Info Maven

5 Days in Berlin

2008-03-16T11:38:00.007-04:00

People think I am crazy to go across the Atlantic just for a few days. But when you only get three weeks of vacation a year, you've got to take your opportunities when you can!

The main theme of this trip was to visit with dear old friends Dan Rosen and Noel Ponthieux, now living in London, who met me in Berlin to explore the city together. We are all New Orleans refugees, so there was a lot to talk about. Since living in New Orleans together, I have lived in Seattle and completed my master's degree at UM in Ann Arbor; they've sold their house in New Orleans (just before the hurricane) and emigrated to the UK. There was a lot of catching up to do.

We were all pretty wowed with the laid back, cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city.Inspired by a photo essay in the Berlinishe Galerie of life in Berlin in the 60s, we left harboring fantasies of starting our own Berlin commune, and planning German lessons.

Take a look at Dan and Noel's amazing dinner blog to get details on our Berlin dining adventures!

My complete posting of photos can be found here.

My Next Car

2008-03-14T13:40:00.003-04:00

I've been driving a VW Beetle for the past 8 years. It's a pretty great car. Gives me very little trouble, and still going strong with all the abuse I have given it (been wrecked a few times, had to get a new engine once, etc.). I have been planning to run it into the ground. It has about 119K miles right now. And I've spent maybe $400 in repairs in the past 12 months. so it's still a good car. Especially considering I've paid for it in full now and having no car payment is pretty sweet.

HOWEVER, I am now in a unique situation in my life: I'm a commuter. Working in the perimeter of motor city rather neccessitates this: not much in the way of public tran, and the entire infrastructure here is very car-centric (roads named by the mile). I go 52 miles a day round trip to and from work, and probably another 150-200 miles a month for other needs like shopping or trips to Detroit or parks for recreation. So gas, being well over $3 now, is starting to add up as a major expense. People are surprised to hear that my car only gets around 22 miles to the gallon. Yeah. Not good.

So I've been thinking that the cost of gas may equal the cost of a new car if I were to get a very fuel effienct model. I was seeing these tiny little smart cars all over Berlin, and was thinking : why don't we have that in the US? But amazingly I saw one on the street in Ann Arbor this week! Apparently the Smart fortwo is now avaiable in the US, as of January '08!!! These get 40 miles to the gallon and go up to 90 miles an hour. Starting at $11,900.

I can't help but think that these are going to get pretty popular, considering gas prices are expected to surpass $4 a gallon this summer...

Obama - refreshing honesty

2008-03-13T17:04:00.003-04:00

I was having a discussion recently with a friend about the Eliot Spitzer scandal, and his position was that considering the hypocrisy of the public arena, it is impossible to get into a position of power without lying to get there. I see a lot of holes in this view, although he definitely has a point.

It may be that Obama has just as many secret agendas as any other politician, but in general (and I am obviously not alone in this view), he seems to come across with refreshing honesty.

Case in point: check out this video where, contrary to Clinton's famous line-walking approach, Obama freely admits he inhaled:

To me, this is an example of how you don't have to compromise your integrity by lying to serve the public interest.

About time...

2008-02-16T14:51:00.006-05:00

Yeah, I am the world's laziest blogger. At the moment I am just trying to survive this winter. Today is sunny, however, and I will now venture out with my dog to some adventure in the gleaming snow. But first I need some coffee. And decided to blog...

My reads: I am interested in the democratic primary. And in Berlin, where I will soon be travelling to (March). I've been there before, but it was some years past and just for a couple of days. My friends (from New Orleans) who are living in London are planning to meet me there. That is my next fun thing to look forward to...

I am addicted to Scrabulous. I am having games with friends from around the country. And my roommate.

I am studying the role of culture in knowledge management at the moment. Lots of implications for my current workplace.

Well, such is the life of a Michigan winter. I spend most of my time holed up with my cat and dog, trying to keep warm. Oh, and working, too, of course. Work is cool.

Where I work was just voted 2nd best place to work in America (Fortune). Which surprises me a little since Detoit was named the most miserable city in the US. But I do agree I work in a pretty swell place. I feel thankful for that.

Ok, time to bundle up and trudge the tundra.

New Kitty in the House

2007-07-25T09:57:00.000-04:00

I've adopted a new kitten. I had a hard time naming him - so many good cat names - so I consulted T.S.Elliot's "The Naming of Cats":

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,

It isn't just one of your holiday games;

You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter

When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,

Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,

Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--

All of them sensible everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,

Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:

Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--

But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,

A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,

Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,

Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?

Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,

Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,

Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-

Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there's still one name left over,

And that is the name that you never will guess;

The name that no human research can discover--

But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,

The reason, I tell you, is always the same:

His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation

Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:

His ineffable effable

Effanineffable

Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

So, after a lot of contempation, I introduce: Romeo Cheddarpaws

Michigan Beer

2007-07-03T12:58:00.000-04:00

Little known fact: Michigan has great beer! In the RateBeer.com list of the TOP 100 BEERS in the World in 2007, Michigan beers appear 5 times!!! In fact, a Michigan brewery, Bell's out of Kalamazoo, appears in the number 3 spot.

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I have to say Bell's Oberon is one of the best I've ever had. Check them out. Also, The Jollly Pumpkin of Dexter, MI, (just down the road from Ann Arbor)has been recently distributed widely according to an Ann Arborite source that saw them shelved in Cali.

New Job. New Address. New Life.

