the notion of how new organization happened so many times effected students, and you're talking about it. Do you know people that left school because of reorganization? [Jean] I know one artist in particular that comes to mind. His name was Chris Molane. (?) He's living in New York, and he's doing his work. And he's very happy. I mean, for him actually, the reorganization is a good thing, it released him from the cornfields out to them where things are really happening for him. I'm trying to think who else. Not really, it seemed like people just sort of went, you know, they didn't just accept it but they went through it, and came out the other side to see what was there. [Inaudible] [Jean] Like going through some kind of mill. [Barbara] Please tell me a little bit about Saint Johns. [Jean] Saint Johns was the most beautiful place I ever was at. It was tucked in the mountains in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And it was a drug infested, sexually active, monastery dedicated to learning and loving knowledge. And Socrates was the hero of the school. At four o'clock in the morning, the dorms were really small, about twenty people per dorm. And you could walk in four in the morning and there would be people drunk, or whatever, but they'd be discussing something of common interest. And what's so neat is that it's a very rigid curriculum in terms of all freshmen read Aeschylus, Euripides, Thucydides, and on and on. And they do Euclidean geometry, and then non-Euclidean geometry, and the next year is �Ptolemian, it goes on and so everybody just had the exact same education. So, there's so much to share. And the tutors were more like referees. Or when they would start a seminar, it was like they'd throw up a jump ball and we'd play. [Jean] So, they weren't projecting, or interjecting very much. And in a way, it wasn't until I met Irving Wasserman at Grand Valley that I really was more studied with Socrates and really tried to understand-- just have a broader view, a much broader view, because it was like children playing with these thoughts. And so, we had no background, no framework, to put it in and so, I appreciated having a guide like Irv. But it was wonderful to be given the respect to play with it, you know. Or to engage with it. [Barbara] Okay, but then just the notion of you wanting to go into Art Therapy was enough to tear you away from this? [Jean] I was also in the midst of very strong personal problem that I had to get away from immediately. And so, I had to leave hastily unfortunately. So, when I got home and it was hiding out for a while, I thought: "Well, I think I'll go up to Michigan and check out William James. [Barbara] Okay. Okay. [Jean] Take that path and then maybe go hit… [Barbara] Why alternative anyway though? You had two alternative colleges you were looking for, and why? [Jean] Oh, that's just always been my cup of tea. I originally began my education in straight Catholic schools. And they were fine for me, to an extent. It was sort of like getting a lot of A's and everything for not doing any work. And when I hit about seventh grade, I was with this real tough group. And, you know, standing in the parking lot smoking cigarettes with jackets open in January type of fun and entertainment, really ridiculous. And my mother began to become very concerned about me when I stole her car and went driving around. And so, she knew, in her wisdom, that she couldn't reach me, and she can talk to me. So, she sent me to my sister Barbara, who's twelve years older than me, and who I've always had a very strong affinity with. I stayed there for a month. When I came home my mother said: "Well, Jeanie guess what? There's this wonderful school. It's called Morgan Park Academy. The classes have only like sixteen people in them. And you get to work at your own rate, and it's in the city, and it's real integrated." And I'm like: "Wow, Mom. That sounds real cool. Someday maybe, you know, I'll check it out. She's like: "Well you have your entrance exam Wednesday." And I was like: "Oh..." So anyway, I got into this school and it turned out there was like these real rich, snotty kids there. And I was just like: �"Oh jeez, I don't need this." One day… the first day of school someone asked me what did my father do for a living, and how much money did he make. And I told her that my father was an alcoholic, and we were on welfare. [Jean] Which was absolutely the untruth. But I just like a little bitch. I'm not going to tell her the truth. It's none of her business. But anyway, I got into the faculty there, and I realized what I could learn there. And I realized that I didn't need, oh, just to be told what to do, that learning itself was an incentive enough for me. And that I just couldn't stand, you know, all this worrying about tests, and what did you get on the test and… you know, what do you have to know for the test. That whole attitude… whenever I came across that it just, you know, put my back up. and I was like get me out of here. At that school, I was allowed to get away from that. And at St. John's, there certainly wasn't at all an issue, I didn't even know they gave grades until later. I found out that I did rather well. But, you know, I just didn't need traditional structured education. [Barbara] Do think that's because you got too much of it? Or for other reasons.? [Jean] No, I think it's just the way I'm made. Just me. [Laughter] [Barbara] I went to a school founded by John Dewey, who was a student of James's. And when it hits you, when you hit one school like that it spoils you for anything else. [Jean] Yeah, and it's not spoiled. Well, I mean it's… you don't want to go back. [Barbara] Yeah. [Jean] You don't need it. [Barbara] You become very cynical about traditional education is another way to put it. [Jean] Yes, it's true. [Barbara] Okay, you talk about major frustration. Are there other frustrations you would like to talk about? [Jean] Yeah, I think one is a real general frustration. It's sort of like, I feel in the course of my life I've come at the end of every great wave that I have wanted to be a part of desperately. And it's like I'm, you know, trying to body surf. And it goes right over me, and I'm back there, and then it crashes on the beach, and it's pulled back in, and then I'm just waiting for the next wave or something. When I was six my sister, Barbara again, you know, she was in college. It was nineteen sixty-seven. She was sitting in the rain for her black roommates and, you know, it was all very powerful to me. It really stuck with me. And I thought that's what we �do in college. When I got there, I was all psyched for it, and then I grew up in things where the seventies… [Jean] Where nobody wanted to commit to anything, and everything was the blank generation. and it was a denial of everything that happened in sixties, it seem to me. And so, at that time I think I sort of espoused hippie virtues, you know, or tried to. I made myself and was forced into the position of being a dinosaur. Of being, you know, like this extinct being. Yet walking along the living, but not wanting to be part of what they were doing. And not wanting to fit in, and not wanting to espouse those principles. Because I didn't see any principles in them. So, it was pretty rough. But by the time I got to college, I realized the sixties are gone. Life has changed a lot. There's no hippies anymore, the hippies who are here are clinging to the past. This is a new time, and we need a new kind of people to deal with, you know, the sixties plus the seventies, and now the eighties. You know it's a new world. And one of my frustrations at William James was being considered a hippie even though I wasn't. You know, and you get a lot of flak. But that didn't really bother me, I can sort of laugh that off. [Barbara] What kind of flak? Or you really don't know? [Jean] A lot of times… when you're talking to CAS people. And I hate doing the camp business, you know, I mean our side and their side of the river or whatever. But people want to take it seriously. I mean from the point of a guy not asking you out on a date because you are William James student, to in a conversation…you're just not being taken seriously because you're considered a radical. Even though I'm very… I consider myself conservative liberal. You know, I'm not into radical changes. I'm into reasonable discussion of what's going on and then see what can be done. But not just changing for change's sake. I'm not radical politically, and I'm not a hippie, and I'm not living in the past. And a lot of times… it's hard for me to be specific right now, my mind is not really on it… clearly enough to come up with specific examples of times I felt put down, or rejected for having… [Barbara] The out of tape line is blinking at me, so it's going to stop in a second. So, it’s a good time to just wait anyway. [Jean] Okay. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_06_Doyle Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Doyle, Jean Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Jean Doyle interview (1 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Jean Doyle by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Jean Doyle was a student at William James College and a graduate from Grand Valley's class of 1984. In this interview, Jean discusses the journey that brought her to William James College from her hometown of Chicago, Illinois and how she felt a calling toward alternative education to study Art Therapy. This interview is part 1 of 3 for Jean Doyle. Please note: this interview contains the audio recording in place of the video recording. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Art therapy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0fded001eb7cab0ad7f0269aed889c07.mp4 d770c08f6adec0895500448beed93642 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7c1875e79c164549f23b7d7aad10bcab.pdf 4425c61f1f3b25373e1c7ec8155b2cfb PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Rosalyn Muskovitz Date: 1984 Part: 2 of 2 [Rosalyn] --about. [Barbara] We were just talking about the evolution of this place. [Rosalyn] Okay. Okay. The evol-- The directions this college was somewhat a result of chance. Chance in that the specific interest of the individual faculty members that happen to come here. I think in initial planning they knew there were going to be some forms of social studies, and some sort of management, or business component, and there would be some art component. But what nobody knew was what direction it would take. They didn't know whether they'd get a faculty member who was a potter, or a painter, or a filmmaker. Actually, what they did is that they initially got me. My background was in graphic design and in interiors. I'm sure that the initial planners of the college never envisioned a program an interior design or graphic design. And yet what happened in the evolution the college is the graphic component, as part of the arts and media component, became the longest-lived program that was here. It had the greatest number of students. And in the reorganization, what has happened is, that number has carried through into the reorganization so that the design students, who are now part of the art department, are the largest component in that department. And there was no way of knowing that in nineteen seventy-two when we were starting out because there was no way to predict what area… which direction we would go. So, there is an element of chance, I think, not so much in… not a general element of chance, but in the specific interest and the specific background of the individual faculty that came here initially. [Barbara] So, what does that say about the planning? Does it say that it was just sloppy planning? Is this a negative or positive? Are you criticizing, or are you saying it’s a good thing? [Rosalyn] I think it's a positive thing. I think that, you know, when you look at Russia with their five-year plans everything is planned down to the… almost to the individual person. And it's always found wanting. That sometimes there is such a thing as natural growth, and that you can plan in general, but you may not necessarily do as well – if planning specifically – as if you would allow them to be sort of natural growth. So that, you know, things could take the direction in which they are supposed to take. They are sort of an evolutionary element that I think was good. I think that this is a positive thing. �[Barbara] So, what did they advertise for when they got you? [Rosalyn] I'm not really sure now that I think about it. They were looking for someone in… Someone, you know, I don't really remember. [Barbara] Okay. [Rosalyn] I don't really remember. [Barbara] So… [Rosalyn] I do remember. [Barbara] Alright. [Rosalyn] One of my friend’s husband was teaching here, and he knew about the college. He wasn't teaching for the college, but he knew about the college. And he knew that they were considering looking at the possibility of having somebody in arts and media, and maybe somebody from industry. But they really weren't sure what they wanted. So, in fact, what happened is I applied for the job before was ever advertised for, that's what happened. And so, in a sense, by applying for the job, and telling them, telling the people the kinds of things that I was interested in, what I wanted to do, what was remarkable is that I came to them and that they were able to recognize this as a good thing. Even though the people who interviewed me, not a single one of them was in anyway related to art, at all, and yet they were able to recognize the kinds of things that I was talking about and the kinds of things that I wanted to do. And they were able to recognize the validity of it. It turned out to be the first step in very successful program that we had here. [Barbara] But, Ros. I came much later. So, you were hired as the first arts and media person. [Roslyn] Right. [Barbara] So how did the arts and media program grow? [Rosalyn] Okay. [Barbara] I don't understand how it evolved. I don't know. [Rosalyn] So, what happened was… I was the design person. Then we had a person here initially, who came the same time I did, whose background was in American �Studies, and yet who was interested in video. Video as a means of documenting American scenes in American Studies. That was Bob Conrow. We sort of came at the same time, and we sort of help each other. [Rosalyn] I think from that we added photography, we added another design person (because we had to have more courses in that), we hooked up with channel thirty-five and graphics for television, because we did that internally as a curriculum. That lead will to animation. I taught the first animation class on this campus. Even though my background is not in animation; but I'm interested… it's one of the things I'm interested in. And that led to an expanded video and film program. That's how that happened. That was the nucleus of it. [Barbara] Fine, thank you. [Rosalyn] Does that help? � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_05_Muskovitz Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Muskovitz, Rosalyn Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Rosalyn Muskovitz interview (2 of 2, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Rosalyn Muskovitz by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Rosalyn Muskovitz was a faculty member of William James College and in this interview she discusses the evolution of WJC, being hired as the first faculty for Arts and Media, and the growth of that program over time. This interview is part 2 of 2 for Rosalyn Muskovitz. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Art Study and teaching Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/677c9e1817dcace32f038f939685f98f.mp4 e74500420d99c3e1c92a46c7b1bd5f53 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d11816b0abb639e0c794f61355f3ee4b.pdf feeb4b08152ac2bf5ddb9759a0ddeaac PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Rosalyn Muskovitz Date: 1984 Part: 1 of 2 [Barbara] Why don't you talk about why you came here? [Rosalyn] Okay, I'll start. Let me think. Wait a minute, let me start. I think I should start by saying that I was one of the people who did not come from academia and I didn't I come from a teaching background. My teaching experience was limited. I'd been at Kendall Teaching and Design School. Though I was committed to teaching, I found that it was sorely lacking as an educational experience. Both for me and for the students. And so, I was looking for something else. When I found out about a new college, that had just started the year before, that was interdisciplinary in nature--and I consider myself an interdisciplinary person because I'm interested in a wide variety of things. And the college was interested in having a design component in its curriculum, and I thought that since I had such a wide variety of background interests, of things I was interested in, I would give it a shot. Because it was sort of a new college, and it had sort of altruistic ideas, I guess. And high expectations for educational excellence. I was sort of caught up in the whole idea of being able to build something from its very beginnings, that I applied and came the second year--in the second year the school existed. [Barbara] Stop for a moment. I want to suggest… if I may direct you? That you now talk a little bit… and we have changed the shot. Now you talk a little bit about how that changed. Remember? 'Because when you're doing it spontaneously to me you said, "But that changed." [Rosalyn] That's right. [Barbara] [Inaudible] [Rosalyn] That's right. [Barbara] Okay. And then we'll start again, and the next point can be the part about the students being involved. Give me a second. See what I'm doing? I'm dividing it up more in a more linear way. [Rosalyn] Okay. Clearly, that's why you're the editor. Okay... [Barbara] Well, it will just be easier. �[Rosalyn] Okay. [Barbara] You're going to have to answer that again. [Rosalyn] I can't remember what I said. [Barbara] You look perfect. [Rosalyn] Huh? [Barbara] I'll do it again. I ask it again. [Barbara] Can you hang on a second? [Rosalyn] Yeah. Is this coming out alright? I don’t know. [Barbara] Yeah, it is. It's reversed from… the polarity is reversed. So, it tapes backwards. [Rosalyn] Oh, wonderful. [Barbara] You’ve got to keep pointing to the window as much as you can because looks it very attractive. [Rosalyn] Okay. [Barbara] The question I asked you was if you had to say what one… in hindsight, what one problem of the school was. [Rosalyn] Okay, with hindsight there were lots of problems. But I think one of the fundamental problems that we had was that we had an absolute commitment to equality; as far as decision making and the educational process between the faculty and the students. That we tried very hard to give the students to equal voice and equal weight in the decision making. What happened was that the students – just because they were students and were much younger in general – they didn't have the background or the information to make those decisions. And so, in a sense, they had much more power in the decision-making process than they should have had by virtue of the fact that they had far less experience and did not necessarily know the where right decisions were as far as around education was concerned. So, I think we made a mistake, in that we gave that much… too much weight at the time. I think it was important that they have some weight, but not as much as we tried to give them at the time. And also, the early students, I think, had a major commitment to alternative education. And the early students challenged the faculty, and push the faculty to do greater projects, larger amounts of work. I mean we were doing graduate level type theses on �some of these projects at that time. That changed over a period of time. [Rosalyn] Because as the idea of alternative education changed somewhat, and the students, I think, changed somewhat in that… what happened was, that there was less push to do these major projects, and I think some of that was because students who came afterwards decided this might be an easier way to get an education. That it might be-- You could do things by sort of sliding through. There wasn't as much push to do really in-depth kinds of things. And I think the faculty somewhat got caught up in that. I think we lost track of what we were doing, as far as-- let's see. As far as some of the, you know, some of the courses we taught and some the work that was going on here. [Barbara] Why don't you stop for a minute and think? Brief answer, tell me about strengths. [Rosalyn] Okay. The major strength of James in the beginning was the absolute dedication the faculty. The faculty was dedicated to excellence in education. To building something here that would sort of stand for education at its highest level. And as a result, because we had that commitment, we worked enormous long hours to fulfill our goals. I think our goals were somewhat unrealistic in the beginning because nobody could do everything, and since we were committed to interdisciplinary education, everybody really had an interest in what everybody else was doing. And even though they were very damn different fields--and so we spend a lot of time talking about other things and learning about other things different than our own field. And as a result, I think what happened was that there just wasn't enough time, and nobody had enough energy to do everything. What we didn't do is we didn't delegate responsibility, because everybody was interested in being involved in everything. And we miscalculated, I think, as a group. We just attempted to do too much. A result of this was, I think, that was in three or four years we had massive burnout. People were just exhausted; and were not really able to meet their somewhat, you know, unrealistic goals that they set for themselves in the beginning. [Barbara] Tell me Ros, do you find it… don't talk till I get in here. Do you find it harder to teach now that we've switched the systems? Is it harder to teach? Wait till I focus here. Make sure it's clear. Okay. Does it make a difference? [Rosalyn] It's very different, but I can't really say if it's easier or harder. I feel that a lot of the joy of teaching that existed by being able to interact with people in different fields and on an ongoing basis is gone. Some of the really satisfying, you know, the things that satisfy your soul are not there anymore. Is it easier to teach? Well to begin with I, for one, have far fewer preparations. Because in a tiny school where we taught such a wide variety of things there were times we had nine preparations a year. They didn't teach any of those courses the second year. �[Rosalyn] So now, with the new organization, I tend to teach a course and teach again the following year. I am able to spend more time developing my current curriculum in my individual coursework because I get to repeated so often. However, the tradeoff is that it isn't the same. It's become much more static. I'm able to teach things like techniques more because, you know, the nitty-gritty of it but I'm not able to teach the philosophy and theory kinds of things that I did before because I can't bring in those… the other kinds of things and other people from other areas. It's much more rigid. So, in a sense what's happening is my students are becoming much more proficient as technicians, and they're not as good as far as thinking, problem-solving, human beings. I think the first students we turned out had a unique quality that came in. Now that I look back and I think that the technical things that they had to learn, they're learning right now working in the field. And that the things that we gave them are things they can never get out in industry. What we're giving them now, interestingly enough, are the kinds of things that they could learn in industry; but unfortunately, they're not getting the really joyous things that they came in. A lot of those have to do with values, and just thinking, and problem-solving. And being caring kinds of human beings. I think those early students had a wonderful experience. Now, it may very well be that we are a small microcosm of the times. And that, in fact, in the beginning of the nineteen seventies -- I came in seventy-two -- there was a lot of feeling of people towards each other, and that we were reaching out towards each other more as a society than we are now. Right now, everybody's concerned about the bottom line; about a job, about how many dollars are going to make for their first job. I have students want me to tell them, at the beginning design course, how much they're going to earn when they graduate. How do I know? I don't even know if the job they're training for is going to be there when they graduate. But they don't understand that. Yet, in nineteen seventy-two when I talk to students about them and told them that they had to understand about design, and they had to be flexible, and be able to go with the change and they understood that. And they were willing to except that. Different student today. So, I don't know if it's because of William James. I really don't so. William James may, in fact, have been a reflection of what was happening in in the greater community; and it's gone because those values have changed in the greater society. [Barbara] Great answer. That was really good. You're all informed warmed up now. [Laughs] Um, I need to ask you if you were going to summarize what James' form of alternative education was? As briefly as possible, try to summarize in two sentences the key to what James was. What was it? [Rosalyn] I don't know if you'd call us the key to what it was, but what we tried to do was we tried to have students, not to teach students to solve problems, but to teach students to recognize the problem. [Rosalyn] And then, the solution would come after it. It was not a question of working out �the solution, it was a question of defining the problem (whatever the problem was) and I think that was part of the--That-that was the essence of it. [Barbara] Would you care-- [Rosalyn] Does that make sense? [Barbara] Yeah, it does, it means you don't get hung up on specific solutions. You get to the general problem. [Rosalyn] Yeah. Yeah. Which is really what I think that what we were doing. Part of that was that we didn't have time to do anymore. [Barbara] Would you care to venture your guess of why we don't exist anymore? [Rosalyn] I think we don't exist anymore because I think the times are different. I think we live in a very conservative time. I think we are we live in a time where we're more concerned with ourselves. We're far more isolationist than we were fourteen/fifteen years ago. I think we don't exist because I think that society does not want us to exist at this point. [Barbara] Why? Why doesn't society still want students that are trained to spot problems? Isn't that important to the society? Why would the society want to change its educational system to turn out technicians? Just technicians? [Rosalyn] Well because I think we are entering a very repressive era. I think that where we have people who are… well, I just I think that we are in a more repressive area or era at this time. That we are not willing to tolerate each other's foibles, whatever they are. I think we're far more narrow… it might be an economic thing, that there is less resources. Even though we live in wealthy environment; there are many, many more people who don't really have access to that wealth. I'm not really sure. The problem is that when you are so close to it, it's so hard to tell what it is. And maybe ten years from now we could look back and say that, you know, it didn't work at that time because of this reason, or that reason. It's so difficult to know when you're sort of right there at that moment to be able to analyze it. At least it's difficult for me. [Barbara] If you had to do anything differently about the way things ran here, aside of the one thing you mentioned, which is not give quite so much power to students, what would that be? [Rosalyn] The other thing would have been to delegate responsibility to each other, and to accept each other's decision making. Because I think that would've helped us to prevent this absolute fatigue that overwhelmed us. I think I would've change that. �[Barbara] I am out of questions. Anything else you want to say? [Rosalyn] I don't know. [Barbara] You're very good at this. This was fun. [Rosalyn] What else would I say? [Barbara] Do you think alternative education is going to come around again? [Rosalyn] If, you know, history teaches us anything; it teaches us that there's never anything new. And that, in fact, you know, everything is a circle. And that I believe that, once we get through this sort of conservative situation that we are in, that we will come full circle again. And that, in fact, I don't know if it will be alternative education as we knew it fifteen years ago. But it might be alternative education in some other mode. And I would fully expect that we would make, you know, we--it would come around again, because we tend to go in waves. Assuming that we're all here, you know. We all survive long enough for it to happen. I think it will. [Barbara] There isn't much tape left, but let me ask you this: when you came to James, you chose alternative, what is there in your background that made you interested in this kind of environment? In other words, why did you feel comfortable with alternative? [Rosalyn] Because I don't have a traditional academic background, in a particular academic field. I've done a whole variety of things, and I have… my life has changed over the years. I think that one of the main reasons was that I was that I was older. I think if I had been twenty-two/twenty-three years old, just out of school, I would not have been as well suited to this particular thing as I was when I came. When I was in my late-thirties, almost forty years-old. Because I'd had a variety of experiences in my life. [Barbara] Like what? [Rosalyn] I had been a professional designer. I had taught. [Rosalyn] I had been, you know, I had made the choices between being a working mother, or a mother that stayed at home. I'd raised a family. I did a lot of traveling. I had a wide interest in many things. I was interested in things besides art and design. I was interested in sociology. I had a deep interest in history. I was interested in cooking and the whole variety of kinds of things. And I think that this allows me to do it. �[Barbara] I'm out of questions and tape now. [Rosalyn] What do you think? [Barbara] I think it's wonderful. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_04_Muskovitz Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Muskovitz, Rosalyn Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Rosalyn Muskovitz interview (1 of 2, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Rosalyn Muskovitz by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Rosalyn Muskovitz was a faculty member of William James College and in this interview she discusses her background prior to coming to GVSC, the interdisciplinary appeal of this new college, and the strengths and weaknesses of WJC. This interview is part 1 of 2 for Rosalyn Muskovitz. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9dae755e410eabcbc6533780bb7aff47.mp4 4ab07ec8b198786c64a10fc7d205e2f5 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/98ff862349a06b58ac4c63ce43111cc2.pdf 8fe002f42e6050affaffb1a625dff5fd PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Rosemary Willey Date: 1984 Part: 3 of 3 [Rosemary] We're rolling. [Barbara] Is there anything we could have done differently there at the end to save ourselves? [Rosemary] Well, God – that’s a very difficult question because, quite honestly, I don't think so. But I tend to be kind of a pessimistic person. I'm not sure what we could have done because it got to the point, we were working in an environment that was… you know, we were going against the mainstream; we were running an opposite course. And, I think with the way Grand Valley was moving, as a whole, there was really very little we could do. I didn't realize that at first, I think many students…you know, we were taught that these values, and this approach to education was vital. It was really going to do things for us. I mean nobody went to William James to be told that this is going to fall apart. You know, I mean they went to William James because there was a real supportive set of ideas that made some sense to you, and that was going to be very advantageous to me. You felt good about what was happening. So, I think that students when they… when there was some organizing to save the college, it was really heartfelt. We really thought we could have an effect on a few things. I mean it came down to simply wanting to save the name. You know, for one of the departments or something. But so, when it became clear to me that it was a losing battle, I'm not sure if everyone felt that way, but there was a point, I think. I saw it happen to many people. There was a point where you felt it was a losing battle, and you didn't go to council. I mean why get up at nine o'clock on Friday morning, get in there to sit around at a council, you know, that's kind of digging our grave. That was sort of the activity of the day. It was always quite depressing. The students started to kind of, you know, we went from everybody showing up because we were going to do something about this. To people just needing to, you know, get back to work on their classes. I mean, some students were letting classes slide because they felt so strongly about this movement, this organizing. So, then we all kind of stepped back, and just had to look out for ourselves. And take care of ourselves, and I for one didn't want to be devastated. So, I just got back to my own ideas. This is why I… part of how I ended up in New York, was that I kind of wanted to be sure that I was paving my way out to put myself in a new environment where there were opportunities and things kind of bursting, things going on that I can feel new and involved in as opposed to sliding off of this closing of William James. So, I stepped out into New York, which was very �refreshing, but I had my tools – so to speak – with me from this education and all these experiences and I think I could take on the city and many different kinds of people because William James was very rich. [Barbara] I’m reading a book right now on American education. Did you ever feel at James that you were involved in anything radical? Does that seem a useful word? [Rosemary] William James, as an entity, which it became sometimes… I mean, there were many times when I felt like I was going to college and I was excited to get to my classes and I was involved in this community and I worked in the students’ files office and it kind of became my world. And when I was really just being a part of this community, it didn't feel radical, it didn't feel… I didn't stop and think that it was special and different – not very often – but I do when I look at it in the terms of education and our society today. I do see that it was a radical place only because it was different. It moved away from the simple formulas and structures that I think the educational process can be boiled down to these tight little systems and because William James was so different and operating on such different principles, it was a radical organization – radical idea – and it certainly allowed for you to meet many different political types now because “radical” is kind of a political word to me. I think of, you know, being able to study social issues from a socialist point of view or this kind of thing was extraordinary and different. Now, I made a mention of being excited to go to class and this is something that, you know, I remember time and again and there were a lot of little networks that were built up in the classes. You would meet for coffee to talk about your class, these kinds of things. The excitement in the activity of learning was really something that I felt there. And once you could grasp the process, you know, read something, and think out something and have these conversations in the classroom – it was very confidence building thing. Especially as a freshman coming from high school where, you know, high school can be a kind of dehumanizing identity crisis and certainly was for me. To step into something that involved you and meant something to you, where you weren't afraid of what you thought and to say what you thought. It built character, it built real character, and there were a lot of characters there. Yeah. [Barbara] Do you remember any in particular? [Rosemary] Oh, I remember all of them. I remember all of them in particular because I haven't met people like that since. So, they do, they really stand out to me. People that really had an effect on me. People that I miss and people that I still write to and I'm very fond of. [Unknown] Students as well as…? [Rosemary] Students as well as professors. I have had connections to professors that were, �you know, beyond a student professor relationship, where they saw I wrote some poetry and I had Roz [Rosalind] Mayberry paying attention to me as a person who was connecting things and discovering the magic of my own words and she would relate to me in being just as excited and involved in my process of learning and this is something that I still can't, you know… I still write a poem and want to know what Roz thinks and we are in touch and it certainly isn’t something that has stopped because our class ended. That's enough, that's good enough, yeah. [Barbara] Okay, this is a place that was, you know, this was change, this was a changeoriented place. That’s what we’re going to have to deal with and we didn’t deal with it, Rose. They don’t quite say that. [Rosemary] Change. Oh, you mean like I said something about how, you know, we were being taught to live in a changing world, this kind of thing, and I talked about that being valuable to me. But I don't know what you mean. [Barbara] Real change confronted the college, but we didn’t feel it. [Rosemary] Alright, okay. Yeah, that's right. I did have a way that I wanted to put that. You know, I sort of feel like it's up to you, too. What I did was I was thinking along the lines of all these things that were so essential to us: integration, holistic approaches to learning, well-rounded, not only career-oriented. These things that really had substance became like buzzwords and when we were crumbling, we were still trying to (crumbling… I’ve got to quit saying that) but we were still trying to hang onto these essential things. But I think quite hypocritically because we were allowing so much to be put upon ourselves, so many compromises. [Barbara] Like what? [Rosemary] Just the whole system of getting students out and graduated became systematized in a way that wasn't paying attention to students’ particular needs and problems. So that when we would come up with a graduate, and all of a sudden people realized this person couldn't write very well, the student got stopped and nailed and I think it was simply a matter of our being so caught up in covering our asses and that there was a lot of things at the beginning – students, their needs, where they're at, how to build and work with them – that started to get systematized and the very typical thing of, you know, Johnny can't read or write, that could happen to us and it did, it did happen. [Barbara] I know it's hard to believe we still have a couple of people who are all William James people who have graduated yet because they can't write. [Rosemary] It's hard to believe but… and it's hard to sit back and say that it’s William James’s fault. I think, you know, here again it's difficult to place blame because if we had �all the support we needed so that we didn't have to worry about how we appear – the society or whatever – we could have continued to pay attention to those things that were vital to the individuals. But it became quite clear that there were three or four or five individuals that were really in there bantering, playing a hard game, to keep what was essential to the college but that was really all I think that, you know, the small things we started to compromise on. I mean, it's very small but, you know, you start to number your courses. You start… [Barbara] What difference does it make if you number your courses? [Rosemary] Immediately students would get the impression that, gee, I better take this course before this course and then I have to have this course before this course. Now, at times there was a simple logic to that… to being able to sit in a class and know what's going on, to have a little bit of history with the subject. But I think in general, it meant that students stepped into a kind of semi-structure and saw that and tried to move through it as though it really were a structure. It was very confusing. I mean, I sat down with beginning students in those last years who were concerned that they couldn't take this course because it didn’t fit their study plan, you know, the study plan became this rock that you carved your classes into and I think that there were a lot of students that started to feel like there was this whole… there was a set of expectations that they've simply had to do to graduate now. I think we handled those expectations entirely differently at first because it fit a certain philosophy to go out, to try things, to be well-rounded, to be sure you’ve... I mean, sometimes it boiled down to, you know, be sure you’ve had a class with Dick Paschke especially because he will really change your way of thinking. And I think these things were happening in a way that was much more individualized and progressive than, you know, school by numbers and I think we're to blame for that a little bit because we started to lose confidence in ourselves. We started to misunderstand, perhaps, what these essential ideas meant and how to work with them, how to use them as you know so it amounted to a kind of model. I mean, William James was really a tremendous model for a lot of people, and it was a surprise to a lot of people, but I think I was there long enough to not be too surprised. Yeah, I had a couple friends that took this college so seriously and so to heart, I mean, they were more than us, but we were angered. Frequently, we were angered by the students that kind of weren’t getting it. They weren’t getting it; they were taking advantage, they were only here to do their photography and to go get a job, you know. We were really troubled by that, but it certainly wasn't the student’s fault. [Barbara] Why wasn’t it their fault? [Rosemary] Because these were the shifts that were beginning to make sense to those young people. These were the kinds of shifts that were setting in this sort of new logic that I think put too much emphasis on career and much less emphasis on �discovery of all possibilities that you can have in those few years. And, you know, I am very well aware of the numbers game that started to set in in terms of how many students are in what programs and if it was really mounting up in that media program, for example, then we better pay a lot of attention to that. I mean, the bottom line is getting students in there and getting enough money so that the college would survive. And we had to have some kind of external measure of value and it pretty much amounted to how successful I think we were in terms of student ratios and numbers and things that for some of the students that were aware would really seem hypocritical and we would get very angry and fed up and these were the things that made us feel like it was a losing battle, and we ought to take care of our coursework and get out. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_03_Willey Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Willey, Rosemary Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Rosemary Willey interview (3 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Rosemary Willey by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Rosemary Willey was a student of William James College from 1977 to 1982. In this interview, Rosemary discusses the closing of William James College, her memory of the cast of characters in their community, and the shift toward a more career-oriented education for the youth at that time. This interview is part 3 of 3 for Rosemary Willey. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ddacd65d640d0e5e4659ef22872a448f.mp4 937d8c0f1f6807e1254873b38b633a7e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bf347b2333b2213a9bc8561d69c9a8a0.pdf 8a5d68be44357294e25e5c47c2ff92de PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Rosemary Willey Date: 1984 Part: 2 of 3 [Barbara] Just keep talking. [Rosemary] I started to feel like people asking me how much money I can make as a research assistant to an independent filmmaker. I started to feel like-- "Hey! That's a real personal question." And I started to kind of take offense, and maybe it's partially because, you know, I'm not making any money. But it was also because, you know, I don't care how much money you make. But there was really a, you know, it's just a sort of wrapped package. You graduate, get a degree to be something, and you're going to make so much money depending on what you've picked. This all adds up to, you know, what you've amounted to. Now, people have asked me how much money I make, I kind of banter about it. But… [Barbara] What’s the matter? Oh shit, you were perfect, Rose! You were so good! [Rosemary] [In a fake southern twang] Okay, we'll try it again. I'm so glitch. I'm so glad you noticed that we'd run the whole tape. [Laughs] [Rosemary] Let's see, yeah. I started taking offense at people asking me how much money I could possibly make working with the independent filmmaker. I started to feel like that's a really personal question. Happened many, many times. It happened in the hallway, in my building, people, you know, just after a few questions. “Well, what do you do? Where are you from? Well, gee, how much money do you make?” I started to feel, of course, like that's not anybody's business. Maybe, partially, because I'm not making much money. But then as I got to get enough of this attitude among young, newly graduated, out in the world types. That it was important to let people know I'm not out in the world to turn a buck. That I'm, you know, that I'm out for experiences, that I feel like I have something to say. I mean there…I've met many people who have, I'm going to have to stumble with this for some reason. I'm drawing a blank. [Barbara] Okay. That's because you already said it. So, it's hard for you to do it again. So, the point is that their education has been [inaudible] at the very limit, and your education was something different. �[Rosemary] Yeah. Well, I went out east. Moving out east where there's a lot of young professionals in New York, who have acquired a certain status that has to do with where they have been to school, and what they studied. And you run into these people frequently at parties or whatever. Gatherings where young people want to know where you went to school, and what you studied. Their education is that -most commonly I find that these people have gone to college to be somebody, to be something, to be a particular thing. And, if that hasn't added up in terms of their salary, or whatever, I think that people feel pretty bad about where they're at now. [Rosemary] So, at first it was kind of difficult for me when I confronted this attitude about what you do is what you, who you are, and what you've amounted to, and I had no simple answer for what I do and what I wanted to continue to do, and where I'd been. And having William James College close has made it difficult, in that I can't go on about this college that is this real happening place where people go to really learn something and where there was an attitude, there was a real concern, that even though they were concerned that people got out and could find work and have careers and skills and stuff, but a real well-rounded education that involved a lot of other things, thinking and writing, you know, that it wasn't strictly career-oriented, that it was really kind of learning-oriented. And so, it has really put me in a space that has, that I have found is quite unusual, where, you know, being professional and being involved in something and having a career means something entirely different. Well, it certainly doesn't mean how much money you make. I think it means kind of loving what you do and being good at what you do. You take pride in different things. [Rosemary] And so I stumbled with these young people and cocktail parties or whatever that wanted to peg me, wanted to take me from some Ivy League school and that I that I've been to law school or whatever. And then it didn't take very long before I decided, what I have done, and what I am doing, and what I will do, and my reasons for it, can really blow people away. Because it is unusual. And it's I think it's a lot more dynamic approach to being a graduate and most people I've come across, I mean, it's made me feel like an odd duck out in New York. But I've come to take certain amount of pride in that. And I take a tremendous amount of pride that I went to William James College and have felt a little bitter sometimes that it wasn't sitting out there in West Michigan and still turning out people who had an approach to their careers that was more like my own. Now I sort of feel like stopping the tape. Okay. [Barbara] Why don’t you just talk about Walter? [Rosemary] Yeah, well, Walter Wright was an example of something I felt was really going on there, was kind of a symbol of something to me as a student. Because I had the unusual experience of being there when it was really a very dynamic, powerful, �functioning place and then in my later years, I graduated just as it was folding, and there was a lot of involvement of students and faculty and we really were unified in a kind of “save our college” movement. And so, I experienced the pitfalls and the hard realizations about where the support was coming from was, you know, from within ourselves or really not within the administration, it was in the world at large. We pretty much were up against it. So, people began to realize this and there were a lot of very sad emotional times going on between student and professors. And, you know, what an education that was, that in and of itself, to be involved in this changing times. Feeling not only that we were changing but we had promoted ourselves as a college that was going to equip its young people to handle change, to be survivors, to get out in the world and make change. So here was a real experience for us and I think it made a tremendous impression on those last graduates. And you know, even though it was a very sorry thing, I think we did end up feeling very well equipped to take on the conservative world and to do the things we wanted to do. [Rosemary] Walter Wright, when I first came to William James was kind of, you know, the happening professor. He was really very exciting for students. He really was a great advocate of individualism and I think many students who didn't feel like they had a niche in the world definitely could find it with Walter. And they were doing amazing things, there was always all kinds of amazing film and video things going on for people. And I think personally they were some of the most interesting students at William James were the students that gave Walter a lot of support and vice versa. And as William James started to undergo this sort of cracking away at the foundation, the changing ideas, Walter was a person who never really changed. He still handled his classes and the way that he felt was, you know, was right on and he still… [Barbara] Like what? [Rosemary] Well, one thing that comes to mind is that he was a great advocate for play. That learning was playful and that whatever you did, it was going to be fun and expressive and yours. And for example, my very first super eight film, because I didn't handle my camera right or something… I still don’t, I'm not sure because it never happened again. But I came up with a three-minute roll of black film. I had a completely black film. So, Walter said we're going to show your film, it’s a black film, and we'll get around to what happened. But he told me I could take this film and cut it into things where I wanted a black spot, that was interesting, that I could scratch it, that I could make, that I could work with film and it wasn't hopeless and I was devastated. And here Walter really wanted me to feel like it's all part of it, you know. And so, it was all right, you know, it was all right. And then I went on to not be intimidated by the camera, to not be afraid to make a black film again. But he was just, you know, a very magical kind of instructor for me, someone that I certainly had a lot of confidence to work with him, and to try new �things. [Barbara] And then what happened? [Rosemary] Right, well what I wanted to… Okay, so, Walter was very important to me, to the whole kind of philosophy and openness that made the college a very involved place and he… I think as the college started to suffer some changes and structuring, some things that were imposed upon us, Walter couldn’t maintain his approach to classes and to students. He never really started to structure his classes in a way that would've been quite different. Sso he kind of went from being you know very much a part of what the college is all about to, I think, a sort of exceptional person. He was kind of a dying breed, someone who became very unusual. And Walter was always Walter, I mean he handled that very well, but I always felt kind of sorry that he began to appear to be, more and more, the exception rather than… [Barbara] Do you know why he left? [Rosemary] … a facet. I'm not exactly sure why. [Barbara] Because he was told he would not get tenure, that’s why he looked for another job. It’s nothing that even he was unpopular, it’s that Walter had to go. [Rosemary] Well, yeah, he was driven. Students were allowed to be on faculty review committees, which were these committees that were, you know, inside the college that sat down and reviewed the progress and the, you know, how a particular professor was doing, and how the students were feeling, and how they were feeling. And I mean it was really a very good thing, but I sat on some of those review committees, and I think that in Walter's case in particular, I really did learn a lot about how he was kind of being forced into this exceptional, unusual role rather than supported. Rather than supported, and rather than looked at as an incredible asset he started to be, I think the attitude started to be “What are we going to do with this guy that won't write a syllabus?” You know, and so I got to see which was also another very unusual thing about William James, I got to see the kind of internal attitudes and the real clashes and the things that made you feel very helpless as to why, you know, why the foundation was crumbling. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_02_Willey Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Willey, Rosemary Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Rosemary Willey interview (2 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Rosemary Willey by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Rosemary Willey was a student of William James College from 1977 to 1982. In this interview, Rosemary discusses the career-oriented attitudes of young professionals in New York City in comparison with the learning-oriented education she received at William James College, in addition to her experience learning from professor Walter Wright. This interview is part 2 of 3 for Rosemary Willey. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4a6d593c630fe11a494b948230ea3917.mp4 0779bf81f0f2c6f2e93ae65db9ded30d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ad32fb631019cf7c9fa77b24cd44db4d.pdf ab931513183ee456c0c53b40fc89f256 PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Rosemary Willey Date: 1984 Part: 1 of 3 [Barbara] Go on. [Camera operator] Rolling. [Barbara] Just talk. You don't have to worry about it. [Rosemary] He has himself… he has some kind of idea that… there's all this talk about how we had a philosophy, and we had this, and we that going for us. I don't know. He was saying some things about how little of that was really, you know, commonly understood. It was interesting, like he was kind of fed up with everyone talking about, you know, the philosophy of education, and stuff. I just think it was interesting to talk to him. [Barbara] Okay, we'll do some more of that. I would like you to, first of all, start talking about… in a sentence, say who you are, when you went to James, and what you're doing now. [Rosemary] I am Rosemary Willey, and I went to William James from seventy-seven to eighty-two, little time off, and I'm living in New York, and working with filmmaker Leo Hurwitz. And his-- and research for his next script in film. [Barbara] How did you get that job, Rose? [Rosemary] I was studying script writing and very interested in writing for media, and I set up an internship with Leo. Was encouraged to get out and do something in my field, which is what the internship program is all about, and I had met Leo Hurwitz. He was a Synoptic Lecturer at William James, so I met him through the college. And I wrote to him myself. We talked over with the internship program was all about, the kind of thing I'd like to do. And, you know, of course the first it depended on where he was in his work, but I was very persistent. We kept in touch, and it worked out very well. That I could come out, do research, and be involved in the script writing process with him. When my internship was over, I stayed in New York and continued to work with him. [Barbara] Didn't you write a poem that you sent to him, or something? �[Rosemary] That's right, my initial meeting with Hurwitz was that he brought a film to William James. It was a film that I don't believe has been shown in the United States at all. It was his new film called "Dialogue with A Woman Departed." I'd never seen anything like it, and I was very excited by the film and by Leo. He asked for responses to film, and I wrote him a poem I spent a little time on it and got to him before he left. So, we had a very tremendous encounter. Where he enjoyed my poem very much, and I spoke about his film. And we kept in touch ever since then, so... [Barbara] People are not going to know what you mean by a Synoptic Lecturer. [Rosemary] Okay. [Barbara] What does it mean? [Rosemary] Right… the Synaptic Lecturer program at William James was a situation where students could be involved with up with the personality, author, filmmaker, a poet. People that they brought onto campus to spend time with the students to lecture and visit the classes. Leo was a Synoptic Lecturer. He brought his films and spent time in classes. Spent time meeting students, answering students’ questions. And it was a very wonderful opportunity to not only see someone's work, but really get to know them and let them have you know real responses to the work. [Barbara] People at a more traditional college environment might say: "Isn't that an easy credit?" I mean how would you respond to this whole notion that this stuff is so vague and amorphic that there's not really any learning going on, or something like that, you know? [Rosemary] Right. I think that because William James college had no grades, no tests – these kinds of things that create a measure or formula for learning – people assume that it must've been something that you could slide right through, and there was nobody checking up on you or this kind of thing. But it was quite the opposite experience, really. Because they were small classes. You got to know your advisor, and your professors quite well. And they got to know how well, you know, they got you know you're writing, what you are capable of, they have certain expectations of you that came out you know rather soon in the whole college experience. They got you know what you were interested in, you know, how your writing was excelling, whatever. So, there was no way to really slide through something it was, you know, you couldn't hide from the real responsibilities, or from the expectations people had of you. You really had to be involved. And you know, of course, I enjoyed very much being involved. I found it to be very difficult at times, but not difficult in a negative way. But a kind of challenge, very challenging. �[Barbara] In other words, the notion that “it has to be suffering, to be learning” is sort of beside the point. In other words, you're saying that you worked hard, but being hard doesn't cover it. [Rosemary] Right. Right, well the whole idea of students being active and responsible for their own educations made the, I think, effort that you put into your work much greater. [Rosemary] But the rewards were much greater. You really could get involved in things. You took great pride in turning in something that had real substance. That you'd really thought about, and if what you wanted to turn in, that was substantial and important to you, was going to take you three weeks more. You could just let your professor know, this is what you're doing and I'm going to take this much time and things could work out that way. So that essential things really to come through. [Barbara] Do you remember when you came to James? You came out of high school, right? [Rosemary] Yeah. [Barbara] Okay, do you remember that you had to have some transition into this philosophy? [Inaudible] Or something? [Rosemary] No, it was a very stimulating place when I first came to William James College. I remember being in classes that, you know, were no comparison to high school. And as a freshman you worry if you're going to be able to kind of take on these college classes. But, at William James College, you could sense there was something going on. It was intimidating at first, but you came to realize that your experiences, and things that you think about, and you know, experiences you've had in your life are relevant, are important you don't have to be an expert on something to have something to say in a class. People were interested in finding out about you. So, you know, with a little bit of confusion from the transition from high school to something so really sophisticated and involving. There was a little transition in there, because in high school we were spoon-fed graded… your goals were really quite defined. At William James College, people didn't really define things for you. You could kind of see, you know, you made your own decisions about what you were interested in and then there was sort of encouragement. This whole, you know, these kind of adult issues, and adult educational concerns where your concerns from the start. I mean there was guidance and conversations, but it came quite clear to you that, you know, the philosophy, so to speak, that was going on here was really to your advantage. And something that you could really work with and become a part of. You know, �it took me a few classes. I remember a class I took with Inge Lafleur. Um, no. Aimee(?) Bijkerk (?). Her name was Aimee(?) Bijkerk(?) My instructor in Jungian psychology, and it was my first year William James and I was very much interested in Carl Jung. So, I took a course specifically about him, that was tremendously rewarding. You'd spend a lot of time reading Jung, talking about Jung, and getting a handle on how these things related to art, symbols, and it was a wonderfully stimulating class. When it was over, I had a tutorial was Aimee (?) where I asked her: "What I am supposed to do this class--with this Jungian psychology?" [Rosemary] I was interested in therapy at the time, and I asked her: "How does a therapist work with all this information?" And she explained to me, which I understand more and more as I get older, I guess, that what you can do with this kind of information is that it helps you develop an attitude. That there isn't just one way to think through an idea. There isn't just one way of handling a problem. There are many ways, and there are many ways that are related to each other. There are things… there are ways in which schools of thought can overlap, and by diving into something in particular like Jung, you can work on… it sort of develops a sensitivity to the many ideas that there are in the world. Now, this to me later became an explanation for William James College as a whole. Because I have really developed an attitude, a way of thinking that where I feel capable of taking many things into account because of the integration of ideas. And I found this sensitivity added to approach to learning and to living that was very well rounded and took a variety of things and brought them together. Was what was happening at the college. [Barbara] One question on this tape. Then we'll probably change tapes and get you something to drink. [Rosemary] That would be great. [Barbara] Can you remember a class early on, or later on that – and this is not to gossip – but the experience where it just didn't work where you needed it to? [Rosemary] God, I might want to talk about that. Let me see… [Barbara] Because, it wasn't... [Inaudible] [Rosemary] Yeah. I had a class that I think was kind of an experiment. An experiment for everyone involved. This kind of thing was allowed to happen at William James, you know. Someone had an idea for great class, and they pulled in some students that were really interested with a real hook. Course title, you know, "Something in the Modern World" or whatever. So, I took a class, and I was a freshman then, that turned out to be very nebulous, and it was at a time in my �education where I needed to see how things fit together quite directly. I was dealing with some very metaphysical ideas and I didn't, you know, I wasn't told not to take this class. But anyways, I took it. Had to write papers about something I had no confidence writing about – this was psychology. It was the history of psychology. It was pulling together many schools of thought in a way that had no glue. And people were very… there were some very intellectual things going on there that were working for some people, and not for everyone in the class. I wasn't alone, but I found the whole experience very stifling. [Rosemary] You know, we went through six to eight weeks before, you know, there'd be a break where I might say to someone: "Gee, this isn't sinking in." And they say: "Oh, I don't get it either!" You know, so we had… but, interestingly I did get some papers out. What I wrote about was my problems with the class. I expressed why I was having problems, and this broke down some barrier of silence I was having. The instructors paid attention to my complaints. We talked about them. We talked about them in the tutorial. I still feel like I didn't learn very much, but I struck up some real conversations with people as to why. And I met a lot of people who were going through similar experience. There was still a community, you know, a forum for some real communication. Which was going on all the time. So, you don't really regret experiences like that. But it was unusual. [Barbara] Would you like to stop for a minute? [Rosemary] Yeah. [Barbara] It's going very well. [Rosemary] Yeah. Juice! [Barbara] Okay. Something that's really important to talk about is what happened when you went on the East Coast in terms of your education? [Rosemary] Right. Well, I went out to New York… [Camera operator] [Rosemary] Fine. [Camera operator] [Barbara] Wait a minute, let me stop this here. Because we are almost out of tape here. It would be lousy to stop. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16_GVSU_01_Willey Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Willey, Rosemary Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Rosemary Willey interview (1 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Rosemary Willey by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Rosemary Willey was a student of William James College from 1977 to 1982. In this interview, Rosemary discusses her time being a part of the William James community, in addition to her internship and work with documentary filmmaker, Leo Hurwitz. This interview is part 1 of 3 for Rosemary Willey. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Hurwitz, Leo T., 1909-1991 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/da0dae65d028c44cf8b48e6596186ffa.pdf d943c29ad572c127209b20280dd8759d PDF Text Text Annals of Psychology: Social Distancing for the Roaring 20’s Holly Bihlman | December 4, 2020 Social House Tavern in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, directly across the street from GR’s largest concert venue, sits on the corner of Monroe Ave and Fulton, bustling with drunk girls in heels draped in faux fur coats and boys desperately trying to get their numbers. The bouncers collect fake ID’s at the door and remind the party animals to keep their masks up on their face until seated at a table, or they will promptly be escorted (I use this term lightly) off the premises. The QR code for contact tracing implemented by Governor Gretchen Whitmer sits on a small stand-alone table by the door, prolonging the wait outside an extra three minutes for each guest to log their information into our system, and we do not have extra masks, so don’t forget yours in the Uber. I began working at the lively new bar, SOHO as we call it, a couple months ago coming off of a long quarantine and the unfamiliar threat of unemployment, desperately looking for a way to make rent. A friend of mine, Kendahl Overbeck, recommended the job to me and a few of our other friends, so now we run the place every Friday night. Kendahl’s regulars come in to see her consistently every weekend, and she smiles with her eyes since a big grin doesn’t get tips as well as it used to. As my first experience serving at a bar, sometimes I wonder why I chose the most dangerous time to be in such a highly populated bubble for ten hours every weekend, and then I wonder why all of us decided to do this. The truth is, in my experience, 20-something’s could care less about getting sick themselves because they’re invincible and will prioritize socializing over just about everything. It’s been done time and time again in movies and TV shows about �high schoolers and college students having unrealistically over-the-top experiences before they can legally drink. The culture of thrill-seeking is not an American trait though, it’s been proven scientifically that adolescents are in fact “Young, Dumb, and Broke” in the words of the famously free-spirited pop star, Khalid. Young adults are inherently risk-takers, and this has been wired into our brains through evolution, actually as a survival tactic, as ironic as that is at the moment. Kendahl, having recently become of legal drinking age, had an experience similar to mine at the beginning of the pandemic panic, losing her serving job of three years to the first hit on the economy. “My old job basically went bankrupt because of this pandemic, so I work at a bar now because it’s the easiest money I’ve ever made.” Coming home with upwards of $400 a night, cashing in a grand in one weekend sometimes, is what I would consider the easiest money I’ve ever made myself. But that’s not all; “It’s so fun; I do it on weekend nights and I don’t even have to go out because I go out when I’m working, and it’s incredible.” Sacrificing weekends of fun to be at work is no longer in our vocabulary, because the most fun I could be having is probably right there at work on our Fridays. Aside from the win-win situation we seem to have found ourselves in, just because the bar is opened back up doesn’t mean the virus disappeared over night; in fact, it’s actually skyrocketing again as we enter the annual sick-day season. Millennials and Gen Zs have contributed to the most COVID cases to date, and on the surface, it may seem that reckless partying and the infamous spring breakers of 2020 are the sole reason for this upward slope. On the contrary, several factors have contributed to the increase in younger COVID-positive cases, including older people staying in more as well as increased testing nationwide. Big cities with largely young populations have seen a spike in cases because of the availability of bars and social gathering hotspots, like Seattle. The New York Times published a report in June on the “disturbing” amount of cases appearing: “In King County, Wash., people in their 20s and 30s make up about 45 percent of new Coronavirus cases— a �number that was 25 percent in March.” Spring break hot spots like Dallas have also seen these same spikes, reporting ages 18-40 now make up 52 percent of new cases as opposed to the 38 percent reported for this age bracket in March. California law enforcement has taken a beating trying to deflect massive house parties in the hills, causing government officials to take extensive action against the unstoppable force of the underdeveloped frontal cortexes. The LA Times covered a press conference from Mayor Eric Garcetti in August, clearly fed up with these disturbances; “Wednesday night [Garcetti] authorized shutting off water and electricity service to homes that had repeatedly hosted large parties in defiance of the ban on gatherings.” These “nightclubs in the hills” have replaced the socially restrictive bars and clubs that young adults occupied on the weekends, causing more asymptomatic spreading than we’ve seen yet. To add some clarity to the situation, humans have always been naturally party animals. Neuroscientists and psychologists have been studying what makes humans such social beings in comparison to our close relatives, chimpanzees, since Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection. There are lots of scientific explanations for our social differences from any other species on Earth, and it isn’t because of our massive brain size. It actually comes down to one specific part of the brain that continues to develop through our 20’s, leaving young adults more prone to irrational decision making. A psychologist from North Carolina explained this gap in judgement in an interview with Business Insider framing the 20-something’s for being behind the Coronavirus’ unstoppable force: “Much of the brain's restructuring during this time occurs in the frontal cortex… During this development… young people rely more on their amygdala, the fight or flight part of the brain, for decision-making.” Because of this underdeveloped, crucial part of the human brain, adolescents are more selfish when they make decisions, too. This is why the younger populations have been taking the brunt of the blame for the consistent and more threatening spread of the disease now that winter is approaching. �There is an alternate explanation for these correlating statistics though— Rebbecca Renner published an article in September for National Geographic reporting on the number of COVIDpositive cases young generations have been causing, not due to their partying, but due to the essential workforce. If you think about this, judgement aside, what we have mutually agreed upon as a country is that the most able-bodied people right now are young adults, and the fact of the matter is, we need a running economy. The stimulus check sent out to people making a certain amount of income did not cover students that filed as dependents on their taxes— AKA— most young adults either still in college or still looking for a steady job. Therefore, in order to maintain an able America, people need the essential workers to keep businesses open and the younger generations need employment. Kendahl and I know this feeling all too well after losing our jobs to bankruptcy earlier in the year; “Because we’re a small business and I have bills to pay, I can’t wait for them [SOHO] to open because I need an income. I have rent and groceries and clothes.” Us able-bodied citizens of America are working right now because we have to, so the risk we’re taking is not exactly as optional as it may seem. The ongoing divergence between the hourly rates in states across America and the cost of housing is continually putting college students and young adults in this impossible situation. Even when not in the midst of a pandemic, Millennials were already crying out for some help to pay their bills at age 25. Renner’s hot take on the matter offers this alternate perspective on the rampant rise in positive cases; “So while younger generations are being blamed, in some quarters, for the pandemic’s spread, they are bearing the greatest burden of poverty and the brunt of the transmission risk that comes with keeping the economy going, all with little help in sight.” Although the partying and socialization are putting lives at risk, the opposite side of the coin shows a much more sympathetic approach to the blame Millennial’s and Gen Z’s have taken this year. College students and recent college grads work at coffee shops, restaurants, bars, retail stores and other minimum wage jobs if they aren’t already working in their field, and when �thousands of these establishments had to close, us already struggling college students had to scramble to make up for lost stimulus money. Kendahl makes the incredibly overlooked point, “I hate working for an hourly rate because it’s not a lot of money. I would have to work so much and all the time to pay my bills every month, versus working two days a week at SOHO. I also have savings, but I’m going to med school and I want to study abroad.” The overarching problem here is not the irresponsible distribution of priorities on our end, it is the inflation we’re battling that prevents us from the success we seek after graduation. “This scarcity [of jobs] places younger adults in a lose-lose situation: If they can find employment, many feel compelled to take it even if it means putting themselves at risk,” said Renner. Now, somehow it seems Kendahl and I might find ourselves in a lose-lose situation, contemplating if the risk of the virus is worth the reward. Inevitably it seems, this past November I got the dreaded call back from the doctor’s office after convincing myself for the previous 48 hours that I was, of course, negative. “So, unfortunately your test did come back positive.” Words that you may not think would scare you until you hear them yourself. I was one of the lucky “invincible” ones; though, COVID has been known to do unsuspecting damage on people in my age bracket regardless of well-kept health. I gave the virus to my friend and coworker, Abby Ditmar, to which she later commented at the bar once we were both healthy saying, “Last time I gave you a hug I got COVID, but I think you’re good now.” The humiliating and ostracizing experience forced me to take a different perspective; making sure I was more aware of who I could’ve spread it to became the most guilt-inducing anxiety I had ever experienced. Abby and I both survived the dreaded disease; however, there’s something to be said for the loneliness and mental exhaustion in the isolating experience. The interesting situation we found ourselves in here was that neither of us took into consideration where we might’ve gotten the virus, we just assumed the bar was the culprit. What we had not �considered was that Abby may have gotten it from her second job at our local grocery store and given it to me; leaving Meijer as another possible suspect. Who’s to say that we contracted the virus from the bar, each other, or a grocery store? We certainly didn’t get it partying with friends, and our masks are up at all times while working, unlike our seated customers. The possibility that the vast majority of these rising percentages and statistics proving the 20-something’s of America are causing the COVID spikes nationwide, could be coming from the essential businesses we so desperately want open. Although we may look to psychology for answers in defense of our young friends at the bars, maybe we should be looking more towards the risk our essential workforce is taking in order to keep our landlords happy. The risk has always been taking on higher rent payments and more monthly bills for Millennials, and it’s soon to be Generation Z’s. Adding a pandemic onto the pressure of working at Meijer or a downtown bar to get through the month’s bills after already having been laid off before the age of 21 doesn’t have much to do with partying, it has to do with our ability to work and our willingness to take risks. So why did I decide to work at a bar during a pandemic? I’m willing to take the risk so someone else doesn’t have to. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-25_BihlmanHolly Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bihlman, Holly Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-25 Title A name given to the resource Social Distancing for the Roaring 20's Description An account of the resource GVSU student Holly Bihlman used this piece in her Intermediate Magazine Writing class, mimicking a New Yorker style "Annals of" piece. It pertains to how 20 year olds have had to be the backbone of the essential workforce, but are taking the brunt of the blame for COVID's spread through partying. My take comes from working at a bar downtown and actually getting a positive test result back in November. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eeddeb170e06b32c61363fb953eefc1a.pdf 3c69f21e1334e9dcbf0bf183ee02d51d PDF Text Text Letter From Denmark – Final Draft Griffin Amrein WRT 365 As of today, the United States has experienced over ten-million cases of coronavirus infection, and many individuals have died as a result of the rampant spread. As we walk through the public streets, once filled with care-free groups of people, now populated only by spaced out individuals wearing monotonous masks, many of us begin to question if things will ever return to normal, or what normal may even look like. For many countries, the coronavirus was background news until it was too late. Nobody in the crowds could foresee what was to come, and it was shocking. Some people, however, did see at the beginning what was in store for us, and were able to prepare accordingly. Perhaps if only certain small factors were changed, there would be a drastic change, and the infection rates could have been slowed enough for the rest of the lockdown to be mild in comparison to what it is now, and lives could be saved before ever being put at risk. Well, hindsight is always 20/20, especially in the year 2020, and now tens of millions around the globe are feeling the consequences of a pandemic. However, there is a place in Europe that boasts remarkably low statistics compared to most other countries. Although the peninsula mainland of Jutland lies just above Germany, the Kingdom of Denmark stretches its dominion across hundreds of northern islands of Scandinavia and the Atlantic, even including Iceland and Greenland. It is home to over 5.8 million people, about half of whom inhabit the island of Zealand. The coastal capital city of Copenhagen is slightly smaller in population than Detroit and is zig-zagged by bustling canals and characterized by centuries- �old architecture surrounded by colorful apartments often no taller than 4 stories. It is a very welloff nation with a uniquely modern infrastructure that is built upon about one thousand years of rich cultural history, in fact it isn’t an uncommon sight to see a brand-new Tesla parked down the street from a Medieval castle. Denmark is a relatively homogenous yet accepting country with a reputation of being one of the most enjoyable places to live. The citizens are patriotic and proud, but are knowledgeable of world affairs, mostly fluent in English and other foreign languages, and enjoy the ability to travel across Europe with ease. The country’s geography makes for polarized weather with the pleasant summer days experiencing frequent alternations between rain and sun, and the cold winters seeing extra-long nights. When the weather is good, the natural beauty of the landscape is highlighted, and the citizens take advantage of this by enjoying the forests, rivers, and grasslands which are often closely blended into urban areas. The Danish love the outdoors and use their bicycles as a method of transportation just as much as they use cars. The natives of Denmark are relatively healthy and have a stereotype for being blonde haired and tall with slender bodies and, despite being huge consumers of sweets (which are likely more licoricebased than most Americans are used to), this stereotype is largely based in reality. Despite technically being one of the few remaining monarchies in Europe, there is a parliamentary system of representative democracy which puts political power mostly in the hands of the people’s vote and elected officials. Denmark has been referenced a lot in American politics as an ideal of democratic-socialists such as Bernie Sanders, and with a high tax rate that is used to fund public education, healthcare, and welfare, as well as great concern for carbon emissions and recycling, the country certainly has a “one-for-all” mentality. �With this in mind, it should be no surprise that Danish citizens were quick to react to the threat of a global pandemic. As the virus spread through the world, Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to initiate quarantine measures. In early March, 2020, most people around the world would have thought that closing down schools, universities, borders, and public gatherings was an extreme over-reaction, but shortly after it became clear that the rest of the world would have to follow in the footsteps of countries such as Denmark. In addition, Denmark has a government funded health care system which allows a higher number of people to seek free help if they believe they may be infected. In the United States, finances are something one typically must consider if they believe they may be infected, so this is likely a discouraging factor for many Americans to get a test, especially if they are unsure about their symptoms. As is the same for any case study, however, only time will tell how successful any of the quarantine measures will be in the long term. With so many factors at play, it is hard to paint a full picture of how widespread the effects of the Coronavirus are, have been, and will be. Despite this, looking at the data can help us get some context of our current situation. What we can learn from the data as of November 12, is that there are/have been 10,708,728 cases of Coronavirus infection in the United States, and four percent of these cases were fatal for the afflicted. Germany, the second most populated country in Europe and Denmark’s southern neighbor, has accounted for 726,176 cases of infection, with three percent of the cases ending fatally. In relatively small Denmark, the number of Coronavirus cases reaches 57,952 with only two percent (753) of them ending fatally. The number of active cases per day in both Germany and Denmark follow a somewhat similar curve when graphed over time with a sudden spike over the last few months, but while Germany’s curve has begun to wane in recent weeks, Denmark’s is �actually dropping. Compared to both, the United States has seen a steadier increase in the number of active cases, going up with a slight wave motion (Worldometer). Despite having access to this information, it is a more complicated endeavor to make sense of it in a real-world context. Numbers can often times mislead, and when it comes to COVID-19, Denmark might seem safer than other countries. It is important to remember that there are more factors than one can possibly think of that determine the infection rate of a disease like this. Learning from a first-hand source may help to clear the fog. Lars Zeiger is a Swedish-born citizen of Denmark whose named I made up for the sake of privacy. He is an educated, middle aged and middle-class single father who lives in an apartment with his teenage son and daughter in a small urban town about 30 minutes away from Copenhagen. A former professional swimmer, he’s energetic and jubilant, and has his family speak English around the house every Sunday to strengthen their fluency. Contrary to the data, Lars takes the virus very seriously. On a scale from one to ten, he described the threat of infection to be around eight or nine worldwide, and a solid nine in his country, although it reacted quickly. Perhaps he gives the danger such a high estimate because he knows the potential for infection in a country with so little open space. Like anywhere else, the Danes made many sacrifices for quarantine measures. Business has taken a similar hit to the United States, with many businesses closing down or having employees work from home. The recent growth in their tourism industry was projected to continue increasing in 2020, so when the virus made its appearance, the economy had already begun to shift in the direction of accommodations for overseas visitors. Many brand-new hotels were never inhabited and money was quickly drained away. The government is extending financial support to companies, but only if they had good earnings in recent years. To keep �people from crowding, only one person per family may enter certain shops at a time, however education seems to have been prioritized as much more essential with schools operating relatively unchanged. Lars remains a positive man during this and says that life in Denmark is still pretty good. Perhaps this type of satisfaction is one reason why the populous was so willing to comply with governmental restrictions. “Our government has been very keen on having an honest and good dialog with the press.” Lars insists, “The people here in [Denmark] are very pro the government in how they act.” He states that press conferences are regular with a number of important officials and health experts, allowing for a more open dialogue directly with the country. Lars points out that Sweden, which is another country known for its higher than average rates of happiness, chose the path of less restrictions. To consult the data again, Sweden has less than twice the population of Denmark but accounts for more than eight times the number of infected citizens (Worldometer). Until a day comes when things can settle back into a sense of new normalcy, people just like Lars across the world can only wait. Although there is room for differing opinions on how to proceed, we cannot pretend the crisis is over, or that it does not exist. To do so would circumvent the problem rather than defeating it. It is impossible for a single opinion to prevail over a global disease, and this is why the world must unite. Amidst divisions seeming to widen in the United States and in the world, we must remain vigilant of the fact that it is not person versus person; it is people versus the Coronavirus problem. What can we do about a problem but live in sacrifice for the good of others? From Copenhagen, to Wuhan, to New York, all people must work together in this challenging time. �Works Cited “Denmark.” Worldometer, 12 Nov. 2020, www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/denmark/. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-14_AmreinGriffin Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Amrein, Griffin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-14 Title A name given to the resource Letter From Denmark Description An account of the resource A news article by GVSU student Griffin Amrein about the situation of COVID-19 in Denmark contrasted with other worldwide countries. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e9776c2ad66b962a9e30048940cd6a19.pdf 62169714d67f5ca04094e334174c918d PDF Text Text Grace Secontine COVID-19 Journaling Project Date: March 18-now Human touch. Our first form of communication. It connects us when we are happy, bolsters us in times of fear, excites us in times of passion ... and love, we need that touch from the ones we love almost as much as we need air to breath. I always understood the importance of touch during normal times, but now since the COVID-19 pandemic is happening, now I cannot understand the importance of touch... Until it got stolen from all of us…. Including me. The pandemic has changed my life in so many ways. For example, for my 22nd birthday, my original plan before the pandemic happened was, I was supposed to have the day off from work and go out to dinner with my friends, but instead, I celebrated my 22nd birthday in quarantine. Before my dad got sick on March 18th, he said, “I am going to someone’s house for a gathering.” I said, “ok, see you tomorrow.” On March 19th, he came home not feeling well and he went to urgent care and when he came home he said, “Gracie, I tested positive for COVID, but the doctor told me that I have mild symptoms.” I called my mom about it and she said, “Grace, I want you to quarantine at dad’s till he feels better. I love you very much and I will see you soon.” I was the only one who had to take care of my dad. I was also finishing my junior year of college as well. My mental state during quarantine was not too good. I had nightmares that my dad was at Beaumont Hospital on a ventilator and not breathing. Some nights I had breakdowns because I missed my mom so much. I spent 3 ½ months at my dads and my mental health took a toll by not seeing my friends but instead zooming them on a computer. I was scared that my friends were going to get sick and die. I had hallucinations during quarantine that one of my best friends was in the hospital and the nurse telling me that he is going to die the next day and I remember screaming and crying while I was in my room. How does it really feel preparing to go back to a college campus during a pandemic? It is unsafe and risky. The week before Grand Valley’s classes started, I decided to stay home and do online classes because I didn’t feel safe going back to a college campus. If I were on campus and got COVID, who would take care of me? Also, I would share a bathroom with my roommate, which I think is unsanitary because I do not want her germs to be in contact with mine. My parents and friends told me that I made the smart decision by not going on campus this semester. I plan to go �Grace Secontine COVID-19 Journaling Project Date: March 18-now on campus in January once hopefully COVID is under control. Young people especially college students are putting their own lives at risk by being around people that are from different states across the U.S. and who knows if they were in any type of large gathering over the summer and exposed to someone who was sick with COVID. This school year is different because of fall sports being cancelled due to COVID-19 and not a single fraternity party on a weekend. I was unemployed during the pandemic until June 9th. When I went back to work in June, I thought to myself, “I am putting my own health at risk by being around customers.” I was also nervous to wear a face mask because I did not know what people would say to me. My friend Michael McInerney told me that I am brave that I went back to work and he said, “I wish I could hug you, but I can’t.” I said, “I know.” It almost brought tears to my eyes that I could not even hug my friend. When my friend Jack Reinhart came in, he recognized me, and he could tell that I was smiling beneath my face mask. I said to him, “I didn’t want any guy from Seaholm to see me. You know, me wearing a face mask, I think it’s not cute.” I told him that I did not want them to ask me why I must wear one. He said, “I think it's cute!” Throughout the whole summer, I bonded with a lot of my co-workers including Amelia, Ellen, TC, Bre, Chase, Selena, Jalen, Sophie, and Trent. They know what I have been going through lately, and they understand. Whenever I am feeling down, Trent, TC, and Chase always make me laugh (a lot) until my face is beat red. Trent and I got really close until he had to transfer to another location, and we are still close. They made my summer memorable despite COVID. One day after work, I hung out with my friend Jack Reinhart. We both wore masks when we walked around Downtown Birmingham. After we ate dinner, we went back to his house and we talked. He told me something funny that happened at his internship office today and I started smiling. He said, “there’s that smile. God your beautiful and brave. I wish I could touch you.” I said, “like giving me a hug?” He said, “yes.” I told him that everyone lost that human touch like hugging their friends. My co-workers and I hung out on weekends and sometimes one weekday after work, we went out to get food, despite being six feet apart and not hugging them. I have been separating myself from large crowds of people so I can live. And I want to live. I wake up every morning thinking to myself, “how am I surviving this pandemic?” After all COVID-19 has stolen from us, I do not mind taking something back. 1 foot. (I am talking about the 6 feet �Grace Secontine COVID-19 Journaling Project Date: March 18-now apart rule). The one thing I learned from this pandemic is get close to the people you love and the people you work with. The COVID-19 pandemic has likely brought many changes to how you live your life, and with it uncertainty, altered daily routines, financial pressures and social isolation. You may worry about getting sick, how long the pandemic will last, whether you'll lose your job, and what the future will bring. Information overload, rumors and misinformation can make your life feel out of control and make it unclear what to do. During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may experience stress, anxiety, fear, sadness and loneliness. And mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, can worsen. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-10-27_SecontineGrace Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Secontine, Grace Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-10-27 Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journaling Project Description An account of the resource Journal of GVSU student Grace Secontine's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fc7e6fdb95d5d6a70a488f0ee67d6e69.pdf 264147d0e8f7d048dfafd75e8c6321a5 PDF Text Text Day 325. Saturday January 30. 155 sleeps to go. by windoworks I have asked friends and families to describe how the pandemic affected their working conditions and how and if it will have changed working conditions in the future. First up is my oldest child, Zar, who works at an online national news publication as a front page editor. New Zealand has been very lucky through the global Covid pandemic as after its lockdown in March (and a smaller, milder lockdown for Auckland for a couple of weeks in August) under the elimination strategy, life has been able to return to pre-virus ‘normal’ very quickly. While we have no community transmission of the virus, the work environment here has returned to what it was before the pandemic, but there is one main difference - the expanded acceptance of working from home. In the lockdown, most companies with office roles adjusted to working remotely. Many workers set up home offices and logged into work from there. Here again New Zealand is lucky as several years back it completed the roll-out of an national ultra-fast broadband network (UFB) to most areas, so people could hook up to fiber internet connections at speeds ranging upwards from 100mbps. This has made working remotely easy. With the experience of successful remote working from the national lockdown, many companies have embraced this as an option for employees - especially useful for staff with sick children or having to work unsociable hours. Another advantage of working remotely in the lockdown is that people can very quickly set up their home offices again if needed to in another lockdown situation - such as the milder lockdown in Auckland in August. �Kiwis have become quite adept at moving quickly to observe restrictions or lockdowns when needed, and the Government has invested huge sums in controls to keep the virus out. Here people refer to it as “putting in the mahi” (work) so they can then enjoy the results of this, living restriction-free. Thankfully, some of the people putting in the most valuable mahi are the contact tracing teams and Covid testers. As inevitable, we have had a few sparse cases where the virus has infected a border worker or returnee, who has ventured into the public (*See below). The contract tracing teams have been able to swing into action and ring-fence those very quickly, moving them and any close contacts into quarantine facilities with no need for further action. Fast testing, available free of charge around the country, was also ramped up, and quick results from large amounts of tests meant there have been no changes to restrictions or work environments. If further action is needed in the future, Kiwis will act together in our “team of 5 million”. *New Zealand’s borders are closed. Only New Zealanders have a right of entry, but must complete a minimum 14 days of isolation in a managed isolation facility (MIQ), with at least four consecutive negative Covid tests. The requirements are free. Foreigners (quite often film crews and deep-sea fishers, and, in some instances medical personnel) can apply for entry and if granted, must also complete managed isolation, but must also pay for it - in some cases many thousands of dollars. Its both interesting and a bit depressing to read how organized and efficient New Zealand has been at managing the virus. You may say: well their total population is only 5M, and that is a good point, but their �success is also an indication of the calm authority at the top - Prime Minister Jacinda Arden. A constant refrain to my question - why can’t we do that? Is: that would never happen here. And then the respondent usually refers to the Constitution. It makes no difference if I point out that as far as I know, every country in the world has a governing document similar to the US Constitution, because apparently our US one is special. Now I could delve into a long discussion about the Constitution and the law and I would point out that the sole purpose of the US Supreme Court is to interpret challenges to the Constitution - but that’s another blogpost. We haven’t been able to organize around the pandemic nationally because we didn’t have a national leader willing to take on responsibility for the safe passage of this country through this time. And right now, the Constitution seems under virulent attack by insurrectionists and coup leaders - and a large number of Republican Representatives and Senators seem to be aiding and abetting them. We now have a calm steady hand on the tiller in the White House, ably assisted by a diverse group of talented people who are working hard for the common good. Meanwhile, the truly disturbed (and I mean that in the mental health sense) and disaffected are doing their very best to tear up the Constitution and establish a dictatorship or monarchy in this country. Why, I hear you ask? The age old reasons - money and power. And because it popped into my head and seemed so appropriate, I offer this from ABBA: Money, money, money Must be funny In the rich man's world Money, money, money Always sunny In the rich man's world Aha aha All the things I could do If I had a little money It's a rich man's world It's a rich man's world From Heather Cox Richardson’s daily FB post: That anyone is trying to downplay that attempt to destroy the central principle of our democracy—fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power-- is appalling. And yet, Republican lawmakers are doing just that. Within the party, the pro-Trump faction and the business faction are struggling to take control. Those in the business wing of the party are not moderates: they are determined to destroy the government regulation, social welfare legislation, and public infrastructure programs that a majority of Americans like. �But they are not openly white supremacists or adherents of the QAnon conspiracy, the way that Trump’s vocal supporters are. And the absolute queen of the QAnon Republican Representatives is News & Guts: In addition to all her wacky conspiracy theories (Newtown school shooting was a “false flag” for example), Marjorie Taylor Greene has also made many bigoted comments. The latest post to surface came from Media Matters reporter Eric Hananoki who found the Georgia Congresswoman blamed the 2018 Camp Fire in California on the Rothchilds, a prominent Jewish family, and lasers beamed from space. Greene has expressed overt and more subtle antisemitic theories over time. In 2018 she shared a video, also on Facebook, that lambasted “Zionist supremacists” and advanced the “great replacement” theory, which falsely alleges that Jews are conspiring to undermine white-majority countries by bringing in nonwhite immigrants. At a minimum, she should be denied committee assignments and shunned by GOP donors. Other options include reprimand, censure or expulsion, particularly if she remains unapologetic or dodgy about her hatefilled views. Throughout history, Democrats and Republicans have both had fringe or corrupt members in their midst. How GOP leaders deal with someone so obviously unfit for office will speak volumes about the party’s values. If the US Constitution is our ruling document, how are House and Senate Republican members who took the mandatory oath of office abiding by it? I do solemnly swear and affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God. All enemies, foreign and domestic. Well that’s clearly stated and I rather think QAnon might fall under the domestic enemy category. But watching from the sidelines and after I watched an interview with Peter Meijer yesterday (a Republican Representative), I knew the Republican Party is tearing itself apart. Rep Meijer said how very disturbed he was by the behavior of the majority of the Republican Representatives and Senators. He is a newly elected member and he was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. His life has changed significantly. He wears body armor, he has security guards and he has had to vary his daily routine. Apparently, especially in Washington D.C., we are now living in a war zone. Remember how everyone laughed when a lot of women worried that the Day of the Handmaid was coming. With women such as Majorie Taylor Greene occupying a seat in the government, I can’t imagine what might happen next. And here’s this: �Washington Post The two pipe bombs that were discovered on Jan. 6 near the U.S. Capitol shortly before a mob stormed the building are believed to have been planted the night before, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation and video footage obtained by The Washington Post. The explosive devices, which were placed blocks from one another at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, have been largely overshadowed by the violent attempted insurrection at the Capitol. But finding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who last week boosted the reward for tips leading to the person’s arrest from $50,000 to $75,000. The FBI said its agents are “using every tool in our toolbox” and have interviewed more than 1,000 residents and business owners in the neighborhood where the devices were found. On Friday morning, the FBI released additional information that confirmed The Post’s reporting about the timing of the placement of the bombs and raised the reward offered to $100,000. The video footage of the person planting the bombs is online. You can watch all the clips for yourself. And then there’s this: Washington Post Complex, overlapping layers of security and a growing distance from the American public have led successive presidents to label the White House “the crown jewel of the federal penitentiary system.” But the mansion may have competition for the title if an immediately controversial proposal goes through at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Days after apologizing for her agency’s “failings” in keeping the Congress secure on Jan. 6 against a rampaging mob whipped up by Donald Trump, acting Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman called for permanent fencing at the House and Senate. “In light of recent events, I can unequivocally say that vast improvements to the physical security infrastructure must be made to include permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, back-up forces in close proximity to the Capitol,” Pittman said in a statement. And to have the final word on this subject, from Heather Cox Richardson: In all my years of studying U.S. politics, seamy side and all, I never expected to see the name of an American president in the New York Times in a list comparing him to Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. But then, I never expected to see an American president urge a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol to overturn an election, either. Two posters about Covid which say it all, really. ��Oliver, to cheer you up. �To finish: its a Bernie meme. How long did it take you to find him? �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-30_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-325 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-30 Title A name given to the resource Day 325 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b49b27a9859df77d58b680f5afc1966e.pdf f97aba625b0081c8143485e18b7a457e PDF Text Text Day 324 by windoworks You can’t make this stuff up. Well okay, its that sort of morning. First up: the virus. How did it get here from China, I hear you ask? Well..... Washington Post The first American evacuees from Wuhan, China, were met at a California military base last year by U.S. health officials with no virus prevention plan or infection control training — and who had not even been told to wear masks, according to a federal investigation. Later, those officials were told to remove protective gear when meeting with the evacuees, who were quarantined at the base, to avoid “bad optics.” Those are among the findings of two federal reports obtained by The Washington Post, supporting a whistleblower’s account of the chaos as U.S. officials scrambled to greet nearly 200 evacuees from Wuhan at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., in the early morning of Jan. 29, 2020. Well that certainly falls into the ‘nothing surprises me anymore’ category. Apparently watching and learning from the Chinese approach to the virus was not part of the brief. Really, you could be overwhelmed by how poorly the US was prepared and how badly the people in charge misread the danger. And what do viruses do best apart from move swiftly from person to person? That’s right - they mutate. Crooked Media tells it best: South Carolina health officials announced on Thursday that they had confirmed two cases of the South African coronavirus variant, the first report of that variant being identified in the U.S. Neither person infected with the strain had traveled to South Africa or had any connection with each other, suggesting that the variant, known as B.1.351 (catchy; memorable; Elon Musk has added it to his list of baby names), is already spreading around the state. This strain is 50 percent more contagious than your garden-variety coronavirus, has caused a large and rapid increase of new cases in South Africa, and has now been found in at least 32 countries. But wait - is that more? The sudden arrival of extra-spreadable new variants has exposed yet another weak spot in the late-stage Jenga tower that is U.S. pandemic preparedness: We have no way to track these suckers. The U.S. has no nationwide system for checking coronavirus genomes for new mutations; researchers at a patchwork of �labs across the country currently conduct genome sequencing on just a few-thousands samples per week, out of roughly 1.4 million positive tests. And this: Why are all these spooky new strains showing up all of a sudden?” you ask, slightly muffled by your double-mask situation. The specifics are still unclear, but the basic answer is evolution. The virus has been mutating all along, and thanks to our global failure to contain it, it’s had ample time to wind up with significant genetic diversity. Some of those mutations have provided an adaptive advantage enabling strains to spread faster—which is why we’re now faced with variants that are better at infecting people or at dodging the human immune system in similar ways. It’s possible (but not yet proven) that the coronavirus has evolved in response to increasing human immunity: A variant that’s good at evading antibodies wouldn’t have had an advantage at the beginning of the pandemic, when everyone’s immune system was totally defenseless. In places where many people had been infected and developed some level of immunity, though, those variants could quickly become dominant. So, double mask people. And now a new recommendation: a surgical mask (KN95) with a cloth mask over the top. Okay then. I may never go into a store again. I have become a hermit. I only venture out in our car. Craig takes me out almost every day for a drive. There isn’t a single part of the Grand Rapids area and beyond we haven’t seen multiple times. Sometimes we drive around areas in the opposite direction, just for a change. Very occasionally I make us a packed lunch of some sort and we venture further afield Silver Lake or Saugatuck. In the future I may never make another packed lunch again. T hen the highlight of each day is: what to make for dinner thats new and exciting and that we haven’t eaten at least 20 times over the past 10 months. Our family book club has begun swapping a recipe a week, although Elle’s margarita recipe this week is not actually food. In other news, a thing called Game Stop happened and rather than try to explain it, here’s something that explains it You’ll need to blow it up to read it, sorry. ��This next piece is from Move On. MoveOn is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 in response to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton by the U.S. House of Representatives, MoveOn.org has raised millions of dollars for liberal candidates in the United States of America. Wikipedia Also yesterday, the Capitol Police announced the January 6 white supremacist insurrection left nearly 140 officers injured, including some who suffered brain injuries or smashed spinal discs. And in addition to the five people, including one officer, who died in the attack, two additional officers present during the siege have since died by suicide. Which leads us to an interesting (worrying, scary) piece from NPR about QAnon: Now that former President Donald Trump has left office, the community of believers in the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory are left wondering what will happen next. Washington Post national technology reporter Craig Timberg has written about QAnon and related subjects in recent months. He acknowledges that it can be hard to sum up exactly what QAnon is. "Our copy editors [at the Post] are questioning whether we should call it a 'conspiracy theory' or an 'extremist ideology,' " Timberg tells Fresh Air. "Some researchers think it's a cult. Some think it's an alternative reality game." The gist of QAnon is that there is a person who goes by the pseudonym "Q" who is supposedly a top-secret official in the U.S. government. Q posts cryptic online messages about the "truth" of what's really happening in the world. QAnon proponents believe that Trump was battling a cabal of deep-state actors and their celebrity allies who were, in turn, engaged in satanic worship and pedophilia. Are you with me so far? People who believe in this then take those sort of cryptic messages shared among themselves, analyze it, and then have sort of become a community of fellow travelers in this stuff that seems so crazy to many of us, but actually is a really animating force in a lot of people's lives and has been for years," Timberg says. QAnon supporters, Timberg notes, regard Trump "not merely as their president and leader, but also as essentially a messiah." People with QAnon paraphernalia were well represented in the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. "[They believed that] Trump was going to stay in office, that he had really won the election, that the various baseless claims of election fraud were going to be proven true and acted upon," Timberg says. "And that a bunch of Democrats [were] going to be rounded up and arrested and, depending on which version of this you believed, shot or hung." Hang in there. �Trump's departure from the White House and Joe Biden's inauguration as president left many QAnon followers angry and confused. After the mob stormed the Capitol, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube on Jan. 6 banned Trump — and social media platforms targeted QAnon as well. Timberg predicts that pushback from the social media giants will likely mean fewer people will be engaged with QAnon but that the supporters who remain will be even more impassioned. "Researchers have been saying to me for weeks that … the QAnon believers whose beliefs survive the inauguration of President Biden are likely to be more committed. They're likely to be more fervent and more conspiratorial," Timberg says. "There is a real danger that what we'll see is a somewhat smaller but maybe more fervent and maybe more hateful and maybe more stealthy remnant that remains a force in our political life for years to come — and maybe also engages in acts of violence." OMG and WTF! On what Q supporters think is next, now that Trump has left office I would say they fall into two broad categories: There are those who believe that "the great storm" is still coming in some way, shape or form, even though President Biden is now in office. And I guess there's two iterations of this. One is President Trump is secretly in charge and controlling events from Mar-a-Lago. I guess the other is that there's a new date, March 4, which was the original inauguration date in this country, was done away with, I believe, in the '30s, and that when March 4 arrives, Donald Trump will swoop back in and say, "I've been president all along, I'm taking a second term," and then the mass arrests and the coming storm all happen then. So we'll have to see what happens to that group when that day comes and goes. But then there's an even more angry kind of dead-ender group that is feeling as though this central tenets of QAnon about pedophilia and Satan worshipping, etc., have been true all along, that Donald Trump was not maybe the messiah they thought he was, and that they're sort of like preparing for a longer struggle. Of all the groups, that one kind of scares me, because they're really doubling down on the most terrifying parts of these prophecies. I had heard snatches of this and combined with the domestic terrorism alert, this makes this horror story real. I said to my counselor (and yes, in a pandemic in this country,everyone needs a counselor) I feel as though I’m living in the middle of a really badly made science fiction movie and all I want to do lately is just scream. No, really. So even though Biden is President and working as fast as he can to help us all, the dangerous committed loonies are still out there, in the midst of a mutating viral pandemic. Are we near the end of the movie yet? I’m exhausted at watching it through my fingers and humming loudly during the really scary parts. �Well okay, Oliver. Yesterday he was well enough to go to daycare. They played with a big tub of crumbly dough and Oliver and a friend eventually climbed into the tub with the crumbly dough. As you do. ���So double masks and be very careful out there. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-29_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-324 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-29 Title A name given to the resource Day 324 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/74241e8103c223a06968b1af80601d2a.pdf 5e41c54a9b0ebf83c8d04416dc3c441e PDF Text Text Day 323 by windoworks I have noticed a disconcerting development. Some days like this morning, I woke up and thought its Sunday. Of course its actually Thursday. Not sure why this is happening and what it means. So where are we on this Blursday? First up: And as a very scary follow up to that, this dropped into my inbox last night : Washington Post The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning Wednesday to alert the public about a growing risk of attacks by “ideologically-motivated violent extremists” agitated about President Biden’s inauguration and “perceived grievances fueled by false narratives.” �DHS periodically issues such advisories through its National Terrorism Advisory System, but the warnings have typically been generated by elevated concerns about attacks by foreign governments or radical groups, not domestic extremists. In a statement, the department said the purpose of the new bulletin was to warn the public about a “heightened threat environment” across the United States “that is likely to persist over the coming weeks.” The bulletin is a lesser-status warning designed to alert the public about general risks, rather than an imminent attack linked to a specific threat. DHS does not have any information to indicate a specific, credible plot; however, violent riots have continued in recent days and we remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologicallymotivated actors to incite or commit violence,” the statement read. The most recent bulletins DHS has issued — both this month — warned the public about an elevated threat from Iran. No other bulletin in recent years has been issued to alert Americans about violence by domestic extremists. Throughout 2020, Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, nonviolent protest activity,” the bulletin states. “DVEs motivated by a range of issues, including anger over covid-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities.” It added: “DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities.” The new bulletin will remain in place through April 30. This bulletin (scary warning) will remain in place for 91 days, or if you prefer: 13 weeks. So here we are, anxious and worried for the next 13 weeks. How could this be happening, I hear you ask? You know the answer - Trump, his despicable Republicans and the willing cult members. From Crooked Media: 45 out of 50 GOP senators voted to advance the fabricated argument that trying Trump on an impeachment charge is unconstitutional—part of an effort by Trump loyalists to bypass any trial for a president who incited a violent insurrection, let alone a conviction. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), one of the five Republicans to break ranks, has called bullshit on his colleagues who try to frame impeachment as divisive without first recanting their inflammatory lies about the election, and on Tuesday urged them to get on Fox News and affirm that Joe Biden won legitimately. It seems they have not gone on Fox News to affirm that Joe Biden won’t legitimately. Why speak up against the voter fraud lie fueling right-wing violence when you can use it as a pretext to rig future elections? Republican lawmakers around the country have been racing to pass restrictive new voter laws in the wake of GOP losses in November, nominally to tighten election security. Georgia Republicans �introduced legislation on Wednesday that would require voters to submit photocopies of their IDs both when applying for absentee ballots and when returning them, in accordance with that well-known constitutional clause that only U.S. citizens in possession of an HP Laserjet Pro may vote. It’s another perfect day to abolish the filibuster and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Republicans had a post-insurrection opportunity to reckon with the extreme right-wing elements they’d allowed Donald Trump to unleash, redraw the party boundaries to exclude them, and find their way back to reality. That they continue to refuse has frightening implications, but it should clear the Biden administration’s conscience about simply leaving them behind. Once again, we are living in what is supposed to be a democracy. Defined by Websters Dictionary, democracy means: government by the people 1a : government by the people especially : rule of the majority. b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. 2 : a political unit that has a democratic government. When you read that, it seems that most Republicans are concerned not with governing for all but with governing for that smaller group of middle class to wealthy, white, racist, misogynist people. That group used and abused by Trump, Fox News, Tucker Carlson, QAnon and other militant insurgents. Most of the really wealthy people who ascribe to this don’t care about anything other than power and money. They don’t care about anyone outside their family, and some of them don’t even care about them. I am truly depressed by all this. President Biden and his awesome team carry on regardless. As well as righting the ship of state, Biden has to find a way to root out all the Manchurian candidates implanted by Trump with iron clad contracts. But if watching hours of legal dramas on TV has taught me anything nothing is actually iron clad. So the country stands at turning point. We can submit meekly, and let the minority Republicans in both houses hold the upper hand (seems counterintuitive) or, the Democratic majority in both houses and the Democratic White House fight the insurgency and reestablish this country as a true democracy. In order to begin, Trump and his Republican politician cronies must be neutralized - and while Melania Trump continues to set up a post White House office at Mar-A-Lago, that neutralization can’t happen. There is a chance that if the Republicans are successful at suppressing consequences for themselves or Trump, the US could end up with 2 governments: Trump in Florida and Biden in D.C. Don’t laugh. Think about what you have witnessed so far in 4 years that was completely outside of your imagination. And just to confirm that, here’s a post about a sitting Republican from Crooked Media: �We knew Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was a bigoted, unhinged QAnon cultist before she was elected. Here’s a quick and incomplete rundown of what we’ve learned about her since she took office: She has spread conspiracy theories about school shootings on Facebook, endorsed the executions of Democratic leaders, supported the QAnon claims that there’s a global pedophile cabal involving top U.S. political figures, and said the 2018 midterms represented “an Islamic invasion of our government.” On Wednesday an awful video resurfaced of Greene harassing Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg. The flashlight of justice is highlighting many distressing things. Here’s just one brought to light by Washington Post: Fighting a pandemic is expensive. So is biomedical science, which is why many public health programs and projects rely on federal funding. But since 2010, millions set aside to develop drugs and vaccines for a public health crisis were misused by Health and Human Services Department staff. A whistleblower complaint triggered a federal investigation into the HHS office that oversees vaccine research. Investigators found that funds were improperly spent on salaries, administrative expenses and office redecoration. Salaries, administrative expenses, and office redecoration. Because, as we all know, to develop new drugs and vaccines to combat public health crises, those scientists and researchers needed a better office space for all those hours they don’t spend in there while they are supposed to be in the laboratory developing things. I am worried that we are approaching a dystopian society (an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic). Uh oh. I think we can see the similarities here except this isn’t imagined. Okay, I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted by the world around me, I’m exhausted by my level of dismay and anger, and some days I’m just exhausted by reporting the real world. Don’t get me wrong, I am ecstatic that Biden is President and Harris is Vice President and I’m excited by all the work being done and the talented people being confirmed. But this is still an uphill battle and I think we all have to pitch in. I’ll leave it there for today. One last upsetting point: 2 days ago the world passed 100M confirmed covid cases. In the US confirmed cases may be slowing but we are still averaging over 4,000 deaths a day. As of today, the US has recorded more than 25.5M confirmed cases which is more than the total population of Australia. Think about that. More than every person living in Australia, a whole continent. Oliver! He has been sick for a couple of days and the doctor said his ear was a little red but not enough to warrant antibiotics. �There are some days when you feel so crummy that the only place you can safely sleep is in �Mummy’s comforting arms. Stay safe. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-28_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-323 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-28 Title A name given to the resource Day 323 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c303f47c4dad4377a95de0f48da589e5.pdf 896c4e8a67f5f716eaa6deb827feb813 PDF Text Text Day 322 by windoworks The world around me is changing. Organizations and companies are recognizing that this virus is here in some form for the long haul, and even if this one is subdued and contained, there is always the prospect of the next virus - which might be worse. This morning Craig read an article about a cruise line which had been bought out by an independent company. I wonder about cruising. At the very least, all crew and passengers would have to be fully vaccinated to be allowed onboard. So that takes care of the ship population. But the bigger problem is the ports and the shore excursions. There is risk involved for both the passengers and the local population. How is that solved? I saw that a European cruising company undertook a short cruise last year which ended up being even shorter after a passenger tested positive for the coronavirus. I am surrounded by businesses that are struggling to survive. The most successful are those food providers who have adapted quickly to curbside pickup with limited outside dining. Some eateries have maintained and expanded their daily online presence. A few restaurants have set up a weekly take out menus. Everyone has tried to find that magic formula which enables them to survive. Our local yarn store has finally decided to close. The truth is, that for many people like me, the only option is online shopping. If Craig (the designated shopper) can’t find it in his carefully scheduled visits to the grocery store, then I order it online. I even have a folder in my mail app for online orders so I can keep track of what I have ordered. And to be frank, there isn’t anything I can’t order online. Clothes (including underwear), shoes, hair products, bathroom supplies, make up, jigsaw puzzles, grill pans, curtains, quilts my list is endless. Once I learnt how to return incorrectly sized items and to recognize my proper size for each clothing and shoe outlet - I was ready. Do I miss going to stores and ‘browsing’? Yes. Does shopping online make me feel safe? Yes. Do I feel constrained? Yes - but safer. Downtown in Grand Rapids there is a large convention center. Before the virus, Grand Rapids was such a popular convention destination, that there were plans in place to build a second convention center. Recently, the DeVos Convention Center was refurbished as a large vaccination center and yesterday the first people were vaccinated. The entire converted space was not opened up yet, as just like every other state, the available vaccine supplies are limited. However, help is on the way. Washington Post Federal allocations of coronavirus vaccine to states and other jurisdictions are expected to increase by about 16 percent next week, easing shortages that have intensified nationwide without fully alleviating supply problems. Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House’s covid-19 response, is expected to inform governors of the increase on a call Tuesday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on �the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it. The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million doses. The vaccine is distributed on a population basis among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities. Zients is expected to stipulate that the increased supply will come from releasing more doses of Moderna’s vaccine — one of two authorized for emergency use in the United States. At this point, we are 12 days out from receiving our first shot and I am hoping we will still get it. I have heard of people having their vaccination deferred - scary thought. So the Notice of Impeachment was delivered to the Senate on Monday night and the trial is set to begin on Tuesday February 9. A number of Republicans have said lets just vote to acquit him now, because that worked so well before. We told you he wouldn’t ever do anything egregious again. Okay so, how do they explain the attempted coup? And by the way, apparently there is another coup/insurrection planned fro March 5. I’ve looked up March 5 on my calendar and apart from the fact its a Friday, I can’t find any other significance. The Republican Senators asked for the 2 week delay in the trial beginning because they �thought it would Trump time to find a lawyer (obviously Giuliani’s out), and they thought the public would have lost interest by then. Oh, and to give President Biden time to have hearings for his cabinet appointments. But what they didn’t think about was, this gap gives reporters and investigators time to publish more and more details of of what happened and who incited it and who abetted it. NPR: Another impeachment manager, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, says he thinks the case for convicting Trump in the Senate trial will become stronger in the days ahead. "As the days go on, more and more evidence comes out about the president's involvement in the incitement of this insurrection, the incitement of this riot, and also his dereliction of duty once it was going on," he told NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro. Castro said he's "confident" the case will be strong enough to convince GOP senators who haven't yet indicated how they'll vote on a conviction. "I would hope that, first of all, they keep their powder dry, that they listen to all the evidence and wait for the case to be presented," he said. "But most of all, at the end of the day, what we need is for people to put country over person, in other words, over Donald Trump and also country over party, Republican or Democrat." And here’s something unnerving: Washington Post The commander of the D.C. National Guard said the Pentagon restricted his authority ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, requiring higher level sign-off to respond that cost time as the events that day spiraled out of control. Local commanders typically have the power to take military action on their own to save lives or prevent significant property damage in an urgent situation when there isn’t enough time to obtain approval from headquarters. But Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, said the Pentagon essentially took that power and other authorities away from him ahead of a pro-Trump protest on Jan. 6. That meant he couldn’t immediately roll out troops when he received a panicked phone call from the Capitol Police chief warning that rioters were about to enter the U.S. Capitol. All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions — federal property and life,” Walker said in an interview. “But in this instance I did not have that authority.” Walker and former Army secretary Ryan D. McCarthy are set to brief the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday behind closed doors about the events, the beginning of what is likely to become a robust congressional inquiry into the preparations for a rally that devolved into a riot at the Capitol, leaving five people dead and representing a significant security failure. Wait! Is that more chickens moving in? �FB post Amazing assessment…"Now, Biden is inheriting a nation where many people may simply refuse to recognize him as president; he is facing down an army of spoiled, well-off white people so convinced of their own importance that even a lawful government or the peaceful transfer of power matters less to them than getting their own way. When those people see Biden sworn in as president, they are seeing many things: the humiliation of Trump, the rising threat of “woke” culture, an impermissible ascent to power for Black or female or LGBTQ+ or Jewish people (though Biden is none of those things), or a conspiracy to eat babies. Most importantly, though, they are seeing that someone told them no." And to me, that is the most important thing. NO. Because just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. NO. Just in case it wasn’t clear the first 100 times - NO. Here’s more: Move On: Robert Reich Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley are enemies of democracy, and they must not remain in Congress. Democracy cannot abide lawless lawmakers. I've been in or around politics for over a half-century now. The current Republican Party is the most treacherous, corrupt, and cult-like institution that I have ever encountered. The Biden presidency marks a new beginning, but we dare not minimize, forget, or dismiss the calamity of the last several weeks—or the last four years. Unity does not mean letting the instigators of an attempted government coup off the hook. Among a myriad of other actions, President Biden found time to call Putin: White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Biden called Vladimir Putin and discussed a number of topics, including Ukrainian sovereignty, the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, reports of Russian bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and interference in the 2020 election. “His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia,” Psaki said. All right! And he also did this: Washington Post President Biden is scheduled to take executive actions as early as Thursday to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act health plans and to lower recent barriers to joining Medicaid. The orders will be Biden’s first steps since taking office to help Americans gain health insurance, a prominent campaign goal that has assumed escalating significance as the pandemic has dramatized the need for affordable health care — and deprived millions of Americans coverage as they have lost jobs in the economic fallout. Under one order, HealthCare.gov, the online insurance marketplace for Americans who cannot get �affordable coverage through their jobs, will swiftly reopen for at least a few months, according to several individuals inside and outside the administration familiar with the plans. Ordinarily, signing up for such coverage is tightly restricted outside a six-week period late each year. During Biden’s campaign I received a questionnaire from him 4 times. Each time he asked what were my biggest concerns - and now he’s acting on all those points that recipients answered. That’s impressive. So the virus is mutating. There are 3 known mutations and there seems there will be more going forward. Washington Post New coronavirus variants emerge constantly in populations in most of the world's corners as global cases surpass 100 million. A few of those, if they can hitchhike in travelers' bodies, make it across international borders. One, first detected as it churned through a Brazilian city, was just found in a nasal swab from a Minnesota resident. That person — the first known U.S. case of this variant — had traveled to Brazil and remains in isolation, authorities said. Precisely what the Brazil variant and others mean for transmission is still being investigated. But it's likely the U.K. variant, which is the best-studied, is more contagious. Facing that strain, the U.K. has embarked on a real-world experiment with its vaccines. Its government will delay booster shots to extend the supply. The wait between doses could lengthen to 12 weeks — up to four times the period in clinical trials. Drug makers are aware of the pressure new variants place on vaccines. The companies are working to ensure when vaccines are pitted against variants, the inoculations win. From a liberated Dr Fauci (that man won’t stop smiling): wear 2 masks in crowded places, pharmacies, doctor’s offices, grocery stores. 2 masks are needed with these more contagious variants. One person from each family in a grocery store and remember, no browsing. It is time to consider what the future might look like. We can’t return to life as it was. This morning I read an excellent article in The New Yorker titled: Has the pandemic transformed the office forever? The short answer seemed to be yes. It was just too long for me to extract excerpts but its worth a read. It also speaks to how life will be going forward. In many countries, very different. Even in successful countries such as Australia and New Zealand, they are struggling with how and when to open the countries up to visitors again. It seems as soon as you subdue the virus - it flares up again. So will it ever end? Everything I have read says no. It will be with us, hopefully to a lesser extent, forever. I know, I know. Deep breath. Here’s Oliver. �With Great Uncle Drew eating vegemite toast downstairs in the cafe. Look! New sandals. Yesterday when we FaceTimed, Oliver had a temperature and didn’t care to speak to us. Zoe thought about taking him to her doctor - but children with temperatures have to be covid tested before the doctor will see them. If he is no better today, she will take him to the hospital less than a block from her apartment. There they will test him and then they’ll examine him. See? Living with covid in the future. Here’s a Bernie nod to Michigan - both the upper and lower peninsulas are referred to as ‘hands’. �And this last item is the updated AllSides media bias chart. For your information. �Double mask up, people. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-27_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-322 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-27 Title A name given to the resource Day 322 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b4d4d3068ede1f6aa3b7555fdab4d567.pdf 1d68a905584cdb2adf2c9570283086a4 PDF Text Text Day 321 by windoworks Being midwinter, its snowing. Meanwhile, along with Trump’s impeachment trial and the everlasting pandemic, now a new topic has entered our lives: the climate crisis. Because when we’ve shown how adept we are at coping with 2 major crises, why not add a third? But this is serious business. Trump refused to believe in the climate crisis, following the age old method of putting your head in the sand. (This comes from the supposed habit of ostriches hiding when faced with attack by predators. The story was first recorded by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who suggested that ostriches hide their heads in bushes. Ostriches don't hide, either in bushes or sand, although they do sometimes lie on the ground to make themselves inconspicuous. The 'burying their head in the sand' myth is likely to have originated from people observing them lowering their heads when feeding). With the advent of the vaccines, people have been talking about life returning to normal. Not so fast, people. New York Times But what does normal even mean anymore? It’s easy to forget that 2020 gave us not just the pandemic, but also the West Coast’s worst fire season, as well as the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record. And, while we were otherwise distracted, 2020 also offered up near-record lows in Arctic sea ice, possible evidence of significant methane release from Arctic permafrost and the Arctic Ocean, huge wildfires in both the Amazon and the Arctic, shattered heat records (2020 rivaled 2016 for the hottest year on record), bleached coral reefs, the collapse of the last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic, and increasing odds that the global climate system has passed the point where feedback dynamics take over and the window of possibility for preventing catastrophe closes. Meanwhile, the earth’s climate seems to be changing faster than expected. Take the intensifying slowdown in the North Atlantic current, a global warming side effect made famous by the film “The Day After Tomorrow.” According to the climatologist Michael Mann, “We are 50 years to 100 years ahead of schedule with the slowdown of this ocean circulation pattern, relative to what the models predict … The more observations we get, the more sophisticated our models become, the more we’re learning that things can happen faster, and with a greater magnitude, than we predicted just years ago.” In 2019, the Greenland ice sheet briefly reached daily melt rates predicted in what were once considered worst-case scenarios for 2060 to 2080. Recent research indicates that rapidly thawing permafrost may release twice as much carbon dioxide and methane than previously thought, which is pretty bad news, because other recent research shows very cold Arctic permafrost thawing 70 years earlier than expected. As the pandemic has worn on, the desire to get back to normal has increased, and the hope for radical �positive change has subsided. But we must not let it dissipate. We can’t afford to. Because we won’t see “normal” again in our lifetimes. Well thats depressing and challenging. My youngest child, Asher, and I had a long discussion about this 2 years ago while driving around Oregon. He continues to be very concerned about the climate crisis. I asked him what Oliver’s generation will do and he said that they would find new ways of coping - such as living underground. As I write this, the East Coast of Australia is experiencing its first heatwave of the summer. On a side note: Craig and I are investigating buying a house in the Blue Mountains (just outside Sydney). It is a beautiful bushy mountainous area with the caveat of being in the bushfire zone. We’ll have to choose carefully. Impeachment: here’s some notes from my favorite: Crooked Media. Impeachment has hit the Senate, federal coup enablers are under investigation, and Rudy Giuliani’s buttdialing days are numbered now that he’s getting his ass sued off: We’ve entered Accountability Season, and shockingly, Republicans want no part of it. • Republicans might regret requesting an extra two weeks before disingenuously declaring Trump innocent, as whole new episodes of his attempted coup continue to spill out into the open. The Justice Department’s inspector general has announced an investigation into whether any current or former department officials tried to help overturn the election. That announcement came just days after the New York Times broke the bananapants Tale of Two Jeffreys: Trump had schemed to oust then-Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and replace him with Jeffrey Clark, a DOJ lawyer who had “spent a lot of time reading on the internet” (huge red flag) and wanted to use the department to force Georgia lawmakers to overturn the state’s election results. If you were wondering: Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the longest-serving Democratic senator, will preside over Trump’s impeachment trial. (The Constitution specifies that the chief justice preside over the trial of a sitting president. It does not give clear guidance on who should oversee those for others.) New York Times. �And just in case you believed the insurrectionists were operating in a vacuum, also from Crooked Media: • German intelligence officials are concerned that the Capitol riots will further radicalize far-right extremists in Europe. Far-right extremists around the world have been connecting online for years, and even traveling to meet each other and train together in person. Many of them in Europe saw the violence on January 6 as both a symbolic victory for their shared, racist cause, and a strategic defeat they could learn from. German authorities immediately tightened security around the parliament building in Berlin in the wake of the attack, and while no concrete plans have been detected in Germany, officials there are concerned about both a strengthening of international far-right networks since January 6, and neo-Nazis’ current volatile state: “a dangerous mix of elation that the rioters made it as far as they did and frustration that it didn’t lead to a civil war or coup.” Now its time for the pandemic. First up, the worry that the mutations might not be quelled by the vaccines on offer. But here’s reassuring news from The Atlantic: Will the vaccines work against the mutated coronavirus strains? Our staff writer Sarah Zhang reports: In a word, yes. But in a few more words: There are three separate variants of major interest right now, first �detected in the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil, respectively. The more transmissible U.K. variant doesn’t seem to affect the efficacy of the vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna at all. But the South Africa and Brazil variants share a trio of particularly worrisome mutations. Data today from Moderna suggest that vaccine-induced antibodies are not able to bind the South Africa variant as well as they do the usual virus—but they still work well enough to be protective. That’s because the vaccine normally stimulates many times more antibodies than the minimum necessary to protect against the virus. Out of prudence, though, Moderna is looking into how an additional shot of its vaccine or an updated booster based on the South Africa strain could protect against waning immunity, especially in the long term as the virus continues to evolve. But for now, the most important thing is to keep vaccinating as fast as we can. Salisbury Cathedral in England functions as a vaccination center.Tom Jamieson for The New York Times Are we ready for the next pandemic? And yes, scientists are reasonably sure there will be more. NPR How to make sure the world is never so devastated by another pandemic? �Health officials from around the globe have been vigorously discussing that question over the past week at the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's Executive Board. The members, whose nine-daylong, mostly virtual gathering concludes on Tuesday, have heard recommendations from four separate panels. While the conversations have been wide-ranging, common themes keep emerging: Time for fundamental change The pandemic's toll of more than 2 million reported deaths and worldwide economic and social dislocation was not inevitable, said many speakers. It was the direct result of a failure to prepare adequately for a pandemic threat despite years of warnings that better preparation was necessary. The need for speed Much of that reset will involve vastly increasing the pace at which individual nations and global organizations like the WHO assess incoming threats and take action. As Clark put it, "The international system for alert and response has the trappings of an analog system in a digital age." Money matters To maintain a truly robust system of disease detection and response will take money, of course. But many speakers said that just as important as getting together an adequate amount of funds is ensuring that this funding stream is reliable. Why this pandemic could be the one that finally prompts action Even as they made recommendations, many speakers seemed mindful of how many previous efforts to prepare the world for pandemics have failed. With every new pandemic or other major health threat, there are many evaluations which come up with dozens of recommendations. They are nearly too numerous to count, and too few of them have been acted on. The group expressed hope that the sheer magnitude of the crisis this time could make the difference. This is a unique opportunity born out of the gravity of this crisis, to reset the system. Just a footnote here: we are now included in the World Health Organization again. Yippee! This morning we ask ourselves: do travel restrictions work? President Biden has imposed new travel restrictions from countries dealing with new mutations of the virus. Here’s some thoughts from the New York Times: One of the biggest lessons of the pandemic has been the success of travel restrictions at reducing its spread. And this is a moment when they have the potential to be particularly effective in the U.S., given the emergence of even more dangerous coronavirus variants in other countries. President Biden seems to realize this, and has reinstated some travel restrictions that President Donald Trump lifted just before leaving office. It’s not yet clear whether Biden will impose the kind of strict rules that have worked best elsewhere. So far, he has chosen a middle ground between Trump’s approach and the approaches with the best global track record. �Many of the places that have contained the virus have relied on travel restrictions. The list includes Australia, Ghana, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Canada’s four Atlantic provinces. At key points, they imposed severe restrictions on who could enter. There is a crucial word in that sentence: severe. Travel bans work only when countries don’t allow a lot of exceptions. Barring citizens of other countries while freely allowing your own citizens to return, for example, is ineffectual. “Viruses don’t care what passport you carry,” my colleague Donald G. McNeil Jr., who’s been covering infectious diseases since the 1990s, told me. Voluntary quarantines generally don’t work either, since many people don’t adhere to them. Some take mild precautions and still describe themselves as “quarantining.” As Donald says: “For it to work, it has to be mandatory — and actually enforced. And not at home.” Australia crushed the spread of the virus in the spring partly by ending its voluntary quarantine and requiring all arrivals, including Australian citizens, to spend two weeks in a hotel. The military then helped enforce the rules. China and some other Asian countries took similar steps. In eastern Canada, tough entry rules were “one of the most successful things we’ve done,” Dr. Susan Kirkland, a Nova Scotia official, has said.Travel bans had such a big effect, Dr. Jared Baeten, a prominent epidemiologist, told me last year, that public-health experts should re-examine their longtime skepticism of them. “Travel,” he said, “is the hallmark of the spread of this virus around the world.” At this point in time, even if we are fully vaccinated, we are not confident that we won’t have to quarantine in Australia in early July. We are mentally prepared, however. Oliver! How do you cope in a heatwave? Take off all your clothes and sit in the paddling pool. ��To end today. I offer this from National Geographic: Greening the mosque: In a packed city, how can a community garden together? Maybe on a roof. This “farm” in Jakarta, Indonesia began in the early weeks of a COVID-19 outbreak. On the fourth floor of a mosque, the garden has produced various vegetables for local consumption and for sale. Photographer Muhammad Fadli, on assignment for a story on food security and the pandemic, says the profits will go to the mosque’s welfare fund and to feed the farmers’ families. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-26_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-321 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-26 Title A name given to the resource Day 321 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/df4b574f528b73086c682cad0d5ebd66.pdf e58be1bfa3502f9a5910317391bc061e PDF Text Text Day 320 by windoworks Sea change (noun): a profound or notable transformation. Why am I posting this? Because that’s what I think is happening right now. I think this is the moment when we can only go forward, we can’t go back. We have seen what happens when a sitting President tries to reestablish public acceptance of racism, white supremacy, gender inequality, misogyny. In the beginning of Trump’s reign, there was an ugly awakening. People began to think ‘If he can act that way or say that phrase, then I can too. He’s the president and if the president can do that, I can too’. And all those horrible unspoken thoughts were now expressed, loudly and nastily. Next came actions, bold, in your face, actions. And a large portion of America said Thank God. Now I don’t have to pretend any more! That large portion showed their true faces and their true faces were ugly. People who had been friends for decades were torn apart when one friend made the assumption that racial slurs and the like were acceptable in their everyday conversation. And why? Because Trump does it and he’s the President. I am continually upset by the comments that follow an update report on FaceBook by my Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Now, of course, there are a large number of responses which say thank you for looking after us and keeping us safe, but sometimes those positive responses are outnumbered by the others. Responses which have nothing to do with the topic of the post but are just an excuse to use the rights that have been freely given by Trump. The right to denigrate, abuse, harass and threaten. Because they are following the gold standard set by Trump. But, Trump is gone and lawsuits and the impeachment trial are all beginning soon. Trump has relocated to Mar-A-Lago in Florida and is experiencing many ‘friends’ deserting him and the club. He is trying to shout about forming a 3rd political party ‘The Patriots’. He is threatening Republicans from the sidelines, that those not faithful to him will be replaced. He is going to use the $70M campaign funds he obtained under false pretenses from his gullible cult members (unless, of course, various banks claim that money as partial reimbursement for their heavy Trump losses). But, the chickens are home to stay, and the sea change is just beginning. President Biden is steadfastly rolling back the damaging orders put in place by Trump. He has surrounded himself with a team of talented, diverse, well educated and the leaders in their fields. One absolute qualification for each team member: to always tell the truth and freely admit mistakes. I watch Dr Fauci talk: freely and happily, with no fear of being fired. I read articles of (hopefully) all police chiefs across America investigating and rooting out racism and gender inequality in their ranks. The new Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has already instigated an investigation into racism and inequality in all military ranks. �Here’s some of what the Biden Administration has done so far: �President Biden and his administration are working at light speed. If some Trump appointees who were asked to resign their posts refused, they were fired. And in the meantime there is a huge groundswell of demands for all sitting Republicans who signed the amicus brief to overturn the election results, to be expelled form the House or the Senate. Its hard to ignore the growing number of affronted Americans demanding this edition. A sea change sweeps all before it and leaves the bitterly entrenched flopping like stranded fish on the shore. Some politicians are still saying stupid and nonsensical statements, not realizing that Trump’s day is done and that mode of behavior is no longer acceptable. I’ll name some so you can watch out for them and know they are pissing in the wind: Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Rand Paul. They are behaving this way because they think it will increase their chances of being elected President in 2024. What they forget are two things: a sea change and, a week in politics is a long time - 4 years in politics is an unthinkably long time. Just as I am writing, this pops into my newsfeed: Washington Post: Voting machine firm Dominion files defamation lawsuit seeking $1.3 billion from Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for former president Trump. The lawsuit, citing dozens of Giuliani's statements, accuses him of repeatedly lying about Dominion Voting Systems and its voting machines in an effort to promote the "Big Lie" that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. Hear the chickens settling on their roosts and clucking contentedly? They’re here to stay. �Above, a mass vaccination site in Glendale, Arizona. To the virus and the vaccine: The newly appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Sunday that the federal government remains in the dark about just how much vaccine is currently available and warned that states like New York won't be able to quickly replenish its limited supply, NBC News reports. “One of the biggest problems right now is I can't tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can't tell it to you then I can't tell it to the governors and I can't tell it to the state health officials," Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. Well that’s depressing and we are still 2 weeks out from our first shot. Here’s some more news: CBS News The U.S. has surpassed 25 million cases of COVID-19, according to data reported by Johns Hopkins University. News of the milestone comes days after President Joe Biden kicked off his efforts to combat the pandemic, signing a stack of COVID-related executive orders during his first day in office. The U.S., which has about 4% of the world's population, has reported over a quarter of the world's COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday morning, the disease had killed more than 417,000 people in the U.S. Globally, there have been nearly 99 million reported cases. The U.S. has reported the most cases and the �largest number of deaths of any country. India — with a population four times larger than the U.S. — trails the U.S. with the second-highest case count, reporting more than 10.6 million cases of COVID-19. Mr. Biden has prioritized the pandemic during his first days in office, and his team aims to speed up the delivery of vaccines and protective equipment. Administration officials acknowledged that their goals are largely contingent on Congress, which would need to pass the Biden team's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the newly installed CDC director, told Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" last week that by the middle of February, there could be half a million deaths in the U.S. "I think we still have some dark weeks ahead," Walensky said. I participated in a Facebook poll yesterday, which asked if I would eat out after February 1 when restaurants can reopen for limited in-house dining. I said no and then I read the numbers - 95 yes and 1400+ no. That says it all really. Here’s this reality check for us all from the New York Times The coronavirus pandemic in the United States has raged almost uncontrollably for so long that even if millions of people are vaccinated, millions more will still be infected and become ill unless people continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing measures until midsummer or later, according to a new model by scientists at Columbia University. The arrival of highly effective vaccines in December lifted hopes that they would eventually slow or stop the spread of the disease through the rest of the population. But vaccines alone are not enough, the model shows. And if precautions like working remotely, limiting travel and wearing masks are relaxed too soon, it could mean millions more infections and thousands more deaths. There is no doubt that getting vaccinated protects the recipient. Still, several infectious-disease researchers contacted by The New York Times cautioned that it would be months before enough people in the United States will have gotten the shots to allow for normal life to begin again. Only then will the number of people with immunity — those who have had the disease and recovered, plus those who have been vaccinated — be large enough to take the wind out of the pandemic, said Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia who shared his team’s modeling calculations. Dr. Shaman estimates that more than 105 million people have already been infected across the U.S., well above the number of cases that have been reported. And his projections show millions more infections are yet to come as the vaccine rolls out. So, protest and complain all you want, but that’s what the scientists are telling us and now we have to accept that all those years of study, research and passing hard exams means they actually do know what they are talking about. Just a reminder: TrumpWorld is permanently closed and there is no refund on your tickets. �Its Oliver time. He is sticker mad and the appliances in Zoe’s kitchen are now suitably adorned but she won’t let him sticker her cell phone. ��Running �is such fun! I have tried to live my life according to another one of my mother’s frequent admonitions: If you can’t say something nice, its better to not say anything at all. I have tried. Same old, same old: mask up, wash your hands and 6 feet apart. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-25_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-320 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-25 Title A name given to the resource Day 320 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6da48949f644fd9de91198f545a16b76.pdf 3e8ccb167902384b863f54858e8f77b4 PDF Text Text Day 319. by windoworks Well this pandemic diary has gone on for much longer than I anticipated - and it appears to be stretching into the future. I began writing about life in a pandemic and at first I thought I would never be able to survive the self -imposed restrictions on my lifestyle. This morning an astounding amount of time has passed by: it is almost 46 weeks or over 10 months since my personal pandemic journey began. And a common thread throughout, each time I thought of doing something outside of my safe bubble - I would get excited but then I would think: no, I’m not comfortable doing that. I was talking to a friend yesterday and she said that she and her husband have perhaps ruined eating restaurant food. Meals have become a very important part of her day (as it is for Craig and I) and both of us have gradually adjusted our diets to cope with new dietary restrictions. For my friend it is much less salt and sugar. For Craig and I it is gluten, diary and soy free and making former store bought treats from scratch. During the cold weather I have been communicating with friends by phone but lately I have slipped up on that. It seems that as time goes by it gets harder and harder to stay in touch. And its not just me either, but a collective feeling of withdrawal. It is odd and worrying to me to see my families in New Zealand and Australia eating in groups in restaurants and going to clubs and bars. These are unthinkable activities to me and even though cafes and restaurants will reopen under restrictions on February 1, neither Craig nor I can imagine eating out again. It is becoming apparent that conquering this pandemic may take so much longer than we want. National Geographic AS COVID-19 CONTINUES to run its course, the likeliest long-term outcome is that the virus SARS-CoV2 becomes endemic in large swaths of the world, constantly circulating among the human population but causing fewer cases of severe disease. Eventually—years or even decades in the future—COVID-19 could transition into a mild childhood illness, like the four endemic human coronaviruses that contribute to the common cold. “My guess is, enough people will get it and enough people will get the vaccine to reduce person-to-person transmission,” says Paul Duprex, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Vaccine Research. “There will be pockets of people who won’t take [the vaccines], there will be localized outbreaks, but it will become one of the ‘regular’ coronaviruses.” But this transition won’t happen overnight. Experts say that SARS-CoV-2’s exact post-pandemic trajectory will depend on three major factors: how long humans retain immunity to the virus, how quickly the virus evolves, and how widely older populations become immune during the pandemic itself. Depending on how these three factors shake out, the world could be facing several years of a halting postpandemic transition—one marked by continued viral evolution, localized outbreaks, and possibly multiple rounds of updated vaccinations. “People have got to realize, this is not going to go away,” says Roy Anderson, an infectious disease �epidemiologist at Imperial College London. “We’re going to be able to manage it because of modern medicine and vaccines, but it’s not something that will just vanish out of the window.” All this just confirms that our lives will never be the same again. We have to learn to live in the long term with Covid and its required restrictions. On another subject: Trump. Hear all those extra chickens clucking towards Trump, now that he’s not the President? Here’s an opinion piece from George T Conway (of The Lincoln Project): Washington Post From the earliest days of his administration, it became painfully apparent that in all matters — including affairs of state — Trump’s personal well-being took top priority. Four years and two impeachments later, he has managed to avoid the full consequences of his conduct. But now that run of legal good fortune may end. Trump departed the White House a possible — many would say probable, provable — criminal, one who has left a sordid trail of potential and actual misconduct that remains to be fully investigated. A desperate fear of criminal indictment may even explain Trump’s willingness to break any number of laws to stay in office despite losing his reelection bid, democracy and the Constitution be damned. He considered unfathomable measures such as declaring martial law and having the military somehow “rerun” the election. He risked further potential criminal exposure with his appalling — and, unbeknown to him, taped — conversation with Georgia’s secretary of state, during which he threateningly demanded that the official “find” enough votes for him to win the state, and by pressuring a Georgia elections investigator to “find the fraud” that didn’t exist. And then, as the clock wound down on his time in office, he committed the ultimate impeachable offense for a president: fomenting a violent attempted putsch at the Capitol to stop Congress from confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Prosecutors and jurors may have to decide whether it’s also a crime. Private citizen Trump stands stripped of the legal and practical protections against prosecution that he enjoyed during his tenure: constitutional immunity; a protective attorney general; a special counsel operating under self-imposed and external constraints; and the ability to invoke the presidency in litigation, even meritless litigation, to delay state prosecutors’ investigations. No longer will he be able to claim interference with his public duties, or to remove those who might allow damaging investigations to proceed. Even before he incited the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Trump had amassed an impressive slate of potential criminal acts — from before his presidency and during. His life amounts to a virtual issuespotting exercise for any student studying criminal law. The laundry list of potential crimes is the product of the brazenness of Trump’s behavior over decades. Trump’s modus operandi has been to do whatever he considers necessary in the moment and thinks he can get away with. It worked for far too long. Trump has managed to avoid serious legal repercussions — �not just during his four years as president, but throughout his life. Trump’s presidency has ended. So, too, must his ability to dodge the consequences. This next piece articulates my belief that American Presidents are not only the current Commander-inChief but also the chief example of how to behave when holding a position of enormous responsibility. Sometimes I felt that I was the only one who recognized that by his example, he gave the citizens of America permission to follow his example and behave just as badly. It became: if the President can do it, so can I. And so many people jumped in the boat with him, including an astonishing number of elected officials. The Atlantic: Trump used his maleness in roughly the same way that he used his whiteness: as permission. And he turned his own entitlements into a gaudy sales pitch. Part of Trump’s promise to voters, in 2016 and again in 2020, was that they might be liberated not by his virtues, but by his vices. They, too, might be spared the inconvenience of obligation to other people. They, too, could be free to indulge their wants with impunity. They, too, could engage in cruelty and rebrand it as a proud stance against political correctness. They could call themselves patriots—not because they sacrificed for a common cause, but because they understood that the worst thing one can be, in this world, is a pussy. One of the most shameful legacies of Trump’s presidency will be his failure to control the coronavirus pandemic; one core element of that failure has been his framing of mask wearing—a simple, inexpensive, and effective way to slow the spread of the virus—as a front in America’s culture wars. That reinterpretation, too, was an extension of Trump’s worldview. It falsely pitted personal freedom against the collective good. It elevated �an extremely mild inconvenience—the wearing of a face mask—into an alleged infringement of Americans’ rights. It ratified one of the basest assumptions of Trumpism: that freedom is, in its essence, manly. And that the common good, by contrast, carries the stain of femininity. Patriot or pussy. That false choice is killing people. So, undeterred, Trump is forging on: In recent weeks, Trump has entertained the idea of creating a third party, called the Patriot Party, and instructed his aides to prepare election challenges to lawmakers who crossed him in the final weeks in office, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (RAlaska) and Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.), according to people familiar with the plans. Multiple people in Trump’s orbit, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, say Trump has told people that the third-party threat gives him leverage to prevent Republican senators from voting to convict him during the Senate impeachment trial. Trump advisers also say they plan to recruit opposing primary candidates and commission polling next week in districts of targeted lawmakers. Trump has more than $70 million in campaign cash banked to fund his political efforts, these people say. �But what he keeps ignoring, is the twin threats: impeachment and lots and lots of litigation. Can we just start the lawsuits and the Impeachment trial now, please? I’ve got my popcorn ready. Meanwhile, our new President has done a Herculean job of overturning Trump’s more offensive executive orders and he is working hard on issues close to most Americans hearts, such as unemployment relief, vaccine distribution, immigration and so on. When does that man sleep? In an entirely different subject, here’s a photo of my glass collage triptych windows beautifully installed in my friends Pamela and Jack’s house. I just couldn’t be prouder. ��These windows depict the balloon festival over Albuquerque. There is a balloon on the left rising up as the dawn breaks. Oliver ��As I was agreeing with my friend yesterday, our children had very boring lives until they went to school. Four days a week Oliver has painting and cooking, and water play and lots of toys and puzzles and balls and bikes of all kinds to ride on. He is taught colors and textures and numbers and words and action songs. Each of those four days he comes home, shattered with fatigue and each of those four nights he sleeps soundly - sometimes for 12 hours straight. He knows nothing of pandemics and politics and he thinks Mummy sometimes wearing a mask is normal. He knows we are the little people on Mummy’s phone and he starts saying Hi before we answer. If the connection drops out he cries and if Craig isn’t there he points and asks repeatedly (in Oliver speak) where is Grandad? At the end of our conversation we always sing, sometimes up to three songs with him. He provides the actions and then he knows its time to say ByeBye and blow us some kisses. He’s adorable. I am tired of the pandemic and the crazy cult members. I try to have hope and confidence in the future, my future. And I try to do as my mother said and “Rise above it dear, rise above it”. I’ll leave you with this very last Bernie meme. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-24_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-319 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-24 Title A name given to the resource Day 319 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3c694a5b2e83959fae49a6a9961d94e7.pdf e41593b1c6298fc4291bc25b8b2786ec PDF Text Text Day 318. Saturday January 23. 162 sleeps to go. by windoworks ��These are the proposed rules for easing of restrictions here in Michigan. In the US we have reached 24.9M cases which is over one quarter of the total global cases (96.2). The death toll for the US has reached 414,000 - well on track to reach 500,000 by March. To give you some idea of that number - Atlanta, Georgia has a population of 515,000. So imagine most of Atlanta’s population gone by March this year. And just in case you thought we were making our way out of the woods, here’s a sobering piece from CNBC: LONDON —There is “some evidence” a new Covid variant first identified in the U.K. could be more deadly than the original strain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday. “We’ve been informed today that in addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant — the variant that was first discovered in London and the southeast (of England) — may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” Johnson told a news conference. He added that all the evidence suggests the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford University, the two currently being used in the U.K., remain effective against both the old and new variants of the virus. The evidence is still at a preliminary stage and it’s being assessed by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, which advises the British government. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, has an unusually high number of mutations and was already associated with a more efficient and rapid transmission.Scientists first detected this mutation in September. It has since been found in at least 44 countries, including the U.S., which has reported its presence in 12 states. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the modeled trajectory of the variant in the United States “exhibits rapid growth in early 2021, becoming the predominant variant in March.” Speaking alongside Johnson on Friday, the U.K.’s chief scientific advisor, Patrick Vallance, said there is now early evidence that there’s an increased risk for those who have the new variant, compared with the old virus. President Biden has put some much needed orders in place but his administration is still coming to terms with the fact that they were not going to amend and improve the Trump’s administration vaccine roll out program - there was no program at all! No program at all. None. Added to that, when offered more vaccine supplies last year, Trump demurred , and those supplies went elsewhere in the world. I continue to be staggered by Trump’s actions, as much as I continue to be aghast at the actions of his cult members. Now, Biden has implemented a mask mandate on all forms of public transport as well as in all federal facilities. Of course, in the Capitol Building in D.C. where they installed walk through metal detectors, they had to also cordon off both sides of each scanner, as Republicans were refusing to walk through and were going around the detectors. Because they’re special and they don’t want their concealed weapons taken off them. �How can you have any sort of reasonable discussion with people who feel strongly that the rules that apply to everyone don’t actually apply to them? Here’s a little something from Crooked Media: In a shocking affront to the very idea of unity, Democrats have announced that they won’t simply pretend that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is still in charge, even after he specifically asked them to. • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have confirmed that the House will transmit the article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, though the trial won’t start until the week of February 8. McConnell had asked for a longer delay to give Trump’s legal team more time to prepare, presumably by paging through the many statements from Capitol rioters citing Trump’s words as their motivation for rioting and mumbling “hoo boy” with increasing hopelessness. No word yet on how long the trial will last, whether the Senate will be able to conduct other business while it’s ongoing, or how McConnell will vote—but it’s looking unlikely that 17 GOP senators are ready to step back from the brink and convict Trump of inciting insurrection. • Schumer also announced on Friday that he will reject McConnell’s demand for unchecked power to veto Biden’s agenda, correctly calling it “unacceptable.” Meanwhile, Senate Democrats continued to recklessly hinder national healing by (checks notes) implementing the agenda that 81 million Americans voted for, drafting legislation that would expand the child tax credit by sending recurring monthly payments (totaling at least $3000 per kid, per year) to tens of millions of families. Unlike the stimulus checks, the Biden administration hopes to make those payments a permanent government program lasting beyond this year. How much of an uphill battle will it be for President Biden? Here’s some thoughts from an opinion piece by David Brooks, a columnist with The New York Times. Most calls to “national unity” are vacuous pap. They are unrealistic, kumbaya pleas to “come together” around nothing. But, as Richard Hughes Gibson wrote this week in The Hedgehog Review, the best calls to national unity are arguments. They are aggressive calls to come together around a specific idea of America, a specific national project. From Biden’s Inaugural address: Here is the thing about life: There is no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days you need a hand; there are other days when we are called to lend a hand. Over the last years, politics was about everything except actual governance. Under Trump, partisanship was about personal identity, class resentment, religious affiliation, racial prejudice and cultural animosity. Biden is a genius at separating politics from the culture wars. He’s been a genius at sidestepping the Trump circus, including the hullabaloo it arouses on the left. We have endured an age of affective polarization, when we didn’t disagree more, we just hated each other more. Under Biden, the emotional temperature �will go down. People believe lies because of motivated reasoning. Under Biden the motivation will go down. Frankly, we need more political apathy in this country. Will he be able to pass this sort of sweeping legislation? I have far from given up hope. Everyday, I read that Republicans will never go for these spending plans, and I always want to ask the writer: Have you noticed that Republicans have already voted for roughly $3 trillion in new spending over the last 10 months? Do not underestimate how divided and confused their party is right now. Do not underestimate how much Republicans trust Biden personally. I was shocked by how moved I was by the Biden inaugural. We’ve been through an emotional hailstorm over four years. Suddenly the sky has cleared. It’s possible America may emerge from this trauma more transformed than we can imagine. Speaking for myself, I do not understand why a large portion of the population feel that rules and regulations do not apply to them. I can never understand what makes these people so special that they don’t have to follow the rules. Are these rules and regulations so invasive that they would rather contract the virus than put up with some inconveniences? Last night, a student from a class last year wrote to Craig and said despite all her careful behavior, she contracted the virus and has had to quarantine herself from her mother - in the house she moved back to, to keep herself safe. I am reminded of that saying I posted some months ago: some of us are sheltering under the largest umbrella we could find while others are dancing recklessly in the rain and seemly staying dry. I wonder if there shouldn’t be a certification of proper mask wearing to be displayed before a vaccine shot is given. If you think the virus is a hoax - well okay. More vaccine shots for us! In New South Wales, Australia they have a daily update (even on Sundays). Each day they announce the new cases (or lack thereof) and speak about the ongoing cases and whether they’re in the ICU or just in a hospital ward. Then they ask everyone, every day, to get a free test even if they have the mildest of symptoms. Each day the spokesperson reminds everyone that once tested, you must remain in isolation at home until a negative test result is secured. And here’s the clincher: in almost a year, New South Wales has recorded less than 5,000 cases in a population of 7.5M. How unthinkable is that? Here in Kent County (pop: 657,000) we currently have 48,204 positive cases and 627 deaths. I know its like comparing apples and oranges, but still. Oliver went to the beach and did some rock scrambling. Be still, my beating heart said Craig, his rock scrambling grandfather. ����Yesterday we did a virtual tour of our house with our realtor. A very informative and agreeable Zoom call. Earlier in the day, the furnace guy came and inspected our failing furnace and promised to install a better, more efficient furnace for 0h about $10,000 or so. Well I have to have heat in the winter, and hopefully it’ll be a great selling point for the house, along with the brand new hot water heater installed 6 months ago - because everything breaks down during a pandemic. We have paid the deposit to the moving company and they sent out loads of paperwork including safe covid rules for movers and home owners. Of course. Because everything is that much harder in a pandemic. Now I just had to post this because it made me laugh. �And although I laughed, I have seen enough Bernie memes to last me a lifetime. Move on, people. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-23_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-318 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-23 Title A name given to the resource Day 318 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2e04a3e326244bb67f7bfe5d366e23f6.pdf 5ee94dd815153f8169f301cef49a2f00 PDF Text Text Day 317 by windoworks The new day blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. Amanda Gorman “The Hill We Climb” This is the beginning of President Biden’s 100 days. I have no idea when this idea began but it seems an arbitrary and brutal judgement of an incoming president. In Biden’s case, he has inherited a country deeply divided and spinning rudderless in place. For 4 years there has been no guidance, no responsibility and absolutely no compassion. Trump and his administration have left behind the new Republican version of a scorched earth. And yet, President Biden remains optimistic and has spent the first day and a half of his presidency signing executive orders that begin the enormous task of overturning the most heinous of Trump’s actions. The Biden Administration has already restored Spanish to all government forms and changed gender designations to be all encompassing. At her first press conference, Jen Psaki made one tiny error - and then the next day she apologized. Apologized! I am overcome. Here’s more: Crooked Media • On Thursday, the Biden administration released a 200-page document outlining the centralized, federal coronavirus response we can finally have now that Jared Kushner is off trying to get into country clubs by pretending to be three kids in a trench coat. Biden signed a series of executive orders and actions to implement the plan, which includes the creation of a National Pandemic Testing Board to increase testing capacity, using the Defense Production Act to ramp up vaccination supplies, testing capacity, and PPE production, a mask mandate on public transportation, and more funding and direction for state and local officials. • Thanks to the Trump administration’s transition sabotage, Biden’s coronavirus team has only just learned the scope of the vaccination task they’ve inherited, which turns out to be less “doing some renovations on an existing structure” and more “shooing angry raccoons out of a half-dug foundation, then building a house from scratch.” Biden’s coronavirus czar Jeff Zients told reporters on Wednesday that Trump’s vaccine distribution strategy was nonexistent: “What we’re inheriting from the Trump administration is so much worse than we could have imagined. We don't have the visibility that we would hope to have into supply and allocations.” And why would this be, Pamela? I hear you asking. Because, and hear me now, Trump never cared - never, ever. And because he never cared about this country and its citizens, 74M Americans still believe the virus is a hoax and wearing a mask interferes with your personal freedom. Here’s a distressing story from The New York Times: �I took a 1,600-mile road trip this week that has left me even more amazed at how poorly the United States has handled the coronavirus — and more worried about how much work the Biden administration has to do to get it under control. I want to tell you that story this morning. I came home from my trip shaken by what I had seen. Almost everywhere I stopped — gas stations, rest stops and hotels, across Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — there was a sign on the door saying that people had to wear masks to enter. And almost everywhere, most people ignored the sign. At a Fairfield Inn in Ohio, a middle-aged couple sat unmasked on a lobby sofa for hours, drinking beers and scrolling through their phones. The hotel staff evidently did nothing about it. At a convenience store in Indiana, a hand-drawn sign on the door read: “Face masks are required. Please do not enter without one!!” Customers did anyway. Nationwide, about half of Americans are not wearing masks when in close contact with people outside their households, according to a survey released yesterday by the University of Southern California. Wearing a mask isn’t much fun. It’s hard to speak clearly, and if you wear glasses, the fogging is annoying. But the inconvenience sure seems worth the benefits. Study after study has shown that masks reduce the virus’s spread. Yet millions of Americans have decided they would prefer more Covid — for their communities and potentially for their families and themselves — to more masks. Meanwhile, those chickens are still flooding in to roost. I’m reminded of the saying - you can run but you can’t hide. First up, Trump. Washington Post Another one of former president Donald Trump’s banks said Thursday that it is closing his accounts, as Trump returns to a business hammered by covid-19 and the backlash to Trump’s role in the deadly attack on the Capitol. “We no longer have any depository relationship with him," Bank United said Thursday. The bank declined to give a reason for its decision. The Florida-based bank had held some of Trump’s money since at least 2015, according to the former president’s financial disclosures. At the end of 2020, Trump said he had two money market accounts at Bank United, containing between $5.1 million and $25.2 million combined. The financial disclosure forms allowed Trump to list his assets in ranges, rather than exact dollar amounts. Since the Jan. 6 attack, a number of key partners, vendors and customers have cut ties with Trump’s company. That list now includes three of the four banks that held Trump’s largest deposits: Signature Bank and Professional Bank announced their decisions earlier this month. The fourth, Capital One Bank, has declined comment, saying it does not discuss current or former customer relationships. In addition, Trump has lost two real-estate brokers, an e-commerce vendor, a chance to host the 2022 PGA Championship. New York City also said it would end the Trump Organization’s contracts to run a �carousel, two ice rinks, and a golf course in city parks. The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. And thats not even mentioning the lawsuits! As for those errant Trump supporting Republicans: Washington Post Pelosi warned Thursday that some members of the House could be prosecuted if they “aided and abetted” the Jan. 6 takeover of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. “There is no question that there were members in this body who gave aid and comfort to those, with the idea that they were embracing a lie, a lie perpetrated by the president, that the election did not have legitimacy,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. “There will be prosecution if they aided and abetted an insurrection in which people died,” she added. Among other things, Democrats have suggested that some of their Republican colleagues gave tours of the Capitol on Jan. 5 that could have helped with planning for storming the complex the following day. At a later news conference, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he believes anyone who broke the law should be prosecuted. We can talk all we want about unity and compassion and even forgiveness, but I believe that a large portion of the population (myself included) want to see meaningful consequences. All of us really want retribution but we’re all trying to be better than that. I do want to see the Senate vote to convict Trump of impeachment so he can never hold any office ever again. I do want to see the House QAnon members unseated, along with all the House Representatives and Senate members who voted to overturn the Electoral College votes. I especially want to see Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley thrown out on their ears. Ted Cruz has become silent but Josh Hawley is so supremely sure of himself, he won’t shut up. The evidence coming out is staggering. Now it appears that Michael Flynn’s brother (remember pardoned Michael?) Well, look, read it for yourself: Washington (CNN) The Army is now acknowledging that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was in the room for one of the key January 6 phone calls in which DC government and US Capitol Police were asking for National Guard troops to quell the unfolding violence at the US Capitol. The decision-making has come under scrutiny as city and Capitol Police officials have alleged that the Pentagon was slow to respond, while the Pentagon and Army maintain they never denied or delayed requests for the National Guard.The revelation comes as the Department of Defense is already trying to rebut accusations that it denied or delayed the deployment of additional troops as the riot worsened on Capitol Hill, eventually leaving five dead, including a Capitol Police officer. A DC official called the process of calling up more guardsmen "long" and "tortured." �I think the truth is that Charles Flynn is unfairly guilty by association, mostly because Michael Flynn made himself one of the chief agitators, telling the insurrectionists that the election of Joe Biden was a lie. And this is a problem that President Biden can do nothing about. It is so entrenched that along with covid being a hoax, people will die believing these dreadful lies. I’m sure you’ve all read many many articles about these lies and the ongoing effect on the present administration and the upcoming 2022 midterm elections. It just amazes me that in the face of all the evidence, people still won’t believe the truth. Remember how I reported that severely ill patients in Intensive Care, on a respirator, would not say goodbye to their families because they refused to believe they had covid (How could they - it was a hoax, right?) and they died believing they didn’t have covid and they weren’t dying. They died still believing the lie. You can’t climb over that belief. It is too tightly ingrained. My news feed is full of positive stories of President Biden and his administration, who are soldiering on regardless. The hill they have to climb is steep, but the team surrounding the President are competent, talented, able and willing. This morning a man is coming to look at our failing boiler (its winter, of course its failing) and give us a quote and we are having the first Zoom meeting with our realtor. Our path is set and we are moving towards returning to our families, far across the world. And no, I haven’t forgotten - Oliver. ��The new day blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-22_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-317 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-22 Title A name given to the resource Day 317 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2e82f00e9fd4cc03366de9c452029af1.pdf b68c041c3e57154628994ab167e4e190 PDF Text Text Day 316. by windoworks ���Ah yes. And I think Crooked Media expressed it best: Notice an unusual lightness in your chest? A strange unclenched quality to your fists? A palpable absence of malarkey wheresoever you turn? It can mean only one thing: President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., of Delaware has taken office. I began the day by watching Trump, Melania and the children all board the plane for Florida. I watched the plane disappear in the sky - just to make sure he was really gone. And just like that, it was over. Later in the morning I watched the Inauguration. I watched as the cars arrived - Joe and Jill Biden in The Beast - a car that can survive any type of attack. I watched Barack and Michelle Obama walk down the steps, George W and Laura Bush come in, Bill and Hillary Clinton too. There were so many notables. Everyone was warmly dressed for the cold day. Then it was a kaleidoscope of memorable moments - Kamala Harris sworn in as Vice President by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Kamala’s husband will be known as the Second Gentleman). Then Joe Biden sworn in as President by John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States. �Look at that huge bible Jill is holding. President Biden then gave a great Inauguration address. And again, Crooked Media said it best: The country wasn’t magically fixed at 12:01 p.m., as viewers were reminded with every glimpse of masked attendees, National Guard troops, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett killing the vibe on the dais. But the formal beginning of the Biden era means that democracy has prevailed and profound change is already underway, because you voted for it. What a feeling. Here’s just some of what President Biden said: We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes — as my mom would say, ‘Just for a moment, stand in their shoes.’Here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever.Now we’re going to be tested. Are we going to step up? All of us? It’s time for boldness, for there is so much to do. And this is certain: I promise you, we will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era. �And of course, there were songs: Lady Gaga sang the national anthem, Jennifer Lopez sang “This Land is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful” and lastly Garth Brooks sang “Amazing Grace” and he stopped before the final verse and asked everyone, including all of us at home watching, to sing the last verse with him. So we did. Ever notice how hard it is to sing when you’re crying? Then the new national poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, read her poem “The Hill We Climb” After that there were so many moments - one that stands out was President Biden climbing out of The Beast and he and First Lady Jill Biden and their family walking down Pennsylvania Avenue and walking into the squeaky clean White House. �As promised, President Biden got straight to work. He began in the Presidents Room and then moved to the Oval Office. NPR Below is a partial list of Biden's actions: Require the wearing of masks and social distancing in federal buildings and on federal lands by federal employees and contractors Rejoin the World Health Organization Ask federal agencies to extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums through March 31 Ask Education Department to extend federal student loan payment and interest pause through Sept. 30 Rejoin the Paris climate agreement Revoke the presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline Place a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Begin to reverse more than 100 actions Trump took to roll back environmental regulations Rescind President Trump's 1776 Commission and revoke Trump's order limiting diversity training Stop on all wall construction at the southern border �Reverse the Trump directive to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census numbers used to reapportion each state's share of congressional seats and Electoral College votes In all, he signed 17 Executive Orders. There is almost every moment of the whole day available online. By 5:30pm I was suddenly completely exhausted. The day had been a huge success and my fears of violence were unfounded. Of course, the security presence was enormous - they had covered every contingency. Later in the night we watched this: I am almost at a loss to tell you what an absolute joy it is to watch a proper White House Press Secretary. As my friend Mary Alice said (and I echo her words): Be still, my beating heart. In other celebrations: NPR The inauguration kolam project is "not just a welcoming of a new administration. It's this idea that so many people came together with all of their stories," says Sowmya Somnath, one of the organizers. �And here’s a surprising but joyful item: �NPR An art project that turned the border wall at the U.S.-Mexico border into the temporary base for pink seesaws – inviting children on each side to come play together – has won the London's Design Museum award for best design of 2020. "We are totally surprised by this unexpected honor," said Ronald Rael, who designed the project with fellow architect Virginia San Fratello. They share the award, he said, with the Ciudad Juárez, Mexicobased art collective Colectivo Chopeke. �Apparently, the revelation that they may have been played has begun for QAnon: NPR: QAnon supporters believed Wednesday’s inauguration was an elaborate trap set by the former president, wherein Democrats would be rounded up and executed while Trump retained power. Various other doomsdays theorized by the QAnon community have also come and gone without incident. But unlike those past days, Biden's inauguration leaves the community with little daylight. As their predictions failed, radicalized QAnon members expressed their betrayal on messaging apps like Telegram and forums named after their failed doomsday scenario, The Great Awakening. Ron Watkins, the former administrator for the message board and QAnon hub 8kun and a major force behind false conspiracy theories surrounding the election results, seemingly capitulated, posting a note to �his more than 100,000 followers: “We gave it our all. Now we need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able.” Some QAnon followers spent weeks preparing for a nationwide blackout starting at noon on Inauguration Day, warning friends and family in text chains and Facebook messages to buy CB radios and stock up on food. They believed Trump would announce martial law through the Emergency Broadcasting System before carrying out mass arrests. If nothing happens I will no longer believe in anything," said one supporter at the beginning of inauguration. “We all just got played,” said another, moments later. And lastly, Oliver. ��To finish, sing it with me: Happy days are here again The skies above are clear again So let's sing a song of cheer again Happy days are here again. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-21_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-316 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-21 Title A name given to the resource Day 316 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e33329c1687f28b30bd094dd8986df9d.pdf 943ad9edadbd783e12bce1393921dd0a PDF Text Text Day 315: Inauguration Day. by windoworks This is it. This is the day. Part of me cannot believe its here. It is 7:23am, its still dark outside and it is snowing lightly. And faintly, in the distance, I can hear the sound of many footsteps. There is a growing sound of clucking. Can you hear it? Listen hard. It is the sound of many, many chickens coming hone to roost. This is the day when the last 4 years of infamy, unvarnished greed and malice ends. This morning I watched James Corden and a large group of talented singers perform an adapted version of One More Day from Les Mis. You can find it on FaceBook, YouTube or Twitter. I found myself crying inconsolably. Craig was worried and asked me what was wrong and after a minute I said: it’ll be in my blog. So here’s what I was thinking. How did it come to this? How did we allow this country to descend into this madness in the middle of a pandemic? When was the last time that a sitting President was so (and here I am almost at a loss for words to describe Trump) irresponsible, small minded, selfish self-serving....., that a talented diverse group of performers would get together online, spend weeks rehearsing and then perform a brilliant version of One more Day to highlight the unbelievable relief that, in a few hours, anything Trump says or does as a private citizen or the litigation he will endure, will become an entertaining sideshow that all of America will be able to watch on TV, probably with popcorn. I can hardly breathe for worry that something might happen between now and 11:20am when Biden takes the Oath to become the next President of the United States. And then, after the ceremony and a drive down Pennsylvania Avenue, he will enter the forensically cleaned White House and begin working in the Oval Office immediately. One of his first actions (after gearing up FEMA and the National Guard to expand testing and vaccinations), is to put in place an 8 year track towards citizenship for Dreamers. Here’s his Day One to-do list: Immigration Foreign policy The coronavirus pandemic and health care Climate change Social and criminal justice Economic policy Tech policy And here come the chickens: �Washington Post The 147 Republican lawmakers who opposed certification of the presidential election this month have lost the support of many of their largest corporate backers. The Washington Post contacted the 30 companies that gave the most money to electionobjecting lawmakers’ campaigns through political action committees. Two-thirds, or 20 of the firms, said they have pledged to suspend some or all payments from their PACs. Some of the strongest repudiations of the Republican lawmakers came from AT&T, Comcast, Honeywell, PricewaterhouseCoopers, General Electric, KPMG and Verizon. These firms all said they would suspend donations to members of Congress who voted against certifying Joe Biden as president. Of course there are still Republicans that want to stymie Biden’s actions, but Mitch is on the job. This is his moment to push the Trump House and Senate Republicans out into the cold, to make them realize that those days are over. Good luck with that! Crooked Media:Tuesday also marked Mitch McConnell’s last ride as Senate majority leader—a very happy Got Mitch Day to you and yours. Reopening the Senate for its first day back in session since the attack on the Capitol, McConnell linked the attack directly to Trump: “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,” said a powerful person who lied about the election results until mid-December. McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met to hammer out the terms of Trump’s impeachment trial, and the Senate scrambled to hold long-delayed confirmation hearings for Biden’s cabinet nominees, only to be further obstructed by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mobs). But the threat of proposed insurrection is lingering on. More from Crooked Media: After the FBI heightened vetting procedures out of concern for potential internal threats, 12 guard members were removed from inauguration duty—two of them for links to far-right extremist groups. The FBI also warned law-enforcement agencies that QAnon adherents have discussed posing as National Guard members and shared maps of vulnerable spots in DC, which means we’re about three days out from learning that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Guns) led a group on a reconnaissance tour of a military-surplus shop. Here’s a scary update on the FBI’s ongoing massive inquiry into January 6: NPR Federal investigators say they have arrested several alleged members of extremist and white supremacist groups who participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building. At least eight people allegedly affiliated with organizations such as The Three Percenters, The Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Texas Freedom Force, and other self-described Nazis and white �supremacists were among those who joined the thousands that stormed the U.S. Capitol building, according to federal investigators. Details of their arrests highlight how different, yet organized, extremist groups, with members throughout the country, coalesced to support Trump and his (disproven) claims that the November election was stolen. Law enforcement officials were able to track suspects down by using information gleaned from tipsters, social media posts shared by the accused, and news media coverage. So on the morning that Trump and others are scurrying out of the W.H. (I still think it should be renamed), what can we point out as Trump’s (hopefully not lasting) legacy. No matter what else he did, he raised white supremacy to the forefront of American minds; he encouraged a mindset of Me First; he denigrated Persons of Color, people with disabilities; he encouraged slander, libel and poor behavior of all kinds. He behavior showed that Freedom of Speech could be used and abused for nefarious motives. I could fill up the remainder of this post with his distressing behavior but I won’t. Like a sleeping giant, America is slowly rousing and looking around - and many citizens are dismayed by the carnage and destruction that lies around them. But wait! Here they come! THE CHICKENS ARE HERE! First up: For the People Act: Senate Democrats have now introduced S. 1, their version of the For the People Act. These nearly identical bills (House and Senate) contain a suite of policies to protect, enhance and expand democracy, according to supporters. These policies would institute national standards for expanded voting rights, create a system for publicly financed congressional elections, ban undisclosed “dark money” and forbid partisan gerrymandering. Last night, at dusk, Craig and I watched the ceremony that President-Elect Joe Biden and VicePresident Elect Kamala Harris held at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. There were 400 lights along both sides of the Pool representing the 400,000 Americans who have died since March last year. It was such a moving ceremony and of course, I cried. I cried for all those dead and gone, but I also cried for at last, a ceremony organized and performed to show this deeply divided country that this is what a leader and his team are supposed to do - listen to the citizens, recognize the triumphs and the defeats and as well as celebrating those triumphs, commiserate and recognize the defeats. This pandemic has defeated us so far. When we all ask why and how, it comes back to one person only, Citizen Trump. You can ignore every other dreadful thing he did during his presidency, but you cannot ignore his complete and utter �refusal to shoulder the responsibility of leading his country through a pandemic. He just wasn’t interested in caring. His popularity was far more important. I have no real idea how these next 4 years will go, but they have to be so much better than the last 4. At 11am this morning I will begin watching the Inauguration on TV. We have put our Biden/Harris sign back out on the front lawn and I will search through the partially packed house for something resembling a blue ribbon to tie on the front door knob. If I can’t find one, I’ll imagine its there anyway. And after the Inauguration is ended, and President Biden is in the Oval Office, I will do what my counselor told me animals do after great danger or stress is over: they sit in a safe corner and shake. They shake the stress and the anger and the fear and the grief away. Tomorrow will be a better day. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2021-01-20_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-315 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-20 Title A name given to the resource Day 315 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng