Free Speech Friday: Harvey Fineberg: Are we ready for neo-evolution?

About this talk: Medical ethicist Harvey Fineberg shows us three paths forward for the ever-evolving human species: to stop evolving completely, to evolve naturally — or to control the next steps of human evolution, using genetic modification, to make ourselves smarter, faster, better. Neo-evolution is within our grasp. What will we do with it?

As I browsed the front page of TED.com this morning, the nerd inside of me immediately had me drawn to this talk by Harvey Fineberg, the president of the Institute of Medicine.  As summarized above, Fineberg discusses three evolutionary pathways the human species can possibly take in the future.  Neo-evolution seems to be what Fineberg is biased towards.

Science has always been a field of study that has attracted unwanted ethical issues. The classical friction between religion and science, for example, has been around for centuries (go get ‘em, Galileo). Using and abusing animals for the name of science has also been an issue. So, we can assume the same for the study of genetics. *cough* Eugenics movement in Germany *cough* Hitler *cough cough* The Immigration Restriction Act *cough*

Watch the video and pay special attention to the third evolutionary pathway Fineberg discusses. Does what Fineberg suggest scare you or inspire you? Does this “neo-evolution” theory smell of an unsavory contemporary version of eugenics? Or is the technological modification of our gene pool our best bet for the survival of our species?

Post submitted by: Crystal Maranan

Nam Le: Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice

My thoughts on Nam Le’s “Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice” :

This story’s title was especially interesting to me because it was such a mouthful. Even before reading the story, the title made me feel uncomfortable and supported that this story might be clumsy or difficult to grasp in one reading. Yet, this title was an effective introduction to the story because by the end of the story, I believe that Le’s characters expressed every single noun listed in the title. Despite the notion that Nam’s friend offers “Love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice” as “old verities” that should be an easy way out for the narrator simply because he’s Vietnamese and he “could just write about Vietnamese boat people all the time,” this is challenged by the story (10). Such abstract and deep nouns like those listed in the title are illustrated in their complexity and given unique meanings. Additionally, Nam frequently describes his past life as a lawyer with a very regimented and routine life. Furthermore, Nam contrasts his past life with his current disorderly and fragmented lifestyle. Hence, this list-like title seemed like an appropriate introduction to a story about a man in-between his structured life as a lawyer and creative life as a writer.

Another intriguing element of the story was the character named Linda. From our first encounter with Linda, the Nam expresses deep love for her. The first scene in which we are introduced to her is while she is giving Nam a massage and she is what prompts him to laugh for the first time in the story. He describes her as “beautiful” and the dialogue that the narrator and Linda exchange is marked by understanding and patience. For example, after Nam gives her an unsatisfying and short explanation of his Ba’s visit, she still encourages him to “Just make sure [he] get[s] [his] story done” (7). However, later in the story she accuses him of “making excuses” for his Ba and is skeptical of his plans to write a story about his Ba (18). Linda’s last scene is marked by an argument and sign of affection that Nam receives coldly. As she leaves him, Nam states that “I didn’t look at her” and returns to his deep thoughts of his parents (19). It seems that as Nam feels compelled to understand his father’s story, Linda’s ability to understand her lover fades. The relationship between Linda and Nam is indicative of the overall pattern of isolation that Nam plays out. Throughout the story, Nam explains that he struggled to find solace in his work as an attorney and is currently having a tough time writing for the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (even citing the workshop as a plausible explanation for his excessive drinking). While explaining his past relationship with his parents, again we see Nam choosing (or perhaps being forced into) a life of isolation. Thus, his disconnect from Linda after deciding to write a story about his Ba is consistent with the Nam’s aversion and failure to sustain an intimate relationship with more than one person at a time.

Posted by: Tiffany

Daily Word: aforesaid

aforesaid
–adjective
denoting a thing or person previously mentioned : songs form the aforesaid album.

SYNONYMS: aforementioned

American Cultural Literacy: “Good fences make good neighbors”

“Good fences make good neighbors”

PROVERB

Good neighbors respect one another’s property. Good farmers, for example, maintain their fences in order to keep their livestock from wandering onto neighboring farms.  This proverb appears in the poem “Mending Wall,” by Robert Frost.

Daily Word: tryst

tryst
–noun
a private, romantic rendezvous between lovers : a moonlight tryst

SYNONYM: meeting, rendezvous, date, appointment

American Cultural Literacy: “Bite off more than you can chew”

“Bite off more than you can chew”

IDIOM

To take on a task that is way too big or too daunting to handle.

American Cultural Literacy: “A drop in the bucket”

“A drop in the bucket”

IDIOM

A very small part of something big or whole.

This just in: Janet Brown Memorial Scholarship Retracted

re·tract

–verb (used with object) 1. to draw back or in

We are so sad to announce that due to some technical legality issues that recently surfaced with funding sources, the Janet Brown Memorial Scholarship must be retracted until further notice.  We are working hard with UCLA Administration to resolve this matter as soon as possible, but in the mean time, it is best if everybody holds off on applying.  We wouldn’t want anyone to waste their time filling out an entire scholarship app for something that is being debated.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope that we will be able to award scholarships to students in the near future.  Stay posted.

-Writing Success Program

Wednesday Word: Survivor recalls horrors of Cambodia genocide

April 07, 2008|By Christiane Amanpour CNN Chief International Correspondent

• 

This painting depicts one of the Pol Pot regime’s most heinous crimes: the slaughter of infants.

A recently disclosed memo gave U.S. interrogators the ability to use harsh methods — what many call “torture” — to extract information from terrorist suspects after 9/11. Around the world, critics saw it as another blow to American prestige and moral authority.

The 2003 document also invokes wartime powers to protect interrogators who violate the Geneva Conventions, for example, by the use of waterboarding — when a prisoner is made to think he is drowning.

Half a world away, the divisive debate over whether waterboarding constitutes torture comes into sharp relief at the infamous S-21, Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

This is where the genocidal regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge imprisoned and brutalized its enemies from 1975 to 1979. I visited the once secret S-21, now a museum, with Van Nath, a former inmate. He remembers being brought here blindfolded and terrified:

“I thought that was the end of my life,” he told me. “In my room people kept dying, one or two every day.”

Van Nath was kept in a room packed with 50 other inmates, shackled together and forced to lie down.

“We could not sit. If we wanted to sit, we had to ask permission first. No talking, whispering or making noise,” he told me.

Van Nath described how male prisoners were whipped raw, their fingernails were yanked out, they were hogtied to wooden bars. Prison guards mutilated women’s genitals, ripped off their nipples with pliers. And worst of all, babies were ripped from their mothers’ arms and slaughtered.

Van Nath was accused of being a CIA agent and given electric shock torture, but he survived when his jailers found out he was one of Cambodia’s most prominent painters. And what did they make him paint?

“Pol Pot’s picture. Big pictures,” he told me. “I had to paint the same one again and again. If they didn’t like my painting, that would have been the end of my life.”

So when Pol Pot finally fell in 1979, Van Nath returned to paint what he had really seen and heard at S-21. He did it as a memorial to the 14,000 who had been tortured and executed in the prison. It’s one of the few public reminders of the regime’s crimes.

Take water torture, for instance. Van Nath remembers it as if it were yesterday. I gasped as I entered a room filled with his vivid depictions.

FROM CNN NEWS: http://articles.cnn.com/2008-04-07/world/amanpour.pol.pot_1_prison-guards-interrogators-water-torture?_s=PM:WORLD

Posted by: Tiffany

American Cultural Literacy: “Last but not least”

“Last but not least”

IDIOM

An introduction phrase to let the audience know that the last person mentioned is no less important than those introduced before him/her.

