My New Class

Unfortunately, I can only be a part-time student. Hampshire College, as part of my deferral agreement, only permits me to attend Boise State University as a non-degree seeking student. So, the classes I enroll in now are purely for fun. Last semester I failed by picking an excruciatingly boring philosophy course. This semester, however, looks brighter. I attended the second session of an American government and politics course, taught by a Proffessor Shaw (who is writing a book about Reed v. Reed, which will have a forward by Ruth Bader Ginsburg... way cool). Even though this is simply an introductory course (probably covering much material I've already covered more than once), I'm excited. There is no textbook but rather five books that range in subject from the genocide in Rwanda to Bush's war cabinet to Brown v. Board (the one we are reading now). I overheard students behind me today during a break commenting on the Professor's teaching style. Rather than shoving a heaping of neatly organized facts down our reluctant throats, he is discussing real, momentous events to relate to us the essential concepts and ideas of American government. At least that seems to be the gist so far. These students were worried about exams and not gathering the correct true or false, multiple choice answers. If only they knew that education concerns the questions, and not simply the black and white answers...

Local Happenings - New AI Locale, MLK, and Ten Thousand Villages

First of all, sorry for such infrequent posts. I've been insanely busy lately. But it's good. As campus activism swings into action for this semester, blog posts will naturally become more frequent. That is what this blog is about, after all. Also, as I work on being less jaded about our country going to hell in a handbasket, I'll comment more on current events.

Amnesty International meetings have changed locations. We now meet every Thursday at the Flying M (corner of 5th and Idaho) at 5:00 pm. Join us please! We have exciting plans for 2006.

Don't forget about the MLK human rights celebrations. Visit mlk.boisestate.edu for more information. If you want to learn more about Amnesty International, attend the workshop I'm teaching in the SUB's Farnsworth Room, Friday the 20th at 3:40 pm.

In other news, I finally volunteered for my first time at Ten Thousand Villages in Hyde Park. Ten Thousand Villages is an incredible fair trade organization. After some more experience working there I'll write a larger piece about my experience and the organization.

That's all for now.

Local Happenings - New Semester of Activism

I've been slacking lately. This is my first post since December 23rd. Without campus activism to write about and with all the holiday shenanigans, I just haven't had much time or much subject matter to write about (even though bad news never seems to stop; I just don't always have the energy to tackle those problems). Second semester at BSU begins next week, though, so blog posts will become regular once again. First of all, Amnesty International meetings resume next Thursday at 5:00 pm in the Foote Room of the Student Union Building. That is January 12th for those who, like me, haven't purchased an '06 calendar yet. We'll be discussing where our energy for this semester will be directed and formulating plans to visit Portland for the 2006 Amnesty International Annual General Meeting. On Monday, January 9th the Idaho Progressive Student Alliance will be meeting at 10:00 am in the lounge across from Moxie Java in the SUB. The Progressive Advocacy Training event will be discussed. Finally, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Celebration will begin on January 16th, a Monday, with a march to the Capitol Building. The human rights week continues until January 21st. On Friday, January 20th journalist and author Charlayne Hunter-Gault will give the keynote address for the week. She is known for being one of the first two African-American students to be admitted to the University of Georgia. You can access an entire schedule of events at mlk.boisestate.edu.

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