chloelikedolivia

Quick thought

I’m starting to get tired of the way the term ‘people of color’ is used. All too often it is centering whiteness and is used when more specific community and identity titles are available. ‘Outreach to communities of color’ is what sparked this. Outreach to who? Does this org really only have a white outreach program and a not white outreach program?

I like this a lot. I notice that I tend to use “people of color” when I’m either not clear on who are the constituents of a certain group, so that way I don’t leave anyone out, or when I’m not entirely clear on what the preferred term is. However, both of these problems could be solved by doing the damn work and *finding those things out*, which should be my job anyway.

reblogged from sexartandpolitics

proofmathisbeautiful:

crookedindifference:

Carl Sagan’s Pulsar Map

Relative position of the Sun to the center of the Galaxy and 14 pulsars with their periods denoted. The lengths of the lines show the relative distances of the pulsars to the Sun.

The pulsar map and hydrogen molecule diagram are shared in common with the Pioneer plaques and the Voyager Golden Record.

reblogged from proofmathisbeautiful

caramelbaloney:

abbyjean:

It’s important to note here that the vast majority of schools lose money off athletics. In 2008, less than a quarter of sports powerhouses made money off their athletics programs, and collectively these same institutions lost nearly $1 billion on sports. These funds must be made up by state taxpayers or student tuition bills. Find out how much your school spent with this handy database put together by researchers at USA Today. The aggregate impact of all this on American educational attainment probably isn’t all that big, but it’s not nothing either. (via Yglesias)

Time for a rant against collegiate athletics, though not of the expected “college is for education, not sports” variety. It’s somewhat silly to say that sports raise money for any school, because any profits from football and basketball are pumped back in to support other sports, not academics. Even Ohio State, which has an enormous sports program, only breaks even ($120m last year). Fortunately, our program is nearly self-sufficient, though most require increasing subsidies in the form of student fees and taxes.

And what do the students get for their money, while feeling crunched by rising tuitions? Probably nothing more than school spirit. Most of the schools with athletics programs are research universities; even without sports, their focus isn’t on undergraduate education. This graph doesn’t show, and it would be difficult to measure, the extent to which exposure from sports brings in alumni donations and corporate/government grants for graduate research. In grad school, we joked about the undergrads supporting us, and student subsidized sports may be another example of that.

What’s worse, when we look at individual sports, some college athletes are grossly UNDERPAID. Sure, they get a free ride (and a lot of additional perks) while other students struggle to pay tuition and keep grades up. But that is nothing compared to what they do for the school. They are supporting the other sports as well as providing a very prominent advertisement for the school. They bring in millions. But all they get in return is risk of injury, some exposure to the pros, and (maybe) an education. While the volleyball players might be interested in education, the football and basketball players are probably looking to go pro. If there were a minor league system in smaller cities (such as college towns), just as there is for baseball, then these players could at least have some salary, and those not picked up could continue playing beyond four years. If the Ohio State Buckeyes became the Columbus Buckeyes, these players would be much better off. And at smaller schools, the students would also be better off.

reblogged from caramelbaloney

Caramel Baloney: Vote Splitting Is Not Necessary with Approval and Range Voting

infohedon:
…
Actually, vote splitting is not inherent within voting for single-seat offices. It just happens that we use (quite literally) the worst election method possible—plurality. It’s also the least expressive—vote for one and shut up.

There are a bunch of voting systems out there,…

I like describing the plurality system as less expressive - I think that really captures the limitations of the system nicely.

reblogged from caramelbaloney

I write like David Foster Wallace

I would be more than happy to be known as the David Foster Wallace of policy analysis. In fact, I’m going back to the paper I’m working on right now and inserting a couple dozen endnotes and some moral ambiguity.

illegalsoul:

sexartandpolitics:

Dear Maureen,

I hear you’re back from your jaunt over in Saudi Arabia. Kudos to you for making it back from that big, bad place. Somebody get this woman the gin and tonic she deserves! […]

You talk about your first visit to Saudi, and how you wore your hot-pink skirt (with fringe) in presumable defiance of cultural norms with which you plainly disagree. But here’s a sociological truth, Maureen: it’s not defiance when you do it; it’s defiance when a Saudi woman does it. When you do it, it’s just good ol’ cultural imperialism.