2007-06-30T01:14:00.000-04:00

It has all happened so quickly. I am sure anyone from my grad program can agree. Just a few weeks ago I was barely able to enjoy the accomplishment of graduation from the worry over where my next paycheck would come from. As a non-student, I was no longer eligible for the university-sponsored jobs and internships that allowed me to squeak by as a student. I was hot on the job hunt, not sure where I would end up.

Graduation Day, admiring the windows of this grand old university building where the ceremony took place.

Here's the story: I graduated in the last week of April. In May, I traveled to San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, and Tennessee, part vacationing, part networking for job leads. I was working several leads, both in and out of Michigan, when I got an unsolicited phone call from a Detroit-area company recruiter who had seen my resume online.

My first inclination was to get off the phone, since all such contacts had been wildly inappropriate (insurance sales, for instance). But the woman on the line was able to get out the words "web marketing team" and "voted best place to work in Michigan" before I brushed her off. So she caught my attention.

Long story short, I slowly realized through the interview process that this was, indeed, an excellent opportunity to combine my past marketing skills and my newly minted graduate education in info technology. Of all the leads I was pursuing, this was the most appealing and appropriate. In the end, after several interviews and one that included the entire team (hiring processes here are democratic), I was somehow offered the excellent opportunity to work at a company considered one of the top 20 in the US to work for. It is also considered #1 place in the US for IT workers, for three years in a row. And to think I had never even heard of them. I completely overlooked them as a possibility in my Michigan based job search!

Not only is the company cool, growing, progressive, and employee centric, but the role I have is very exciting to me, and one in which I feel I can make a considerable contribution. I can't believe my good fortune. I haven't even mentioned the people I work with. Just like the savvy recruiter who knew just what to say, my coworkers are the best of the best. I really feel privileged to be able to learn from them and benefit from their support. I know it sounds corny, but this is really how I feel!!! The employees truly love working here. It's unbelievable. I've never been in a place like that. It seems lke I have been had by corporate America, I know. But this place is truly bent on individuals being the best they can be...

My coworkers: The Web Marketing Team on an Outing!!!

Ok, enough with the gushy cheer leading, right?

In other news, I just moved to a cute house on the "Old West Side" in Ann Arbor- read: where the adults live!!! I am SO happy to be living a non-student life again! I'm just blocks from the cafes and shops of main street, and I have a yard and a basement and a garage and all that adult stuff...I've never had a garage before, I realized recently. New Orleans wasn't really garage-equipped. Nor Seattle, so much. But here in Michigan, in the winter, a garage can be a real benefit!

My new house, before the paint job and gardening work....

It's so amazing how quickly things fell into place. It almost seems like a dream. I honestly wake up in the mornings going: "Oh yeah, I live and work in Michigan. That's right." It's going to take a while for my subconscious to get the hint.

Michigan farm country.

Sooo, in addition to the travels I've had around the country in recent weeks, I have also been getting to know my new home of Michigan. I have now canoed or kayaked three rivers in Michigan, been camping a few nights in a couple of different State parks (still gets cold at night here, even in June!) and plan to do more even more exploring with my dog Agnes, who is coming to live with me after being at my Mom's for two years. I've also been getting to Detroit more, exploring the music scene there and trying out some of the more famous restaurants.

Forest along the AuSable River.

Sunset from our campsite on the AuSable.

So, all in all, life is good. After struggling through school and my "lost years" of underemployment in Seattle, I feel thoroughly grateful for this simple slice of apparent security. But deeper than such an illusion of security, is the comfort that I can rise to the challenges that circumstances may fling at me or goals that I have set for myself... but NOT without the ever-present help and support of my friends and family, always.

Gratitude gratitude gratitude. It's the pervasive theme of this blog posting...

(P.S. If you're interested in seeing more recent photos, check out my flikr pages.)

Emetrics Summit

2007-05-14T11:32:00.001-04:00

In the continued quest to enhance my analytic abilites and find meaningful employment in the internet industry, I attended the Emetrics Summit in San Francisco last week.

It's a very expensive conference, and since I am a student (well, technically I JUST graduated!!!! Hooray!!!!), I finagled a position as a student volunteer from the very kind permission of conference organizer Matt Findlay. He and Cliff Cobb are British fellows from Rising Media, and they host the conference in a few locales in the US and Europe throughout the year.

Because I was working the conference, I was unable to attend all the session I would have liked, but the ones I did see were so very helpful and enlightening. Among the highlights were Operational Design by Cathy Parish of Fry (about developing a process to your analytics program); Measuring by the Mission by Tim Hart of J. Paul Getty Trust (about developing metrics for sites that are not market based); Distinguishing Click Frauds from Poorly Performing Ads, by John Marshall of Click Tracks; the "guru session" about competitive analysis, featuring "guru" Avinash Kaushik; The Politics of Web Optimization by Dylan Lewis of Intuit; Data at the Edge, a keynote speech by Seth Romanow that I was sorry to not see all of...

There were many more presentations I just got to parts of because I had some duties calling. Some friends attended session they found very valuable for beginners. I have the slides from these recommended sessions (included in the conference packet). Particularly worth mentioning were P.I.M.P. My Reports and Assembling Your Reporting Toolkit by Jennifer Veesenmyer of Evantage and Erik Kokkonen of Juice Analytics, respectively.

I really appreciated a session that I only got to see part of called Multivariable Optimization: Best Practices in Holistic Conversion Improvement, and was disappointed that the slides were not part of the conference packet, as I had hoped to refer to them at a later time to further study this helpful presentation.

I had no idea how much more there was to analytics other than the actual analyzing. So many topics such as addressing the reporting needs of your clients, how to go from reporting to actual action, how to best manage your data, philosophies on optimization, application of testing strategies, best practices, etc. It was truly an eye opening experience to get this overview of the industry.

