Student Government Research

My research focused on the history of community government at Antioch College. CG involved students, faculty, administrators and staff. It was a staple of Antiochian  education. Referred to as "A laboratory for democracy," CG was valued as a way to encourage students to become active participants in democracy after college.

Tanja took a different approach. She researched a few histories of student government. Some students actually unionized. Many student governments have paid positions for students occupying offices.

Live Blogging at WYSO

Tanja and I arrived at WYSO at 5:45. It was still dark and the morning dew was lightly frosted. We finished our cigarettes and entered the building. Outside things were slow, but inside people were wired despite having been up late--or all night.

There wasn't much work to do on our shift. We made some coffee. We ate a few Twizzlers and pretzels. A strange combo of left over snacks.

We typed and posted radio scripts to WYSO's blog. We were charged, in some cases, with titling the posts. It was interesting to observe my own hesitation, fretting over the minuscule responsibility. Alas, people title articles and blog posts. I am a person.

It was fun to watch the radio broadcasters prepare their spots, rushing around the studio for audio files, or things off the wire, to the studio just as the ON AIR light flashed on.

The experience was memorable. I would love to work in similar environment.

Social Change in The Age of Anonymous

We watched We Are Legion: The story of the Hacktivists  in class October 23rd. It is a documentary about Anonymous, a very loosely associated group of hackers or hacktivists, as they've come to be known.

The film explores some of the history of Anonymous, from early hacktivists groups like Cult of the Dead Cow to its beginning on the website 4Chan. Through interviews with those involved, some of which have served or are facing time in prison, writers and academics the documentary paints the collectives narrative as a rise from Internet shits and giggles to a global social movement.

Brian Mettinbrink's story was the most fascinating to me. By participating in a distributed denial of service (DDos) attack Brian was sentenced to a year in federal prison and one year supervised release in which he cannot touch a computer. A DDos attack is the internet version of a sit in. Quite an extreme punishment for an act of protest.

The DDos on Scientology was named Chanology. Anonymous took down Paypal, Visa and Mastercard when they froze transaction to Wikileaks. They helped provide internet during the Arab Spring and have served as tech support to the Occupy movements.

Inspired by the last scene in V for Vendetta, where the masses march to parliament, Anonymous has adopted the Guy Fawkes mask. 

Here is their video announcing that they were joining OWS.

What I like most about the idea of Anonymous is that they are not unified entity with a list of demands. There is no set of tenets they must swear by. Some members do not agree that Anonymous should be involved in social change with an agenda. The fact that enough members have the conviction to use their skills to fight power, to push for what they believe is positive social change, that they have changed what Anonymous is, to me, is extremely encouraging. A ray of hope in a dark world.


11/17/12

Anonymous targets Israel.

 

Creative Piece for the Student Union

Last week we shared our creative pieces for our final projects. Tanja created a presentation that was used during our meeting in which we revealed the Student Union constitution to the student body. She presented the material which featured some of our fliers.
These two were not presented in class:
Grapevine
Mouth

I created a letter head featuring a symbol the Student Union may adopt as well as a piece of satire featured below.

We the Students of Antioch Midwest, in order to form a Student Union, have gathered each Saturday at lunch. No one would disagree that the AUM is a student centered institution with its pyramid structure, administrators making over six figures, and total lack of student activities. Nonetheless, a group of communist agitators and their mindless lackeys have insisted on forming this group to facilitate student involvement on campus.  

It is obvious that the students of AUM do not want academic amenities. Sustainability majors enjoy talking about their field, rather than working in one. New graduates prefer to go-it-alone when entering the workforce rather than relying on the assistance of a pesky Career Services Department. Those student pursuing careers in Academia don’t want to be bothered with T.A. positions.  

If we really wanted such things, why would we borrow thousands of dollars in student loans for a degree from an institution like Antioch? It is not as if we feel pressured by our society to pursue an education in order the get a decent job. We are definitely not  inspired by the success stories on the walls of AUM. Certainly we are not interested in an educational experience that values our individual experience rather than focusing on numbers of incoming and graduating students. We are not impressed by our passionate faculty or the legacy of Horace Mann. 

We chose Antioch University Midwest because the building looks nice. There are no scraps of tape of the windows and doors. We chose AUM because  they decorate their halls with local high school art. Finally, we chose AUM because, it has white Roman style pillars. Despite our satisfaction with this institution, we, the communist agitators of the Student Union, ask that you join our group in order to force unwilling participants to pretend to transform this institution for the benefit of no one at all.

How to Swift an opinion

Last week's class discussion focused on Swiftian Satire. After discussing Irony and its off shoots we discussed Jonathan Swift's, A Modest Proposal. This 283 year old essay was ground breaking in its day.
This form of  persuasion adopts a ludicrous position and takes it to its logical and absurd conclusion, stopping at some point for the voice of reason.