Sara Haji, An Open Letter to Maureen Dowd - Muslimah Media Watch

via chuffedlittlebakedgood

I haven’t read the entire article yet, but this was reblogged in my dashboard three times in a row, so you should probably read it.

reblogged from darlenecomics-deactivated201007

Us black and Latinos often come from backgrounds in which our families’ primary reason for sending us off to college is stability. We often have siblings and parents to think about, and can’t contemplate a year in New York at a free internship. Beyond that there are cultural factors—magazine journalism isn’t simply very white, it’s very Ivy League and Northeastern, which indicates that a certain kind of cultural capital is almost a requisite requirement. I think my life would have been very different had a gone to college in, say, Atlanta as opposed to a town that was home to The New Republic, The Washington Post, Slate, and The Atlantic.

I think that last point likely applies to women in comedy. I suspect that a certain kind of cultural capital—a kind that women are often not privy to—is really at work here. The problem is the accumulation of said capital, as Smithburg indicates, begins long before one is at a point in their career where employment at The Daily Show is a possibility.

None of this is meant to condone throwing up one’s hands and feigning powerlessness. But by the time you’re debating Olivia Munn, it’s already too late…. But this points to something else—these kinds of societal problems require root work, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get any credit for doing it. But if the point is to show the world how nonsexist you are, you’ve already failed. It has to go deeper.

Ta-Nehisi Coates (via amandaw)

reblogged from amandaw

Jon’s not just a guy in a suit reading a prompter. His voice and vision shape every aspect of the show from concept to execution. The idea that he would risk compromising his show’s quality by hiring or firing someone based on anything but ability, or by booking guests based on anything but subject matter, is simply ludicrous. But what’s he really like? Well, for a sexist prick, he can be quite charming. He’s also generous, humble, genuine, compassionate, fair, supportive, exacting, stubborn, goofy, hands-on, driven, occasionally infuriating, ethical, down-to-earth and–a lot of people don’t know this–surprisingly funny (for a guy brimming with “joyless rage”). How else to describe him? What’s the word that means the opposite of sexist? That one.

The Women of The Daily Show Speak | Comedy Central Insider (via apsies)

which … good for him! i haven’t read the original critique of TDS because i dislike giving jezebel pageviews, but to me, this doesn’t seem like a persuasive rebuttal of sexism in the casting and writing of the show. sexism, like racism and ableism and other bad isms, doesn’t turn one’s heart to black ice, it doesn’t make one’s every thought evil and un-charming, it doesn’t mean that an individual’s every action is calculated to maximize gender oppression. jon stewart can be (and likely is) all of those things listed above AND TDS can be sexist in writing and on-air staffing all at the same time.

for more interesting thoughts on TDS letter, please also see RMJ.

(via abbyjean)

reblogged from abbyjean

Beyond economic theory, however, is the deeper question: are we 300 million people who just happen to live in the same nation and are all on our own, or are we a national community, a place where we share common concerns, values, principles, and beliefs? The answer to this question will dictate your economics and your politics. It would be wonderful to believe that private charity alone, “a thousand points of light,” will take care of millions of desperate fellow Americans. But it can’t and it won’t. Resources are available. A fraction of the money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan would put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. If you can find money to fight a war, you can find money to create jobs. Gary Hart (via azspot)

reblogged from azspot

meldoesgradschool:

greaterthanlapsed:

When They Build with LEGO, Never Ask Them What It Is… - The Retroist

I will post this pretty much every time I come across it on the internet. I so wish advertising was more like this these days. As the mother of a 7-year-old, I have to say I am sick as fuck of pink. This little girl looks so happy and proud and comfortable in a way that is so uncontrived, it’s just…

Beautiful.

reblogged from meldoesgradschool