During the mixers I was able to gather even more information and was stimulated by the subtle differences in the various industries in which analytics is applied. Plus, the vendor aspect is intriguing to me. I had no idea there were so many vendors competing for analysts' business, each claiming to offer some special perspective or added value. My mind was reeling with ideas each day. It was exhausting, but completely worth it.

While in SF, I was able to visit with my friend's family in Berkeley, Jill and Ray L'Esperance, who were kind enough to put me up for a couple of nights, and also see an old friend from my undergrad days, Rachael Sbuttoni, who is newly married and happily working and living in SF as she has been for several years.

In all, it was a great trip. I am hoping to make the next Emetrics Summit in Washington DC this fall to further pursue my interests in web analytics...hopefully see all the sessions in which I have an interest, although I do not think that's possible, since there are concurrent sessions...

Ok, Already! - Notes from a Lagging Blogger

2007-02-15T22:01:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm a negligent blogger. It is the busiest time in my life. I feel I am in boot camp; everything after this will be easy by comparison.

I've been getting some inquiries from friends like: did you switch blog addresses? (Flattering that anyone checks, really.) Now I am realizing that rather than write each and every one of you an email, I can just write this all once and refer you to it. Just as impersonal as a Christmas form letter! I do actually love corresponding with my pals all over the world, but this will save time for now until graduation (only 68 days away, but whose counting?).

Things I'm up to:

I am making a web-based tool for a tenant's rights organization in Lower East Side of Manhattan (Will get to travel there with my team for assessments research! Keeping the NYC connections flowing!).
Helping write a grant for the National Science Foundation to give my current university employer (Social Science Data Analysis Network) some $ to make a digital library. We are partnering with the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), so there is a lot of research and coordination with that, too.
Plus four classes: business information management (very practical), digital governments (love it) , graphic arts (fun to use the dormant creative part of my brain), and Content Management Systems (so practical, with a meaningful project, and I have a great team).

I also just took a second job as a web analytics trainee at a local interactive design firm. The company is in the top 50 for Advertising Age's Interactive Agencies, and it's a great place to work. The skill set I will be learning is the fastest growing segment right now of the IT industry; a shortage of professionals trained in it. I feel incredibly lucky to get this chance to learn something so valuable in the market place.

So, provided I survive these next 9 weeks, I will soon be free from school - for a good loooong while, and can get my life back!! I can't wait to read for pleasure again, and have a nice list that I am drooling over. I'm so psyched to be getting my life back and having the skills to have some degree of freedom again. Can't wait to travel, travel travel!!!

I have no idea what will happen after graduation, and I feel so busy now that I can't even think about looking for work. However, I have a list of 19 employers I want to work for, and will begin the resume drops in March at Spring Break. There is a possibility I may stay in Ann Arbor for a couple of years if I can get a decent offer with the right situation. Otherwise, I am looking at New York, mostly, for the fact that I have a great friend and professional network there, but also would consider Philly, SanFran and Atlanta if particular employers were to make an exceptionally great offer.

I also have an opportunity to travel to London the last week of March for an emetrics conference, as I have been offered free admission (to a $2k conference) if I work as a student volunteer. I know London is so expensive to live, and quite a long shot, but I'll be packing some resumes if I do decide to make the trip (depends on the tax return)!!!

I should also mention a recent fascination with virtual worlds. I have been having a dialog with some similarly interested classmates about the potential and implications of Second Life, an online sim, where I maintain a "life" complete with house and friends. I have also been having a lot of email discussion about the virtual reality medium with some bloggers, and through this correspondence I was recently asked to write a column for a web zine about SL relationships, as that is my area of interest (electronically mediated human-to-human interaction, NOT so much Human-Computer Interaction, as my school promotes). So I may be doing that soon in addition to everything else!!!

Anyway... i think that's all the news that's fit to print. Not much but school, work, school, school, work, school. I'll write more insightful things later....

The 300-millionth American

2006-10-02T17:59:00.000-04:00

I work at the Population Studies Center as a project coordinator. I get the distinct pleasure of working with William Frey (Bill), who is a national demographer of some distinction. Most of the year he is at the Brookings Institute, but this time of year he is here at U.Mich to teach a class.

Lately he has been getting a lot of media attention -- with requests for appearances or as a radio talk show guest -- because the 300 millionth American is expected to be born (or will immigrate) this month. (Bill on NPR last week.) There is no way to tell for sure at what exact moment this will occur, but when looking at the stats, Bill projects that the 300 millionth baby will be Hispanic, born to a working class couple, on October 17, in Los Angelos County.

(I thought this was interesting, because my friend Kelly lives in LA and is expecting a baby on October 15. But she doesn't fit the racial profile. Still...Could be her baby!!!)

Why does Bill predict this milestone citizen will be Hispanic? Statistics show Latinos – immigrants and those born in this country – are driving US population growth, accounting for 49% of the increase in population last year, more than any other ethnic or racial group.

A quote from Bill appearing on Scripps-Howard new service in June: "Most Americans would be surprised to know that the odds are very unlikely that the 300 millionth person will be a domestically born Caucasian."

Only 18 percent of recent population growth has been among non-Hispanic white people, while blacks account for 14 percent, Asians for 14 percent and American Indians for 4 percent.

When looking through stories on the Internet that quote Bill on this subject, most interesting to me was comparing America now with American when the 200 millionth baby was born, in 1967, less than 40 years ago.

1967 - 56 people per square mile.
2006 - 84 people per square mile.

1967 - 9.7 million residents foreign-born (1 in every 20).
2006 - 36 million foreign-born (1 in every 8).

1967 - 5 cities with at least 1 million population.
2006 - 44 urban areas of this size.

Other facts

The United States added 2.8 million people last year – a little more than a million from immigration and about 1.7 million because births outnumbered deaths.

The United States is the third-largest country in the world, behind China and India. Its population is increasing by a little less than 1 percent a year.

The world, with a population of 6.5 billion, is growing a little faster than 1 percent a year.

This is all very interesting, and a good time to stop and take inventory on what the country is like now, and what the country, and the world, will be like when our resources are and will continue to be stretched. Not to be dark, but it is my nature to look at the bigger picture -- shall we?

What does this mean for the future of humankind?
While many assert that the nightmare of a Malthusian catastrophe has been counterbalanced by the Green Revolution, other social science theorists believe that the disaster originally predicted by Malthus in 1798 is in fact underway, with a large percentage of the human population living in misery. (e.g. In developing countries, 29,000 children die EVERY DAY from preventable diseases).

Considering stats like this, one feels lucky to be an American, and more able to grasp the reasons behind the high immigration rate. But, when faced with these facts, is it moral to continue using more than our share of the world's resources? How can we shift our deep cultural bent toward overconsumption?

In reality, we aren't going to be the lucky ones for long. The affluence we now experience is temporary, unique to a few generations. In time, all of humanity will need to face the idea of resource limitations. Some experts believe the world will reach 16 billion before population rates begin to decrease.

We are humans, the most adaptable animal on the planet (besides insects, perhaps). What are we going to do about this? What is the world going to be like when that 300 millionth American baby is in their thirties (which is right about the time the 400 millionth American baby is due)? I don't have kids, but I still feel I owe it to him or her to not only ponder this question, but to take action. To me, all indicators suggest we need to begin the shift to a global perspective.

Comments/discussion encouraged

Rebecca Goes to Yale

2006-09-01T00:25:00.000-04:00

Last year I worked as a research assistant, interviewing organizations in the Gulf South about how they fared during and after the record-breaking and often devastating hurricane season. To make a long story short, we found that social networks were strongest when butressed with the use of technology. Access to technology, primarily through the Technology Opportunities Program Grant, facilitated social networks, enabling valuable assistance through the storms' immediate aftermath, and also through recovery.

So the work I did for the hurricane study was to assist the research of this very cool woman who is a Ph.D. grad and research fellow of my school, now teaching at Dominican in Chicago, and she found an upcoming conference at Yale that is examining what the hurricane revealed about the political climate of the area. We submitted an abstract for consideration, and I have been invited to present at the conference in November!

So this is very exciting news. Although in a way I wish that my first academic presentation were somewhere a little less intimidating. Like at Appalachian State or something (no offense, AS-ers. I'm sure quality education exists in more places than just the Ivies.)

Yale at night...

One thing we noted was that the name of the conference is quite negative. It's called "The Death of New Orleans: an exercise in political thought." Harsh! Last time I checked, New Orleans was still there. My friends and family still make thier homes there. They have jobs and go shopping and eat at restaurants and have schools and a mayor, just like the the rest of America. Just that thier rents doubled, or they are living in a potentially poisonous FEMA trailer. So I'm not sure why the title is so dramatic. Our research reveals actually a positive aspect of social resiliency through the whole disaster, so I'm hoping to shed a little sunshine on this dark view of New Orleans. Can't wait to do this, and also see other talks about this very important subject, especially from a political perspective.

Ironically a friend from my days living in New Orleans is now living in Hartford, so I hope to meet up with him while in New Haven for the conference. It's only 30 minutes away, and I'm actually looking to fly into Hartford, as it's cheaper.

Today is the first of September. School starts next week. I live in a charming old apartment building that is surrounded by several mansion-like fraternity and sorority houses, and just now (it's after midnight) am hearing the muffled roar of a thousand drunken conversations, punctuated with ritualistic "Greek" chants, wafting in with the chilly, fall-tinged air through the trees and into my open windows. Somehow feels nostalgic, as I know this will be my last real year of "college." So rather than be annoyed that my peaceful Ann Arbor summer is over, I am enjoying it for its novelty in my life. It's cool to be here among all these hopeful, earnest young people as they come to live in Ann Arbor to prepare for their lives through education.

UM Student lounging in the Law Quad...

All work and no play (or "what I did for my summer vacation")

2006-08-31T02:32:00.000-04:00

Quite frankly this summer has been hell. For several weeks I had four projects going at once. And, as is becoming all too familiar lately, I didn't feel I could do any of them justice. (Except perhaps SSDAN - Social Science Data Analysis Network - where I work as a coordinator and was only required to put in 5 hours a week for the summer.)

I need to learn to say "no." I've been practicing.

One cool thing I did was to help recruit "clients" for a project-centered course in my department at the School of Information (SI) . It's a core course on info flow analysis that everyone has to take; I took it last year. While recruiting clients I was able to meet a lot of people in the community and try to convince them to participate. I learned about some cool local places, like special libraries and museums, research companies and non-profits. My appreciation for the area was enhanced, no doubt. People were nice, even when they said no. My classmate Andrea enlisted my help. She did a lot of the lead generation, and I mostly followed up, although toward the end we were pulling ideas from everywhere, scrambling to meet a higher-than-ever need for projects, as a record number of incoming students are enrolled this fall at SI. This work was a lot like sales. The experience has led me to be less afraid of such a role in the future.

Other fun stuff from the summer: Got to go to New York a few times, where I helped an archivist at Democracy Now! coordinate the extensive, detailed cataloging of newscasts. The news organization is located a very cool old firehouse in Soho (see picture --->). Also, night life in NY is so stimulating -- cool, interesting people from all over, plus many friends from my progam and my university to meet up and hang out with. I also have friends from my New Orleans days who have relocated there and in the surrounding areas. Even two kids I used to babysit while growing up in Tennessee have made their home there! They both work in the arts. I had lunch a couple of times with the girl, now a lovely young woman who works for an arts non-profit and studies acupuncture and Chinese medicine! Plus, I met up with a former classmate from high school who is very successful in theatre there. It was very comforting to feel I was surrounded by connections.

Back on the Detroit scence, where I spent most of my summer: the market research internship was not all that I had hoped. I was tasked with making recommendations to improve their job management tools and processes, something I've done througout my career, and did not get as much exposure to market analytics as I had hoped. Plus, everyone works remotely and was incredibly busy, so I didn't get as much face time as I wanted. Ah well, not all endeavors can be dreamy.

The experience did inspire me to seek out more forums to develop my emerging analytic skills, so I am taking the often-avoided, much-feared Economics for Information Professionals course. I spoke with the prof about my reluctance, and she gave me her vote of confidence. Also taking "Information Law," "Design of Complex Websites," and, from the lauded Ross School of Business, "Project Management" and "Decision Support with Spreadsheet Tools." Splendid. So looking forward to these relevant, practical courses, and getting a break from the theoretical discourse they have been pounding us with...

Forgot to mention my high school reunion in Tennessee. What a weird thing to see all those people again, just older. It was about what I'd expected. I had fun with it. My best friend from high school stayed at my mother's with me, so it was fantastic to be able to catch up with her. Also had my own party the day after the reunion for my friends from all the classes, and beyond, including friends from college who have remained in the East Tennessee area. So we had our own little "cool people" reunion; I'd love to continue this tradition every summer.

I guess in all, I had a pretty good summer, despite feeling harried much of the time. I think I'll look back with fond memories on the summer of grad school...It's a good life. I'm ready to get on with it. Bring on the schoolin! I needs me an edumacation...

Also, Roller Derby Rocks! Have been to see a couple of bouts this summer, and I want so badly to be a Detroit Derby Girl!!!! Although I'm not allowed due to no insurance. Probably not a bad policy. My hairdresser, a founding member of DDG, broke her leg in two places. She had no insurance and it cost her a pretty penny, not to mention the pain and incoveninece of having a broken leg... Still, looks like so much fun. And I'm an excellent skater. Or was once.

Speaking of insurance, over 45 million Americans are without health insurance. Today some email was being bantered around among the grad students about where to find cheap health inurance. I suggested they go to Canada, which is only 40 minutes from here. And is coincidentally smaller in population (38 million) than all of the uninsured people in the US!

The Age of Participation

2006-04-25T08:13:00.000-04:00

We are entering an age of cultural richness and abundant choice that we've never seen before in history. Peer production is the most powerful industrial force of our time.
-Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine.

I've recently been exploring the idea of participatory media, especially how it can transform traditional journalism, as it seems our own outlets for news in the US are failing in their mission to inform us, for a variety of contested reasons. It seems that anymore one has to dig for the truth by weighing the opinion-bent perspectives of a variety of sources.

For those of us who are truth seekers, there's no shortage of sources competing for our attention, and most importantly for our TRUST (see this interview with author Karen Stephenson on the subject of trust in media). Regardless of where the cards will fall (and they are falling, continuously and dynamically), I think this trend toward participatory journalism could change the world. Or rather: IS changing the world.

I wanted to do a news research internship in New York for the summer, and actually will participate in some news research as a result of contacts I made in my internship search. However, I decided on an internship opportunity that will expose me to more analytics, which I find difficult to understand in a classroom situation, and grasp far more easily when I'm given some one-on-one attention and true, real application. I know these skills will prove to be valuable to me as I go forward in my career and studies.

But the idea of how technology is changing the media still fascinates me, and while I have sworn off any more school after this degree, the one field that could tempt me into more study is an interdisciplinary look at how technology is changing our society, and specifically the communications landscape.

Some links:
Economist article about participatory media
CNNMoney article about Digg.com
Center for Citizen Media
The Online News Association
The Center for the Digital Future
Criticism of the Blogosphere
A blog about how marketing and PR are being affected by "social software"
A blog with great observations about participatory culture and the wired landscape

Fine examples of participatory journalism:
Columbia Journalism Review
Corante
Global Voices
Halley's Comment
Hypergene
PressThink

Meta journalism:
Views on Citizen Journalism
I, Reporter
A group weblog by journalists about journalism
PBS's Mediashift
Civic Journalism Interest Group Conference
Papers

Biting the Apple

2006-03-15T02:07:00.000-05:00

Haven't written in a long while, but there is so much to do that recording it slows down the natural flux. I'm too busy "being" to step back and write. Grad school is not the time to be self absorbed-ly musing... so much learning to be done.

It's been about 10 years since I last saw New York City. Almost ten years to the day. Last week I spent some time there on a sort of school-sponsored trip-thing that we raised money for (and school matched). I worked at the UN (a very cool thing to do) and also met with old friends from New Orleans and Tennessee who make their homes there. Plus met a friend (from Seattle)'s father. A weird sort of coming together of many parts of my life.

I'm not sure how committed I'm going to remain to this next statement: but I've had a series of spiritual and/or logical revelations that have led me to beleive that I need to be living in New York.

Why is hard to explain: some inexplicable coincidences coupled with an inexpressable feeling I had while I was there. For instance: a tangible energy coming out of the ground. Sounds crazy, yes, but it was there. I must go there and live it out. For a while -- maybe just for the summer. I don't know. A year or two, or less. Or more. I just know of no other place that has that kind of energy. Why be anywhere else? Why not be where you feel the need to be? What makes more sense?

Maybe this is going to wear off. But now it's like I have this sickness over it. In time my rational mind will temper this bug. I'm waiting for reason.

Outtasite site

2006-02-03T02:40:00.000-05:00

This is about the most amazing website I have ever seen. It's a project by a guy at UM art school. He was coming to the bird divsion museum (where I work as an assistant librarian) to draw birds for the project. He sent the final product to my boss who shared it with me.

There are three or four interactive devices used here to tell his story (it's a fictional story about a bird disease), that I think would be very useful in some comunity informatics or education-purposed applications. In fact, I had imagined some of these features for just such a purpose, but didn't know if they could be done or not. (Maybe I'll learn them next year when I take "complex web sites" here at the U of M?)

Corporate and Government Responsibility: empowering citizens with information

2006-01-19T19:02:00.000-05:00

Today I went to see a talk at UM sponsored by the Erb Institute for Environmental Justice. The speaker was Ann Rolfes, founder and Executive Director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB). Her organization has been helping empower residents bordering refineries to confront their corporate neighbors and demand better compliance and responsibility in their industrial practices.

It was a great talk. Business majors and environmental scientists were there asking great, tough, insightful questions. It was quite inspirational to hear her stories of how her organization allowed average people, with the aid of scientists and community organizers, to collect data and present company shareholders and the legal community with the results. These acts enabled several successful class action law suits, as well as buyouts, chipping away at the lack of accountability resulting from government neglect and short-sighted corporate interest.

Particularly disturbing facts, but certainly not surprising: 1) The established laws of environmental quality are constantly being violated, and yet the EPA and DEQ do nothing to enforce them. 2) Whomever is in charge of making cancer stats available to the public is asleep at the wheel. In fact, it was suggested by other members in the audience, who had worked in Louisiana, that any agencies that collect health data seem to suppress the stats rather than make them public. See this lawsuit, where the Louisiana Tumor Registry was ordered by a judge to release information to a lawyer representing cancer victims (July 6, 2001). Potentially this is a huge public health problem. One can only imagine the cancer rates 5-10 years from now, after the sludge and slime of Katrina's toxic bath.

Rolfes message was that it's up to ordinary people to take control. This means getting citizens involved and participating in their own fate. Hence the bucket. Affected citizens keep logs and take air samples via the EPA-approved bucket. The samples are given over to a lab, and the Bucket Brigade helps citizens to do what ever action they decide with their results: buyouts or legal action or protest, etc. I also like the idea of shareholder activism where interested parties buy stock in Exxon and Shell in order to steer their corporate policies.

Post-Katrina, the LABB is now turning their focus to soil sampling in Chalmette (bordering New Orleans) to see what refinery spills during post-hurricane flooding left behind after the flood waters receded. The results are disturbing, with arsenic and heavy metals being found on school playgrounds and in the sludge of returning citizens' homes. The EPA's official message was to "avoid contact with contaminated soil." The end. The lack of response from government and on the part of industry is amazing. However, the efforts of LABB were instrumental in the current case that is being weighed by U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallo as to whether or not citizens can file a class action suit against the the oil company responsible for the biggest spill during the flood (apparenlty there were more than one), Murphy Oil.

Rolfes had several examples of corporate mismanagement, such as statistics showing that the amount of money that went into publicizing supposed corporate responsibility could have gone into outfitting the refineries with hundreds of thousands of leak-proof valves. The technology to be safer exists, but the company would rather spend the money on spin and looking better rather than on being better. This becomes really apparent when googling the companies by name, as their PR people must put out dozens of press releases every day touting how conscientious the companies are. One has to really dig deep in the search results to get to the watch dog groups.

Note the dark line on buildings showing where oil was floating on top of flood waters before they receded.

I am so glad people are doing something, and that methods for making change are being standardized and shared. The talk was valuable to raise awarness among emerging business and science professionals to work toward more responsible industry and business practices. Even though what is happening in New Orleans is depressing as all hell, the talk gave me hope.

So how are we going to battle the greed and mismanagement that persists in spite of human cost? Sharing information amongst ourselves. This site is a good source for global corporate policy discussions in the media, and this site is a good one to keep an eye on just what's going on out there in the realm of transnational corporations. Let's use the amazing tools of our age to inform each other. Comments and discussion welcome and encouraged.

New Orleans: Misuderstood city, misunderstood mayor

2006-01-17T08:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day. In New Orleans, this held special significance, since many African-American residents still have not returned. Areas that are up and running were those minimally affected and have a higher demography of whites than other parts of the city. The city was previously 70% black, and now no one really knows exactly (from my recent visit, I would imagine the Hispanic percentage has gone up, due to many laborers from Texas coming in), but there are certainly a lot of African-Americans displaced.

According to the New Orleans Times Picayune, the turn out for the traditionally well-attended parade was a mere fraction from past parades. And the mayor took the opportunity make a speech hoping for the future that former residents would return. He made a comment that "at the end of the day, this city will be chocolate."

This comment produced an immediate uproar from the city, and apparently the nation, as I heard a reference to it briefly this a.m. on NPR. Many of Nagin's critics would have his job, as he is not a career politician and people who are more power-savvy want it back in this time of national attention. Nagin was formerly a business manager at Comcast. Personally, I find his naivete refreshing in a world of calculated, focus-grouped, sanitized political drones. I was not offended by his "racial" comments. I think he has a valid point that the city has lost some of its most essential residents.(Although Nagin lost me when he said God is punishing America with natural disasters; this comment immediately damages his credibility. But that's another issue.)

I want to say that 1) I think the reaction to Nagin's comment shows just how racially charged the country really has become. I used to believe it was just the South, but here in the Midwest I see similar paranoia-twinged racial reactions. And 2) Nagin is correct to give hope for the color and diversity of the city to return. This diaspora of poor blacks is a real problem. We don't want some scrubbed-clean, Vegas-y version of New Orleans. Certainly better schools, more economic opportunity, improved services, and more responsive government - all hopes for the "new" New Orleans - are improvements that are long overdue. But this does not entail keeping the city as white as possible. It means raising the standards for all citizens. And bringing back the rightful residents.

I'm proud of Nagin for saying what people are too politically correct to utter. I'm not the first to notice that rampant political correctness is paralyzing forums of speech in many arenas, public and private, policy, business and academics.

Recently I was recounting a fantastic memory about living in New Orleans to a friend: While living in a neighborhood known for its eclectic diversity and unspoilt architecture, my roommate Lara and I were awoken early one sunny and beautiful Mardi Gras morning by an eerie and otherworldly chant coming from outside. We ran to the balcony to see what this could be. There, alone on the deserted street, banging a tambourine and chanting an ancient vernacular, was a proud and splendid Mardi Gras Indian chief, dressed in an eye-popping display of explosive color.

As is tradition in neighborhoods of color, he was calling his tribe out for the long-anticipated day of festivities. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever been privileged to witness in all my travels around the globe. I felt privy to the mysterious and vibrant culture of one of the most unique cities in America. It was a great way to start my favorite holiday, which commenced with much merrymaking and costuming and parading.

That was 1997. Will there be Mardi Gras Indians this year? Are they dispersed to Houston and Atlanta and Detroit, hoping to reunite with their tribe? A tribe their grandfathers and great grandfathers belonged to? Nagin is correct to give hope, to call back the rightful owners of the city's cultural heritage. His words are understood by those who matter. These are the citizens of New Orleans. And yes, many of them happen to have a lovely color, like chocolate.

Internot: the future of Access in the US

2006-01-14T22:14:00.000-05:00

Coincidentally, the day before a classmate sent this thought-provoking story, for which this graph pretty much says it all:

Lawrence Lessig (free culture advocate and digital freedom activitst), had this to say about Internet regulation on his blog entry of January 13.

His argument is essentially that, counterintuitively, some government regulation of the Internet is required to keep the free market from quashing it -- that the Internet is an infrastructure, like a highway, that needs to be protected by governing agencies. (Lessig also points out that broadband is more expensive in the US than about anywhere else in the developed world, which may be a clue as to why the US is ranked so poorly in the above graph.)

V. relevant to digital-age public policy issues I have been studying...possibly boring to others, but like it or not, these decisions will have a significant impact on our future.

Empowerment is born

2006-01-13T09:52:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to hear that New Orleans turned out their school children on a field-trip to demonstrate!!!

This represents a huge shift for me. When I went to live on the West Coast after living in New Orleans for nine years, I was so struck by how people out west felt that the government was actually a reflection of themselves: that they had the power to vote on issues that they decided. While in Seattle, people constanly approached me to sign petitions to put issues on the public ballot for the citizens of the city to vote on. I had no idea, until I was 33, that this kind of thing could even be done.

I was so amazed at this concept, having come from an enviroment where there was such an "us vs. them" mentality. While living in New Orleans, the general impression I had was that laws were made by the unapproachable, intractable power structure, which had nothing to do with regular people. Even recently when I visited I heard my local friends speak with this same sort of feeling of helplessness when it came to matters of government decision.

So to see this article, where the organizer was a first-time demonstrato, made me tear up with joy and hope. With all the destruction and sadness that the hurricane has wrought, I feel like this development is truly a silver lining. People have been empowered to become active in the decision making of their own city. This is a real paradigm shift.

I'm so proud of the citizens of New Orleans!

On a personal note: trying to shake the feeling that I'm taking all the wrong classes. There's just so much to chose from!!!

Best words of advice this week were from second-year student and fab chick future GIS informationist Tracey Hughes, who said, "You're gonna have to accept you won't be able to do everything you want to do."

These are zen-like words that apply to life in general.

Heart Balm

2006-01-06T22:11:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my friend and fellow lover-of-New-Orleans Rachael Sbuttoni for turning me on to this video by the Be Good Tonyas showing New Orleans in happier times. It's been very comforting to me to watch this video, which captures the chill atmosphere of the city, pre-hurricane. It's very different now; not chill, but eerie, empty and depressed. Since my visit, I feel like I am in mourning for New Orleans. The way my heart aches and my dreams are haunted is very similar to when people I have loved have died. When I tell people I feel I am in mourning, they look at me blankly. I guess it's hard to understand if you've never lost a city.

Rachael and I share a mutual friend: fabulous human being Patsy Story, who is dilligently rebuilding her home in the lower Ninth Ward. She is seen in the video, smiling and drumming her legs to the music. Patsy's house took on 11 feet of water. I was lucky enough to find her working on her home when I was in New Orleans. Her warmth and buoyancy are a true inspiration.

Rachael is a talented illustrator living in San Francisco, as well as a very cool chick. Check out her charming blog! She is proof that good stuff comes from Tennessee. (Other examples: James Agee, country ham, Jack Daniels, documentaries about cool kids doing socially responsible projects, Al Green, Elvis.