"I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom. This I freely own, and 'twas indeed one principal design in offering it to the world. I desire the reader will observe, that I calculate my remedy for this one individual Kingdom of Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be upon Earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: Of taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound: Of using neither cloaths, nor houshold furniture, except what is of our own growth and manufacture: Of utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury: Of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming in our women: Of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence and temperance: Of learning to love our country, wherein we differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo: Of quitting our animosities and factions, nor acting any longer like the Jews, who were murdering one another at the very moment their city was taken: Of being a little cautious not to sell our country and consciences for nothing: Of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants. Lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill into our shop-keepers, who, if a resolution could now be taken to buy only our native goods, would immediately unite to cheat and exact upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor could ever yet be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing, though often and earnestly invited to it."

Here's a modern example of a Swift kick in an institutional ass:
Clayton Bigsby recoded from a macbook camera. 

I thought about writing a satirical  essay for the Student Union campaign as my creative piece. Our fliers cause enough of a stir. I'm not sure what I have to say would best benefit the Student Union's mission. However, Antioch University claims to be a student centered institution with an extremely top heavy pyramidal structure. Who do you think is at the bottom? The students who PAY to attend. We always hear there is no money for projects or supplies yet some administrators make nearly half a million a year. What about that mission statement of working toward social, economic, and environmental justice? Ridiculous.

 

The Art of Protest and The Protest of Art

Last week we discussed the use of art in protest. Whether intended or not art is always saying something. Purely entertainment art or aesthetic art still carry a message even if it is unintentional.  From decorating signs at a protest to creating a piece of work as protest, art and protest have been intertwined. In part two, of the TV documentary series, The First Amendment Project, titled Poetic License, the controversy surrounding Amiri Baraka's poem "Somebody Blew Up America." The focus is placed on whether or not a couple lines in the poem about Israel were  antisemitic. It is pretty clear to me that there is a difference between Jewish people and Israelis. And its absolutely clear that the lines in question are not antisemitic. But, there was a hub-bub none the less and the governor of New Jersey, who had named Amiri Baraka state poet laureate, terminated the position as some twisted form of justice to an injustice that wasn't committed.

The man is a poet. A well known "controversial" poet. That's basically his thing. 9/11 happens, he's invited to read a poem and he pisses people off. Its shocking that people were surprised!

Sometimes I wonder if there is an art to protesting art. The whole point of art is expression, yet time and time again some one some where wants to kill some one's expression. More often than not, the actual protest of the art does no serve the interests of the protesters, but instead strengthens the artists expression making it available to more and more people. It makes the protested art 'go viral' to put it in Internet speak. Maybe first amendment smashers are really the biggest trolls of all time working for freedom of speech by pretending to kill it.

Speaking of biggest trolls of all time, I watched Exit Through The Gift Shop this weekend and seriously Mr. Brainwash HAS to be fake. Please. Please be fake. Though the possibility of the chain of events unfolding as described by street artists Banksy and Shepard Fairey makes me feel like magic is real. Maybe I can be a wizard some day after all. I think Mr. Brainwash is elaborate prank-performance art on the global capitalist consumer culture that infects the art world, and every facet of Western society. I wonder how Banksy felt when Angelina Jolie bought one of his pieces for like a-jillion-dollarz.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing. Is Banksy pranking us all and making a crap ton of money? What is he using the money for? Are you still a street artist if you're banking, Banksy?

 

AstroTurfing USA

If it doesn’t look like grassroots, smell like grassroots, or grow like grassroots. Its not grassroots.

What do the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street have in common? Both involve people.

I was under the impression the Tea Party was a grassroots movement that was co-opted by corporate interests. Turns out the Tea Party is an exercise in American propaganda, as it was called before Edward Bernays, a man who argued manipulation of public opinion was a necessary component of democracy, convinced the US establishment to call it public relations.

The Tea Party has huge corporate sponsors, paid organizers, and a clear list of demands pretty much from its birth. Somehow people find it easy to believe that this is a recipe for honest American grassroots political action serving the interest of the average hard working American before corporations.

Occupy Wall street is a real grassroots movement. And how do you know that Amanda?
Because it was disorganized and chaotic. Repeatedly, I heard the criticism that OWS’ers have no list of demands. Repeatedly, I asked, “Have you ever participated in a direct democracy whose members change daily? Me neither, but something tells me you can't easily cook the voting books."

The Occupiers may have been evicted and to many it looks and feels like a failure. For some strange reason, or specifically, early christian indoctrination, the Parable of the Sower comes to mind and this video is an amazing.

Movements can have tons of momentum but die out immediately, they can be co-opted and splintered and the cause suffers, or if the conditions are right the movement can produce effective change over time.

Now, I’m no scientist but, I’m pretty sure AstroTurf will never go to seed.