January 22, 2007 PAD 6061

Article: How the Language Police IIDrain the Life and Content from Our Texts

This is the start, of a paper by Ms. Nick ., where Ms. Nicky is my private nickname. "Censorship" has become a very contr ersial topic that often raises questions about freedom, democracy and morality. Wh t exactly is censorship? Censorship is the suppression of information, ideas or art ~tic expressions by citizens, churches, government, schools and community Ie . ders. There are also a lot of self imposed censorships by artists, and writers who 0 not want to be faced with public sanction or punishment.

We have come to take freedom of speech for granted as guaranteed in the first Amendment of our constitution: " 'ongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibi ing the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; 0 the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government :f r a redress of grievances." As a result, the establishment of censors creates a left right wing group as discussed in the article. In a society based on free exchange of idea :and beliefs, there will always be people who wish not to promote their own ideas but alo wish to suppress those ideas that are not their liking. Some censorship is carried out ith the best intentions, to protect the defenseless, the youth, government and society. No etheless, in the end, censorship always defeats its purpose and creates a society incapable of exercising real discretion.

Television, books, films and other ente . ainments are filled with input which may not be appropriate for your child's level ofm urity. In this case, it is your job to censor. Realistically, every time one exercises lis favor, discernment and discretion, he is practicing censorship. Some people are against censorship because they believe it violates their rights. On the other hand, support [s of censorship state that it is required because of the theme or language in books which t aches bad morals and principles.

In order for children to be productive, $ capable adults, we must teach them to make responsible decisions. It is the respons bility of the parents to instill these values early on so it will be much easier to communica b with them later on in their lives. Allowing children to read and watch anything is 'ot doing them any favors. I understand and believe that parents absolutely MUST e a censor to ensure whatever children read models an appropriate moral behavior. owever, are parents trying to protect their children from the harsh realities of life . r are they hindering their growth and

development by promoting ignorance, far and hatred?

The fact that there are many pros and cns in the music and entertainment industry, I believe that censorship should be the ul imate responsibility of consumers and viewers. In addition, I believe censorship ensure. creativity because it elevates standards and help us reflect on our own cultural ideology. This can provide a clear set of guidelines of our society, and what we will and will not ccept. This is the end of the paper by Ms. Nicky.

This is the start of a pap r by the Driving Range Golfer. Sadly, I conclude that I am an experimenti g self living and working with safe keeping selves. I do not know how ~ have made it thus far! Clearly from Prince's description, I was previ ~sly a fully satisfied and confident experimenting self. I fear the wo k world and my spouse, Shorty, are crushing me under endless questio p and policies.

I believe myself to be an xperimenting seIfer because I can remember numerous times throughou my high school and college career wherE I unreasonably knew the answer to questions in a variety of subjects. I can connect the dots and see the road picture before most others. People stare at me sometimes as if I hav a hidden card in my pocket with the answers. Now, I am not claiming t have the ability to just know answers to engineering questions about Ne ton's laws, but every now and then I just know something. I can only t ink of a remedial example at this time, but here goes.

Recently, Shorty and I were standing in front of a luggage claim turnstile. None of the turnstiles were marked, but I just knew we were at the wrong one. Shorty insisted th f certainly not everyone from our plane could be wrong. So after several lsmissed suggestions that Shorty check out the other turnstiles, I found our luggage on the turnstile across fron our original location. I whistled and waved, Shorty, along with everyone else from our plane, made their w y to the correct turnstile. I realize this is a mild example, but I con istently have instincts in areas I know nothing about. And I admit that s metimes I am wrong. Internally I am quite confident of the answer, on y to find that I conjectured incorrectly. It bothers me to be rong when normally my instincts are deac on. Is it possible for experimenting selves to be wrong and still be experimenting selves or are they lways right? Do experimenting selves dislike being wrong?

The comparison of the two raits reminds me of the Myers-Briggs personality indicators nintuitiveU and nsensing.u Intuitive personalities rely on a 6th sense or ngut feeli ~u to make decisions. Hence, a deal could look good on paper in every ~y, yet, any negative gut feelings would cause the intuitive personality not to take the deal. Sensing personalities rely on their 5 sens$ to make decisions. They need to see it, hear it, feel it, and understamd it before they will move. I am ever reminded of the sensing personality or safe keeping self by Shorty, who is constantly asking me, "Are you sur ?U Well ... No, I am not sure, but my gut is telling me so. My spouse needs e to explain how I knew because his sensing needs are not being met.

The diminishing of my expe imenting self has no doubt resulted from Shorty's questioning and my n w position at work. My new position requires me to move a group of 15 eople, many of which seem to be safe keeping selves. It is quite frustr ting when I see the vision but have

not developed the ability to draw hem a picture to nsellu my vision and how I came up with it. How can for er experiencing selves maintain or increase that part of themselves? s it possible to decide which trait to nurture and which to neglect? If i is possible to nurture my experiencing self, these are my initial ideas: (1) trust my inner voice or "gutU reaction and act immediately on it~ (2) do not try to rationalize ngut" reaction to fit into nice little b xes; (3) spend time day dreaming to encourage creative spontaneous tho ght; and (4) chose to spend time with other experiencing selves. Any oth r ideas?

This is the start of a paper by Rose Stealth.

The discussion and further r view of the Safekeeping Self and Experimenting Self information allo s for a self-evaluation of Public Administration at large in society to ay. The Experimenting Self is free, thinks outside the box, and is willing to ch illenge expected norms. The Safekeeping Self maintains the status quo, flies Inder the radar, and follows rules and regulations. In public administratio, which Self prevails?

The Experimenting Self crea es new and exciting innovations and implements changes to administrati n structures. The implementation of privatization for the Florida Depart ent of Children and Families would be an act of the Experimenting Self. Drastica Iy changing the structure of the agency in order to achieve a better result coul only come from those thinking outside of the box. The issue becomes the 0 ds. Following the Experimenting Self is a risky gamble. Although with great r sks come great achievements, great failures also are an option.

The Safekeeping Self works ithin the confines of the agencies and bureaucracies. Creativity is stifled, unless it is within the confines of the rules, regulations, and codes. The readin s regarding 1984 exemplify this idea. The entire society changed in order to aintain a status quo. The entire nation, not just a single agency or branch of g vernment, halted individual thought so the

country would be at "peace".

In American Public Administ ation today, the majority of those employed utilize the Safekeeping Self. Burea crat has become a negative word in the U.S. today. This is due, in part, to those ~mployed by bureaucracies who maintain the status quo just to have a job. Altho gh there are some in Public Administration today who work according to their xperimenting Self, many are the opposite.

Interestingly enough, a typic 'I long term employee of an agency began with dreams and ideas from their E perimenting Self. However, after years of the bureaucratic system, the Safek eping Self took over. Perhaps the paperwork, "red tape", and overall f ustration with public work over years of service impedes the desire to think utside the box.

Another piece of the puzzle t think about: What does the public want?

The public served by agencies can e fickle and change the direction of government in a flash. At certain ti es the public will cry out for more solidarity and increased accountability, but at other times, they will insist upon creative ways to "shake up the system" or f r changes to be made to the "Bureaucratic" system. This cyclical shift in desire between utilization of the Safekeeping and Experimenting Self is typical and e pected of the American Public. The key to understanding it is to prepare of ch nge.

Local, state, and federal age cies attempt to utilize employees of both camps. The Safekeeping Selves a e typically in quality assurance, finance, and human resource departments. The Experimenting Selves for these agencies are in public relations and new program development departments. A good way for agencies to protect themselves fro (1) the big gamble and (2) becoming a "Bureaucratic" agency is to employ OTH Safekeepers and Experimenters.

This is the end of the paper by Ros Stealth.

This is the start of a paper by Sand~Dog.

The concept of the "experimenting self" and the "safekeeping self' is evident ir the public sector. Early in my publ'C sector career, I experienced the change ir management leadership that ine jtably occurs in association with politica change. It was difficult for me to nderstand why newly elected officials woulc replace experienced and knowle· geable managers with people from thE "outside" who didn't know anythi g about the agency. From a humanistic standpoint it was hard to see long-ti . e, loyal employees, who had contributed sc much and made personal sacrifice for the agency, be unceremoniously turnec out from the public sector career they valued. The new management tearr typically would have a steep lear ing curve and it seemed like the forwarc progress of the agency would slo , if not come to a halt, during a transitior period lasting anywhere from six onths to more than a year. These "newbie' agency leaders would undoubtedly come in with all types of new initiatives and new ways of doing business that w uld challenge the existing staff to do things differently.

As a "newbie" employee, I recall re~~. ing much more on my "experimenting self' during my early years working f r a government agency. As a staff-level employee, it was easy to challenge the status quo, ask the question "why?" and explore new and different ways of g tting the job done without any particular fear for my job security.

However, looking back on my areer, I recognize that as I moved into supervisory then management lev I positions, and my tenure in the agency increased from 10 to 15 to 20+. years of service, I became much more conservative in my approach to the ~ob. Certainly I have grown more politically savvy in figuring out how to g t things done and I take pride in the accomplishments of the programs I have managed. However, I must admit to sometimes being a little disappoin ed in myself for being willing to settle for incremental progress instead of singing hard for the home run every time. Truth be told, I recognize that concrn for my personal job security and position has led me to be more conservati in my approach over the years - I have effectively transitioned into a "safek eping self" mode.

Returning back to the subject of olitical change in administrations, with the knowledge that comes from experiece, I now have a much better understanding and appreciation for the value 0 bringing in "new blood", in the form of "experimenting self" leaders, to an gency. New ideas, challenges to the status quo, a chance to shake out the dea wood and a fresh sense of enthusiasm are important in keeping an agency in-touch, relevant and responsive to its mission.

This is the end of the paper by SandWDog.

This is the start of the paper by Xl. he class website is a valuable, inclusive resource that allows one to choose from many re pected sources to learn more about their own paradigm and unleashing their "experi ental self". There were several links that caught my attention but I chose to explore the ink on failure. The link, when selected, opens a browser to an interview by Reason ma azine with management guru, Tom Peters.

Tom Peters is a prime example of 0 e who is able to think "outside of the box" and utilize his unconventional perspective t enhance his professional and personal life. Mr. Peters argues against what he defines a "statism", or the pro-planning aspect of management. This is not to say that he bhors planning however, but rather seems to assert that planning in excess can be a s ifling experience. He also discusses the chronology of American entrepreneurs ip and highlights the practices of many of the innovators behind the Silicon Valley b om of the nineties that continues to this day.

There are several unique factors that merge together to create an unconventional interview and leave the reader with a di ferent perspective and approach to communication and critical thinking. r. Peters often injects humor and profanity into his speech, which is entertaining witho t being distasteful. I believe that this approach demonstrates Tom Peter's unconventio al style and unique approach to management, politics, communication and leadership The suppressing approach to politically correct speech, as outlined in the student web age, encourages statism (as discussed in the article) and discourages creativity, orig'nality and the expansion of one's paradigm.

Tom Peters is but one creative ViSi01ary who marches to the beat of different drum. A study of other successful and innovativ . individuals will reveal common traits, all of which include willingness to remove th mselves from the established framework of problem solving. Another such individ aI, although he is not mentioned on the website, i~ Malcolm Gladwell.

Mr. Gladwell is the author of two be t sellers, The Tipping Point and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. T ese two books should be added to the website and several long chapter excerpts are a ailable @ http://www.gladwell.com/. Malcolm Gladwell asserts that we draw conclusi ns within the first two seconds of encountering a particular situation. He examines the ch racteristics and effects of this rapid cognition and utilizes some very interesting resea ch to support his theory regarding this process.

I believe that all of the aforementioned uthors and thinkers in combination with the various links from the website, will assi tall of us in our journey to become creative managers and problem-solvers in the fu ure. We should all examine our thought process, study our actions and remain conscious four "experimental self'. One is forced to make hundreds of decisions every day from t e minor to the crucial. Everyone should have the ability to examine his or her decision-m king processes in order to provide a logical rationale for decisions and evaluate the ffectiveness of the process. This is the end of the paper by Xl.

This is the start of the paper by Nexus

Two weeks ago, the class learned of the safek eping and experimental self. The concepts were introduced by George Prince and represent two different perspective towards life (n.d.). In Prince's discussion, he tells of the safekeeping self as a conservative individual who foIl ws the status-qou, obeys the hierarchy from which s/he is apart, and more than likely adheres to the moral principles h bded down by his parents. Often the safekeeping self pays no attention his/her sub consciousness and is a dogmatic llower of the physical world in which s/he is apart. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Prince tells of the experi enting selfwho exists to challenge the status-qou, take risks, and is an innovative thinker who pays close attention to hi ~her dreams. However, an individual will more than likely exist in both worlds of the experimenting and safekeeping self! For a balance between the two is essential as exemplified by the writings of George Orwell and the advice of Tom Pete u.

In George Orwell's classic book 1984, he tells the story of Winston Smith's demise at the hands of a totalitarian government that uses doublespeak and the repression £free thought to keep the proletariat subdued. More importantly, the demise of Winston Smith exemplifies the failure 0 'an individual to balance both the safekeeping and experimenting self. The government's insistence on obedience perha s prompted Smith to begin his diary as a means of self-expression and personal thought. However, it was his continued i sistence on the experimenting self that led Smith to act in poor regards for his safety as well as the safety of Julie, whih led to his eventual capture and torture at the hands of O'Brien. For example, his safekeeping self warned him ofO'Br en's invitation however it was his experimenting self for rebellion and impetuousness that led him hastily to welcome his eventual captor warmly.

However, adherence to the experimenting self an also have negative externalities as depicted in the advice by business guru, Tom Peters. According to Tom Peter, t ~ individual should reject the presence of a priori thinking most characterized by the safekeeping self. The consequenc s of which, hinders the experimenting self and promotes a propensity towards one particular course of action. Th result leaves the practitioner/ capitalist! politician a captive to originality and adherence to the status-qou. As examples, Peter's points to the typical approach of Republicans towards capital and Democrats towards labor. The result was a failure by both sides to achieve progress.

After reading both Orwell and Peters, it would !:ilppear that the survivability for self is dependent on finding a balance in experimentation and safekeeping.

This is the end of the paper by Nexus

This is the start of a paper by Middlem_~.

I would like to comment about Week's lecture, in which Dr. Mendell commented that "Education is rigged to turn t II': experimenting self into safekeeping self; the University fInishes you off". When I . I·tially heard the comment I was little bit in shock that a University professor would mak . such a remark but then I thought more about the idea, I discovered how right on Dr. Me dell was and how it was especially true for me.

As a young child it was na

for me to be curious about the world me and to

want to explore my surroundings. Slo ly as I grew older and transitioned into school, 'rules' were implemented about the '~y I 'should' think. For some children this is an easy transition for others it can be a lot tougher, 'Rules' such as saying "please" and "thank you", no punching, no scratcjy, etc are necessary for us as human beings to become accepted members of civilized society but the rules that deter one's creativity can really harm those imaginative individ s that are naturally drawn to thinking outside the box. Who knows what great ideas r thoughts have been wasted by our education system's insistence of 'rules' _

I would say from the middle 0 my elementary school education until I graduated college I became an extreme safeke ,ping self. I fIt into many of Georges Princes characteristics of the safekeeping self d played by the rules, everything I did at school and home was (and sometimes still is) ,eavily calculated. My tendency was to 'evaluate, reassure and support the Establishmen (example: school, my parent's goals/rules for me, etc)' (Mendell). I overly analyzed eve . g from school to home life to my social life. I was, and still am realistic, scared to eath about being wrong and I was very cautious (analyzed before action), I can attri te much of these tendencies to my education experience and the 'rules' that were m dated starting at the elementary level.

Since graduating college and e ering the 'real world' I would say my tendencies have shifted from safekeeping self to omewhere in the middle of safekeeping self and the experimenting self. I didn't know . reading Dr. Mendell's 'Untitled Manuscript' that since receiving my undergraduat . degree I have been striving to be more of an experimenting self. Really the change bccurred when I became a manager at a place of employment that encourages new id I and experiments are welcome. I have found myself happier and enjoying life more . 'thout my safekeeping self stalking me. I can be more creative and policy can be brok n (if it's for the good of the customer) without being scared I am making a mistake br will do something wrong that will harm the

••

orgamzatlOn.

My management experience

allowed me the :freedom to be creative and

experiment with policies and procedes that are not typical to my fIeld. A sense of freedom has allowed me to be happier I d even dream big again (like a young child). Our education system really should have Isimilar experimenting aspects i.e. students are allowed to take risks, guess, or even I rules without the fear of being wrong. Just think if that fear was gone and the co bpts of the experimenting self were more apart of the education system, we may be furth I along in many areas of study_ More importantly we may be a society of happier peoplthat's decisions are not calculated and there is a sense of :freedom that allows for person growth and exploration.

This is the end of the paper written by

This is the start of a paper by chutzpahl8

January 22, 2007

The first thing that struck me about this curse was its name, Visionary and Creative Management. This should be interesting, I thought to myself. I was very curious to know what this course was about and I st 11 don't know. I will just consider it an adventure. That said, I don't regret signig up for the course and I hope that it turns out to be a melting pot of different topics an ideas.

One of the topics, I hope is at least touch d upon, is fundraising. Fundraising in my opinion is one of the most important area in the world of non-profit. I would also like to learn about technology used in non-profi . Professor Mendel always comments that if you don't ask for something, you won't et it. I relate to this motto more now than ever before because I hate asking people for t ings, whether it be help, advice, or money. However in the past year, I have learned at asking for things works and can have very positive effects. One of the reasons that've always hated asking for things is the fear of someone saying no. and viewing me to b annoying.

This can be translated into a fear of failu e which Prof Mendel also spoke about in his first class. I didn't want to be a burden, 0 bother anyone, or to cause any stress. My feeling was also, that if I asked for some hing it was more likely than not that the person would say no, in which case it would be total waste of time. Furthermore, I knew that when or if a person said no to my reques , I would feel guilty for having bothered them. I was wrong.

Most times asking for things works; if a person wants to say no, they can just say so, and it is not a big deal. If a person says yes, rr agrees to something, I don't have to feel that I coerced or forced them into saying yes.

Prof. Mendel is correct, the fear of failur can be paralyzing. Although I do not quite hate asking for certain things, I still do not Ii e it. However, now, I just deal with my discomfort and ask anyway. Prof Mend I also discussed the safekeeping self and the experimenting self. I find that I am crea ive in the arts, especially literary. In this area, I lean more toward the experimenting sel In this area I am confident about my creativity and am not afraid to write about somethi . g new or unusual. In all other areas of life, so far, I find myself to be a more safekeepi g person or with a safekeeping self.

This is the end of the paper by chutzpahl8.

This is the start of a paper by Elpha a.

I would like to first comment n the class discussion on the left brain vs. the right brain. I have often heard p ople discuss which side they fall as if it should be a clear and simple distinc ion between the two. For example, throughout high school it was suspe ted that you could either be the math/science student or the English history student and most students were good at one pair or the other. I felt t at there was something odd about me because I was great in math and En lish but was not as strong in history and had a difficult time with science. I reme ber the science students saying "but you are getting straight A's in algebra why a e you having so much trouble with biology". To me these two studies are not ev n comparable. As I have heard more on the theory of left brain vs. right brain, I h ve often wondered which I am. The majority of people that I have spoken to on t e subject seem to clearly know which category they fall, yet I have a mixtu e of both. I have a very creative and visionary imagination and have a pa sion for the arts. However, I love to have things very organized and have an bsession with making lists and planning. I am also very time oriented. I have 0 en told my friends and family that one of my nightmares would be to participate i a time deprivation experiment. I don't think I would last an hour unless I was sle ping at the time. I also like structure and get very nervous when I do not know w at is expected of me. My first semester of the graduate program I had two c1as es. The first class was very structured. The

professor let us know exactly what

s expected of us. She gave us a dated

syllabus of when our assignments

re due and she even gave us an outline as

to the sections that she wanted in h r paper and the content that we should have in each section. This class made m feel very comfortable because it was like going back to my algebra roots. I co Id literally just plug my assignments into a formula that was already given to m . The other class was just the opposite. The professor came into the room and ade us pick a topic for our paper on the first night when nobody was even sure hat we were supposed to do with that topic let alone what the class was even a out. The only assignment for the course was this one paper that was due at the e d of the term. There were no deadlines for drafts or for sections of the paper. T ere was no way to determine how you were doing in the class until it was over. he professor was scattered and would just announce spur of the moment pres ntations that nobody was prepared to give and let us know the week before the class was over and the papers were due what he expected or what he wante us to cover. It was too late at that point to do any major revisions. I was not su rised to see that I received a "B" in the class since an "A" was not an option at that point. I was glad that I had decided to take two classes that semester bec use if that was my only experience of the program I would have likely dropped it or changed to a different program. I

should mention here that my Bachel r's degree was not in the same field and that I had had no prior courses in thi field at all so all was new to me.

I had much more that I had w nted to comment on from the first class. I did not realize that I had so much to say about just the one topic. But luckily there are many more classes to come an I shall have plenty more opportunity to reflect (vent) later. This is the end of the paper by Elphaba.

This is the start of a paper bylPrincess Leah.

George Orwell wrote a novel ailed Nineteen Eiqhty-Four. "The book tells the story of Winston Smith and his d gradation by the totalitarian state in which he livestalks about the corrupt realit I of his world and the secrets he held away from the public." The novel can be iroken down into three parts. First, Orwell he describes how the world was in Nin ~een Eighty-Four. He talks about Stalin's dictatorship in the Soviet Union and lHitler's over the Nazi party. In this part of the novel, he discusses the society throgh Smith's eyes. "There are thematic similarities: the betrayed revolution, . ith which Orwell famously dealt in Animal Farm; the subordination of individua s to "the Party"; and the rigorous distinction between inner party, outer party and everyone else."

The second part deals with S . ith's secret love affair with Julia. This was

a forbidden sexual relationship, whi h contributed to Smith's eagerness to go against his party. Julia appears in t ~ novel at the age of twenty-six and Smith thought she might have been a me ber of the "Thought Police" who would uncover thought criminals and punis them. "The term "Thought Police", by extension, has come to refer to real r perceived enforcement of ideological correctness, or pre-emptive policing where a person is apprehended in anticipation of the possibility that the. may commit a crime, in any modern or historical contexts." They fell in love land had to hide their relationship away from the party because sexual relations b . tween party members even if they were married were forbidden and viewed s disgusting. After an inner-party member disguised as anti-Big Brother activis iquestioned Smith about him joining, he and Julia were arrested. They once beli . ed that no matter how terrible their punishment was, their love for each . ther could never been altered by the party. After being interrogated and tortured iover and over, their feelings for each other had faded away.

The third part of the novel de lis with Winston's capture by the Party and his imprisonment in the Ministry of L ·ve. The purpose of this ministry is to enforce loyalty and love to Big Broth: r by torturing and brainwashing people who strayed from the party. The infamou Room101 is where the Thought Police would get into your head by placing ,our fears in that room. Smith had a great fear of rats and when they threatene! to put him in there with them he begged for them to place Julia in there instead. tl the end, the party had gotten inside their heads and restored them to their Ort: odox thought and they agreed that nothing matters. Lastly, Smith discovers that his love for Julia had been replaced with his love for Big Brother.

This is the end of the paper b~ Princess Leah.

/22/2007