catherine.servati’s blog

Freakonomics...
Well, is it ok to admit that I may be more excited about reading Philip’s post about this book than I am about writing my own?  Comes as a shocker many, I know, right?  But seriously, I heard he was working on an outline at some point. 

This post will by no means be outlined and the later it gets and the earlier I realize I have to wake up, it may not be coherent at all – but I do have a few thoughts rolling around in my head that I might try to translate onto this screen.  I will start by saying that these thoughts were of course provoked and inspired on the balcony of Square Books with my fabulous intern friends. I like to think of them as colleagues.

One of my favorite points that was brought up is that this whole book is set up to provide a reasoning for many things: how the KKK came to an end, why crime rates lowered in the early 90s (?), why teachers cheat on their students standardized tests and how to detect if they are doing so… the list goes on.  Much of the evidence provided for why or how these things happened sets out to disprove common held theory – theory that was arrived upon by EXPERTS.   Experts as in the people who study a very narrow field of information and over the course of time have looked at all the contributing factors affecting that very narrow field and have reached very specific conclusions.  So it makes perfect sense then that the authors of this book can dispel these conclusions and very easily in two paragraphs or three convince the reader of some completely different reasoning – and because of their smooth talking no one ever questions anything… WRONG. 

Well, ok, I might not ever question anything because hey, it’s summer and sometimes I just want to read a book without thinking critically or analyzing everything to the smallest detail.  But thanks to the brilliant people whom I somehow have the same job as, I can see this book a little more objectively and realize that although it is a fun read… the identification of incentives don’t quite provide an explanation for everything.  I mean, look at our conversations during the last book club – that wasn’t so easy, now was it?

this

and

this

So project work is underway and things are beginning to shape up quite differently, but better, than I’d originally imagined.  The exact topic that I have decided on is a look at is the educational opportunities of Sudanese refugees in Mississippi. 

 These are the questions that I want to frame my investigation:

These are the facts/statistics I would like to see about Sudanese students in MS:
-High school graduation rates
-Number (or percentage) who go on to college
        -Number in 4-year university as opposed to community college
-Number employed (in or after college)
        -What fields entered post-graduation
-Number who have left MS

NOW, the more difficult questions to answer...
-What are the outside influences that contribute to the success of these students?
-What does the support system look like? home life?
-Where does the majority of financing come from and who determines where it goes?
-What sort of support system is in place to ensure success and prevent failure?
-Is there any sort of counseling in place where refugees can work through the events of their pasts?
-BASICALLY, how have those who have succeeded been able to do so (in light of the overwhelming social and cultural barriers…)

Dr. Miller at Millsaps College has been helpful in answering the statistical questions and in pointing me toward other people who have played integral roles in the resettlement of originally 60 Sudanese in MS.  Kenneth Townsend has also helped me a lot with narrowing this subject down to a feasible project. 

For now I will be contacting people from the Catholic Charities in Jackson who sponsored the refugee resettlement to MS and also someone from the Episcopal Church that has also been instrumental in the resettlement process…

It’s alllll gooooddd……

YESTERDAY
My mind is blank today.  It’s really not working very creatively.  Days like today I think I need for the world around me to freeze so I can gather my thoughts, organize my time, and then resume life.  Too bad that’s not an option.  I think my mind is just overwhelmed with stuff – thoughts, ideas, plans, lack of thoughts, lack of ideas, lack of plans….

Overwhelmed.  That’s what I think today has been – overwhelming.  Not that today was particularly stressful in any way whatsoever. Actually, it was not stressful at all, not even slightly.  I think that things have been in my head and I haven’t spent a proper amount of time thinking about them or reflecting on them so that I can just let them be.  I feel like I have this shadow constantly following behind me, and it serves only as a constant reminder that I DON’T know what I want to do next … that I DON’T know where I will be in a year – and honestly, a very large part of me is glad that I do not know.  But nonetheless the pressure to “know” and to “figure it out” is still present and it’s driving me crazy.  

SO, on top of that, I am learning something new every single day.  New doors are opening, new opportunities are put before my face, new ideas, new thoughts, new realizations, new desires… and I wouldn’t have it any other way. BUT guess what? It only complicates the vast expanse of openness and blankness that I see as my future.  

I know what’s important to me.  I know the things that I value and the ways in which I want to spend my time. That is good enough for now.   It’s time to let this matter be.

TODAY
In this space and following I am supposed to write about what I learned from Claiborne Barksdale and Tucker Carrington.  I’m not I can adequately sum up even half of what either of them had to say… so I’ll will just start with the things the have stuck out in my mind and the connections that are being made.

-You pay for what you get. Whether it’s teachers, superintendents, or elected officials, the saying remains true.  I’m beginning to think that electing these people is not the best idea.
-It all comes back to poverty.  I wish more than anything that this was not the case – that the poorest areas in the state did not have the highest crime rates and were not lowest on the educational scale. The solution seems simple on paper: give these areas the BEST educational experience and the crime will take care of itself.  IF ONLY it was that easy.   

I am interested in law school so I found Tucker’s talk very interesting.  I am always interested in learning about different areas of different professions of which I was previously unaware.  I think in anything that anyone chooses to do, there is always the opportunity to make the world a better place if only by making one person’s life a little easier.  I’m thankful that my eyes are being opened to these opportunities.  AND I’m looking forward to Amanda’s presentation on the Innocence Project.  

It’d be nice if Barksdale’s statistics were a wild exaggeration, or maybe even a joke, or maybe if they were only true for one isolated school that was somehow overlooked for years.  But they’re not, and facing the reality of Mississippi’s literacy condition is like waking up to a bad dream – over and over again.  I wonder if there are ever times where he is so completely overwhelmed that he just wants to give up.  Hearing Dr. Mullins say that he is so passionate that sometimes he is moved to tears, I do believe that he must have those desperate moments where you kind of wonder if you’re even doing any good at all.  But HE IS.  And where would Mississippi be without people who possess that kind of passion?  I’m scared to know the answer.

I’ll end with this song – that kind of choked me up when I read it for the first time last night…

Learning is good
We have found it so,
Learning is the best
We have found it so,
I will not leave the school
I am a man
I have liked it;
I will not leave the school.
I am a gentleman of the future.
Those children who run away
They have no hearts
They do not even bid their masters farewell;
Those children who run away
They have no hearts.
Even if we tire
We shall endure.
We shall find its sweetness later on;
Even if we tire
We shall endure
We shall endure
To find its sweetness later on.

“Gentlemen of the Future,” a song sung in the 1940s by some of the first children in southern Sudan to receive a formal education.

The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience

Mark Bixler

Knispel and Winkle

This past week was a really great week as an intern.  I have no idea what the first and second years are up to, I only hope they’re having as enriching of an experience as we are.  I think this is the greatest job ever.  I’ve learned so much, and all I have done is show up every day.  It has been such a privilege to listen to the people we have gotten to meet with.  So I’m constantly learning, and I never have any homework – nor will I be tested on any of this! I love it!

This morning at College Hill Presbyterian Church the preacher told a story relating to his sermon about two influential politicians who were debating the role of the media.  One was arguing that the media was absolutely essential in keeping the government accountable.  The other argued as to whose role it was to keep the media and journalists accountable.  This story sounded all too familiar and obviously brought me back to Sandra Knispel’s talk on Tuesday.  So whose job is it?  We talked about how the large media conglomerates exert pressure over journalists reporting for any program that falls within their ownership, so how does the truth ever get told… especially the unpopular truth?  Sure, journalists love to shed light on the stories that people want to hear – the scandals, affairs, scams, and of course celebrity gossip always make the news.  But what about the news that policy makers in Washington choose to ignore?  Not just the news that the media conglomerates don’t want their viewers to see, but the news that elected officials ignore?  I couldn’t help think about Darfur when we were having this conversation, I guess just because I’ve been learning so much about it lately.  But it does seem that there is some gap in communication when it comes to American citizens being aware of the conflict and when we talked about media conglomerates cutting back on international news coverage, I wondered if this could possibly explain why Darfur is not on our radar.  But then again I wondered if there is some censorship originating in Washington on the subject as well.  I asked Sandra what she thought and while she didn’t think that policy makers were demanding censorship, she blamed America’s unawareness of this terrible conflict on our own apathy.  She said that European countries are much more informed and involved in Darfur… and well, her answer isn’t so surprising is it?

OH and during Sandra’s talk, The Listening Project Documentary popped into my head.  For a fascinating glimpse at what the world thinks about America this is a great film to check out… the website has tons of great stuff on it too – www.Americalistening.com - I think?

And for an interesting listen, on the topic of America, North American Scum by LCD Soundsystem is the way to go. 

On to Dr. Winkle.  I was amazed to hear of the measures white citizens took to in order to preserve the “Southern way” of life.  I almost shuddered at the fact that in 1967, FIFTEEN YEARS after Brown 1 that a school in Holmes county was still segregated.  Appalled, yes; but shocked? No, not really.  Well at least not in the light of what I have been learning in the past week.  The evidence is right there on the walls in Holly Springs High School.  Every senior composite lining the walls is almost entirely comprised of black students – some are entirely.  The facts Dr. Winkle shared about some of the wording in the cases I found interesting as well: “inherently unequal” and “ with all deliberate speed.”

On a different note – good weekend.  July 5 must be an outing of the interns to Big Truck Theater in Taylor, MS. Truly a unique Mississippi experience… if I can figure out how to upload pictures on here you can get a small glimpse of what some might call old fashioned entertainment.  

So after these first few days we all know that Mississippi is not spelled with dollar signs. 

I moved to Mississippi in the 4^th grade from South Bend, Indiana – I was born in Charlotte, NC, so I am a true southerner, don’t worry.  Until the third grade I attended a public school that was primarily white.  In third grade I became aware that there were two African American students in the grade above me… then I moved to Mississippi.  On my first day of school in Mississippi I was placed in a class where the black/white ratio was just about equal.  Within a few hours I was moved to a class where the majority of the students were white.  Is there really anything else to say here?

Tupelo, Mississippi is very fortunate to have an exceptional public school district.  Dr. Mullins mentioned in his talk on Monday that one of the reasons the school district in Tupelo is so great is because the white population never dispersed when the African American population began to grow.  The public school system in Tupelo is great, but many of the problems that plagued the students and families seen in the film LaLee’s Kin are present in Tupelo.  I guess those instances are just the exception, rather than the rule.  

While I was home between the end of school and the start of this internship I had lunch with an old friend from middle school.  She is a black girl who comes from an educated family.  She has attended a year of college, has taken some time off to work and get married, and plans on returning to school.  As I walked out of the restaurant, I ran into a girl who was in my 5^th grade class, also African American.  She was stopping by to see her mother who worked at the restaurant and she had – I’m estimating – her three year old son with her. 

I must say that I learned a lot more from the film Lalee’s Kin than I expected.  I thought I knew about the Mississippi Delta.  Watching Lalee’s family bathe in buckets without running water will be an image that may never leave my mind.  I couldn’t help but be reminded of the stories Patrick has told me about his time in a small Ugandan village.  Hardly any families have running water or electricity… sounds a lot like Lalee’s new trailer to me. 

My mind is going crazy with the images of this documentary and the facts that I have been introduced to in the past few days.  I feel like I’m going to need a few days to let this settle and find a place in my mind that these thoughts can somehow, if possible, find a resting place.  I cannot help but wonder what was going through the minds of many of the first-years who sat in that room today.  I have grown up in Mississippi.  Although those images and facts are all still shocking to me, I cannot imagine what those from the farthest corners of the country are thinking about right now – especially in regard to the experiences they will have in the fall.