Daily Word: deluge

deluge
–noun
a severe flood

• a heavy fall of rain : a deluge of rain hit the plains
• [figurative] a great quantity of something arriving at the same time : a deluge of complaints

–verb
inundate with a great quantity of something : he has been deluged with offers of work

SYNONYM: flood, torrent, spate; downpour, torrential rain; inundate, submerge, swamp

Tuesday Titles: Emma

Jane Austen’s novel Emma is often considered her best literary product.  Emma is a novel about a young, will-to-do young lady who is bent on becoming the matchmaker for everyone around her.  Emma claims to understand the personalities and intentions of all the young men and women around her, thereby making her well-equipped to introduce people and create successful couples.  However, appearances can be deceiving.   Emma doesn’t realize that people are not always what they seem and a love match is much more complicated than what appears to be a good match in terms of class and physical appearance.  Emma becomes aware of her own naivety; there are no rules to love.  She also learns how oblivious she is to her own feelings and emotions.

Emma has spawned modern renditions, including the teen comedy Clueless.  Definitely worth a read!

Post Submitted By: Layhannara Tep

The Janet Brown Memorial Scholarship Applications 2011-2012 are Out!

Find applications in the Student Activities Center, Suite 105, or download one by clicking the link below.

The Janet Brown Memorial Scholarship Application 2011

Monday Money: Reading the Prompt in Context

During my writing sessions I usually ask students about what their class is generally about. This question is often met with confusion but I ask this question for a specific reason—the prompt. The scope of the course is often a useful cue as to what the paper should be focused towards. For example if your course is about political ethics and your professor asks you to compare and contrast the two authors you probably want to compare what they think about ethics and not spend too much time on their other ideas.

Remember that your prompt is not a torture device your professor came up with nor is it designed to be particularly tricky. Generally speaking, papers test your knowledge of the material and your ability to synthesize the course material. Any clarity issues should be taken up with your professor who will probably more than happy to clarify the prompt in order for you to properly express your ideas.

Happy Writing!

Post Submitted by: Jesse Chiang

American Cultural Literacy: “Devil’s advocate”

“Devil’s advocate”

IDIOM

Someone who takes a position for the sake of argument without believing in that particular side of the argument.  It can also mean one who presents a counter argument for a position they do believe in, to another debater. “Tell me your side of the argument, and I’ll play devil’s advocate to pinpoint your weaknesses.”

Daily Word: abdicate

abdicate
–verb
(of a monarch) renounce one’s throne : in 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated as German emperor | Ferdinand abdicated the throne in favor of the emperor’s brother 

SYNONYMS: resign, retire, stand down, step down, bow out, renounce the throne

American Cultural Literacy: “A rolling stone gathers no moss”

“A rolling stone gathers no moss”

PROVERB

This proverb now has two meanings: people pays a price for being always on the move, in that they have no roots in a specific place (the original meaning); or people who keep moving avoid picking up responsibilities and cares.

Daily Word: incarceration

incarcerate
–verb
1. to imprison; confine : He was incarcerated for insider trading.
2. to enclose; constrict closely

SYNONYMS: jail, immure, intern

The Writing Success Program is now hiring for 2011-2012! Apply TODAY!

WSP IS NOW HIRING!

Apply today!

Do you enjoy counseling or tutoring? Do you like empowering others through writing? You’re in luck! The Writing Success Program is now hiring for the 2011-2012 school year! Apply to become one of the following:

• A Writing and Creativity counselor
• An ESL Writing and Creativity counselor
• Administration Assistant

You may pick up an application from our main office located in the Student Activities Center, Room 105 OR CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD.  Applications must be submitted at the WSP office by Friday, May 6th, 2011 at 5 pm. No exceptions. Please direct all questions and concerns to our fearless leader Sahra Nguyen via her email at snguyen@CPO.ucla.edu.

Thank you, and we look forward to receiving your application!

–The Writing Success Program Staff

Free-Speech Friday: Disney Films and The Portrayal of Women

Hello WSP Blog readers!!!

So I didn’t know what speech to put up for this week’s post, but I found a very interesting monologue, if you will, that really made me think.

The following video is a female perspective of the sexism and gender stereotypes that are present in Disney films.

I, personally, am an avid fan of Disney films because I grew up watching them and appreciating them; however, listening to this woman’s perspective was really mind-opening for me. It really made me think about how the media plays a significant role in the development of our youth and our society.

Hope you enjoy it

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill