For the week

Overall I am very happy with the community I chose. I am actually really getting into it and the interviewing process has been fun. I can't wait for my site visit. I really miss Tandem so it will be fun to go back and talk to old teachers and friends. For the library research I am going to broaden my community from just Tandem Friends School, to the Quaker Community as a whole. We will see where the research leads me, but I think my focal point will be on the communities beliefs in peace and anti-war activism. This has always been a passion of mine so I am interested to see the outlook Quakers have, and what impact them have made.

Interview

Overall I was please with my interview. I really wish I had the option of using a tape recorder, but I wasn't able to rig up a system for using one over the phone. It was weird to interview someone you know on a very personal level. Sometimes they seem reserved when mentioning things that invove you directly, but other times they are obviously more open than they would be with a complete strange. I got some great quotes because of the familiarity, not sure if I'll be able to use any of them in a paper. I should be able to get an interview from an alum of the school this weekend and it will be in person so I can see if there is any difference.

Goals

I want to become more proficient at gathering non-biased data, mainly through surveys and interviews.
I fear I come across as trying too hard to sound intelligent in my writing. I would like to avoid a conversational tone by sounding scholarly, but not fake.
I would like to feel more confidant in my writing abilities. In the past year I feel I have learned how to express myself through the written word much more proficiently, but I still question my capabilities.

Interview Questions

Does the overall community still work in Tandem, or do we just put on a show for historical sake?
What the you this the school's emphasis is? Do you agree with it?
Do you know the school's mission statement? Do you think we should abide by it? Do you think we do?
Was converting to Quakerism a positive change for the school, why or why not?
Are you a Quaker? What percentage of the student body do you think consider themselves Quakers?
Have we strayed too far from the original Tandem in terms of values and structure?
How do you think the school is handling the policy of "freedom with responsibility?"
Do you consider "freedom with responsibility" a core value to the school?
Who do you think decides the amount of freedom allowed to individual students?
Are restriction policies too broad thereby punishing individuals who could otherwise handle the responsibility? (needs to be rephrased with less bias)
Do you perceive an increased emphasis on sports and decreased emphasis on music?
What this change in fund placement Paul's unilateral decision or a reflection of the student's desires?
How do you think the founders would view the school now?
What do you think about the addition of the middle school? The increase of class sizes?
What is the quality of education students receive?
How would you rate the quality of students social experiences and overall happiness in comparison to past years, and other schools?

Observations

I had the pleasure of observing members of my hall, forth floor East A.J. one evening with out their knowledge. It turned out to be quit an eventful hour. The room across from me exuded innocence as sweet classical music pumped out of laptop speakers. The girls had their door wide open and were sure to wave at every passerbyer, even those they didn't know. However, at the other end of the hall the situation was not quite so blissful. Heart pounding techno was the only relief from the screams of metal which were hardly filter by the closed door. Loud shrieks accompanied by laughter, originating from persons of both genders, were the only things audible over the music. The participants had no chance of hearing the pitter-patter of the RA's bare feet as she scurried down to their room. She stood in the doorway talking to the party inside for two minutes and then returned to her room. With the party subdued and the atmosphere crushed, the gathering slowly disbanded. Three sets of couples filed out of the room in four minute intervals, like clock work, all with cell phones at the ready. With duties fulfilled and peace restored the RA's door closed for the night, and only the soft melodies of Bach remained to wander the hall.

Connie and the Sandman Ladies

There was an abundance of description in this story, I see why she chose this for us to read before we did our "people watching. " The first couple of paragraphs remind me of an exercise I'm sure you all have done, where you have to describe a room or person in as much detail as possible. Campbell Starts out by vividly describing Connie's room, first through sight, then by sounds and finally with smells. Campbell also chose to introduce the presence of drugs early on and very casually, which is symbolic of Connie's life, drugs have been a given part of her life from an early age. By the end you definitely feel as though you know Connie her lifestyle incredibly well, which was clearly Campbell's motive for writing the peace, "I wanted to ... represent their [girls in gangs] their own views of their situation."

My Groups Responce to "Knowing"

In general, all members of my group agreed on the following statements about truth and knowledge. Most truths come from personal experience and the rest comes in the form of accepted knowledge we acquire from persons we regard as experts in the field we are studying. We unanimously agreed that regardless of the topic; science, religion, political or otherwise, there are always gray areas. As Ben said, "Facts change with evidence and evidence changes with time." I feel strongly that without senses it would be impossible to gather knowledge. We either learn by first hand experience; seeing, feeling, hearing ect., or we are taught, and in order to learn we must be able to communicate, an act impossible with out senses. As a result most people won't consider something to be a truth with out sensory proof of its existence. When I read the story about the little girl I realized, we learn most as children when we are least critical, so does cynicism limit our intake of knowledge?