On a more positive note...Katrina recovery

2006-01-04T03:48:00.000-05:00

Tubes pump in dry air to help buildings on Tulane's campus recover from humidity and mold.

Here are a couple of my compatriots from UM, Carl and Rachel, helping to get the library at the Newcomb Center for Research on Women back up and running.

Rachel and Kyle shelve books that had to be evacuated while the building was restored. Somehow the books got jumbled while exiled, so this was not an easy task!

Me with a respirator. The air was foul, but it was hard to work with this thing on your face.

A store-front window displaying a comforting dose of characteristic New Orleans sass.

Some Christmas spirit gives some welcome normalcy to a neighborhood lucky enough to have electricity.

See more pictures from our trip.

(The School of Information Recovery Project, aka SIRP, was partially funded by Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning)

Images of Katrina's Destruction from 12/31/05

2006-01-04T03:03:00.000-05:00

Here is picture outside the Robert E. Smith library in the Lakeview neighborhood. All their shelves were disassembled and rusting. The neighborhood looked to have taken 3-6 feet of water. Only three libraries in the city's system of 14 are now operating.

Check out this page to see what it looked like inside this location when librarians first came upon the scene.

Many spray-painted notes throughout the city demonstrated a sardonic humor in spite of bleak circumstances.

This is a house in the middle of the road that has been knocked from its foundation from the surge of water that broke through the 17th Street Levy. This area was particularly devastated.

This was the scene in the ninth ward, the site of the other levy breech. It looked like a bomb had gone off. It is impossible to show the scope of the destruction, but take this photo and multiply it by a hundred and you may be getting close. Cars were mixed in with rubble that was piled higher than the height of a person. It was dumbfounding.

See more pictures from our trip.

(The School of Information Recovery Project, aka SIRP, was partially funded by Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning)

New Orleans Trippin

2006-01-03T18:13:00.000-05:00

Well, I returned to Ann Arbor from a service project in New Orleans in the wee hours yesterday. I had to rest most of the day to recover from the 17-hour drive and the general emotional and mental stress associated with seeing a city you once considered your home completely destroyed beyond your wildest imagination. But I have nothing to complain about. People have lost so much. I'm one of the lucky ones, having left the city in 2001.

The purpose of the project was to help other archivists to get back to normal and to demonstrate our concern by offering our labor to them. We worked at the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women. A really wonderful woman, Susan Tucker, the curator, was our host. We also had the tremendous pleasure of meeting the charming director, Beth Willinger, the cool librarian, Christina Hernandez, and the ultra-hip educational director, Crystal Kile (a.k.a. Pop-Tart on WTUL). I can't imagine working with a better group of people.

Susan was so terrific as to have arranged for us to meet with other archivists around town. We met with archivists from the Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Notorial Archives, the New Orleans Historical Collection, and the Government Documents Collection of Tulane. Some lost more than others. Some appeared shell shocked. Others relived the intensity of the storm as they answered our questions. Everyone was wiser. We learned a great deal not only about the effects of Katrina, but about the archives profession in general.

Perhaps the most eerie hallmark of this hurricane is the darkness of the city at night. Over 80% of the city still has no electricity and is mostly uninhabited. One drives through huge swaths of darkness from one "island" neighborhood of light and life to another. Stop lights are replaced by makeshift stop signs.

Of course I had to drive around the city and look at all the neighborhoods I had lived in or my friends had lived in in order to make sense of the scope of the destruction. I'm still coping with what I saw. I can't imagine having lived through it. I suppose I have some bit of survior guilt for having left the city before this horrible event occurred. The mood of the city is depressed, but also hopeful for a new beginnning. Perhaps this destruction can make a clean slate for a NEW New Orleans with better schools, a more responsive, efficient governement, and safer streets. But there is also fear for the future. People are worried for their jobs. Housing prices are high. Rentals higher. Out of the 200,000 housing units in New Orleans, over 150,000 have sustained damage. Many of these are blighted beyond repair.

There is no smooth road ahead for this great city. But when has New Orleans ever had it easy? Throughout the French period of the city's history (1700s) it was plauged with fires, hurricanes, and floods. Anyone who's studied the rich and colorful history of the city knows about the infamous, devastating fire of 1788, which destoyed most of the French wooden buildings. The Spanish had hardly rebuilt the city when a series of three hurricanes and another fire, all in 1794, destroyed the few buildings that had escaped the 1788 disaster, as well as most of the new ones. (As a result, most of the existing structures date from 1795 or after.) In 1818, 1847, and 1853, over 14,000 people -- a sizeable percentage of the population -- succumbed to yellow fever. In 1927 a great flood effected the entire lower Miss. river and displaced over a million people.

New Orleans survived all of this. And it will survive Katrina, I have no doubt. The fact that the city has suffered and yet still retains its joi de vivre is exactly what makes the New Orleans brand of pluck so extraordinary. The resilience of its inhabitants is integral to its character.

In the meantime, only three libraries are up and running in the city. The school system is destroyed: Teachers have all been laid off, only one public school is now operating, and the city will be the first all-charter school system in the country -- a situation that many people are watching closely. Therefore, the health of libraries is more important than ever. Not just for children neglected by the school system, but as a resource for the community as it negotiates the arduous rebuilding process.

I want very much to continue helping in New Orleans, but need to decide what will be the best way to do this. This will be the focus of much of my professional exploration in the months to come.

(The School of Information Recovery Project, a.k.a. SIRP, was partially funded by Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning)