From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 3 02:51:14 1995 Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 02:51:11 -0800 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: lichter@nicco.sscnet.ucla.edu (Michael I. Lichter) Subject: Mr. Last Minute Anybody looking for a room-mate at ASA? Alternatively, anybody looking for a room? I have a reservation at a nearby hotel (Embassy Inn) for $79/night which I could split with someone, but if possible I'd rather room with somebody at the conference hotel or one of the two others adjacent to it (Washington Towers, Hotel Sofitel, and Washington Courtyard, respectively). Thanks. Michael -- Michael Lichter UCLA Department of Sociology From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 3 06:04:17 1995 Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 09:01 EDT From: "Frank D. Beck" Subject: ASA and Socgrad To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU I remember a couple years ago some socgrad participants got together at ASA. Are there any plans for this year? --Frank From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 3 07:09:15 1995 Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 10:12:52 +0100 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: danryan@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Dan Ryan) Subject: Re: ASA and Socgrad =>I remember a couple years ago some socgrad participants got together at ASA. =>Are there any plans for this year? --Frank We'll, better to say that we TRIED to get together -- it has proven a challenge, but I bet we could pull it off this time! Any planners and organizers out there? Cheers, Dan From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 4 05:24:32 1995 Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 08:21:04 -0400 From: James Cassell To: Sociology Graduate Student Discussion Subject: Position Announcement: Augusta College (fwd) FYI ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Cassell jwcassell@UNC.EDU Institute for Research in Social Science Phone: 919-962-0782 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Fax: 919-962-4777 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3355 USA ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 2 AUG 1995 19:37:09 GMT From: Soc1 Newgroups: alt.sci.sociology Subject: Position Announcement: Augusta College AUGUSTA COLLEGE. The Department of Sociology invites applications for a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor beginning Fall, 1996. Salary competetive and commensurate with experience. We seek a person with special expertise in the area of criminology (or criminal justice) to support the Department's new (begun Fall 1994) and successful (about 100 majors) criminal justice program which includes a major and a minor in criminal justice in addition to an associate degree. The Department, with seven faculty members, also offers a major and minor in sociology, as well as minors in social work and in gerontology. Augusta College, located in Georgia's second largest netropolitan area, is a senior unit of the University System of Georgia and serves as the primary college for a nine-county region. The successful applicant will be expected to participate in both the criminal justice and sociology programs. Applicants should have completed the PhD in Sociology by August 1996. Applicants should submit a vita (with the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of at least three references), a letter of application describing teaching and research interests, and evidence of teaching effectiveness. Application review begins October 1995. Send all materials to Allen Scarboro, Department of Sociology, Augusta College, Augusta, Georgia 30905-2200. Or, for further information, e-mail to SOCCAS@ADMIN.AC.EDU As an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution, we strongly encourage applications from women and from minority candidates. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Mon Aug 7 11:56:33 1995 Date: Mon, 7 Aug 1995 14:52:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Gary Reed Subject: Law & Society Text To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Dear Socgrad Readers: I was wondering whether anyone has a favorite law & society text that is suitable for use in a lower-division undergraduate course. I am looking for a book that would provide the theoretical foundation for the course. I used Kidder's, Connecting Law and Society, in the past; yet it is apparently out of print. Thanks for your consideration, Gary Reed Boston University e-mail: greed@acs.bu.edu From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 8 15:05:15 1995 Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 16:45:33 -0500 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: cbrown@siu.edu (Charles M. Brown) Subject: SSSR Meetings Hello everyone: I was wondering if anyone was planning on attending the SSSR (Society for the Scientific Study of Religion)conference in St. Louis this October. Chuck- From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 8 17:56:30 1995 Date: Tue, 08 Aug 95 20:50:58 EDT From: Alan Davidson Subject: SSSR meetings To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU I will be attending the SSSR meetings, and should be in St. Louis for most of the meetings. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 9 20:47:06 1995 From: FRANCES@PPRI-NW.TAMU.EDU To: danryan@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Dan Ryan), socgrad@UCSD.EDU Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 22:43:56 CST6CDT Subject: Re: ASA and Socgrad X-pmrqc: 1 > =>I remember a couple years ago some socgrad participants got together at ASA. > =>Are there any plans for this year? --Frank > > We'll, better to say that we TRIED to get together -- it has proven a > challenge, but I bet we could pull it off this time! Any planners and > organizers out there? > > Cheers, > > Dan Right after I got my Bachelors degree, I read the book "On the Shoulders of Giants" by Robert Merton. In the book he uses variations of the initials "OTSOG." Since then I have had this (Fill in your own adjective) idea of having a meeting of SOGS. (I can't believe I'm really posting this. So much for a career before it ever gets started.) SOGS is the front stage acronym for Society of Graduate Students. But WE in the back stage know that it really stands for "Sociological Order of Giant Standers." We are the ones who want to sit at the feet of the giants, so that we may one day stand on their shoulders. Any takers? I'm not much of a leader or organizer, so I'll just throw this idea out there and see if it goes THUD. There is a student reception scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 20. Although there are other activities going on at the same time, this still might be a good time and place for us to touch base. Frances LeAnne Haynes "An Aggie from Muskogee" Easy does it, But do it! From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 9 21:27:25 1995 (PMDF V4.3-10 #10451) id <01HTW00RU90Q8WZOIR@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU>; Thu, 10 Aug 1995 00:26:48 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 00:26:48 -0500 (EST) From: SCOTT BLAKE Subject: Re: ASA and Socgrad To: FRANCES@ppri-nw.tamu.edu I think that SOGS is a great idea! I'm currently swamped (aren't we all) and have taken on far too many obligations to become a central figure, but I'd lend all the moral support I've got to this idea. Can we make up initiation rituals and a secret handshake? Because of work obligations, I won't be making it to the ASA, so keep the conversation in email, too. Bravo! Scott Blake Brandeis University From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 10 07:29:55 1995 Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 10:33:09 +0100 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: danryan@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Dan Ryan) Subject: Another ASA suggestion While monitoring my shortwave radio I picked up the following communique issued by joint meeting of the CCSS (Canada and Connecticut Sociological Society) concerning a SOCGRAD rendezvous in DC: We suggest two moments: (1) 6:30 pm at the Entrance of the Washington Hilton bar on Aug.18th (for those arriving a day earlier as I am)--We could wait for 1/2 hour for people and see what flies as far as plans go, and (2) 6:30 pm at the Entrance of the ASA Welcoming Party on Aug. 19th. Whoever shows up can decide if there is the time and wish to have either drinks and/ or dinner. There was also something about yellow party hats and teal handkerchiefs, but I couldn't get all the details. They also said something about grad students being so eager to hook up with one another that they didn't want to wait until Sunday to make one another's unvirtual acquaintence. That's all I've heard.... Confirming reports? Seconds? Rebuttals? Rejoinders? DJRinNH From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 10 08:41:40 1995 From: FRANCES@PPRI-NW.TAMU.EDU To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 10:39:57 CST6CDT Subject: Re: Another ASA suggestion X-pmrqc: 1 > (1) 6:30 pm at the Entrance of the Washington Hilton bar on > Aug.18th (for those arriving a day earlier as I am)--We > could wait for 1/2 hour for people and see what flies as > far as plans go, > Could we make this 7:30 - or at least wait until then - the Theory Day ends at 7:30 Frances LeAnne Haynes "An Aggie from Muskogee" Easy does it, But do it! From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 10 13:38:04 1995 Date: Thu, 10 Aug 95 16:36:54 EDT From: Maria Wallis Subject: ASA To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU 7:30 on the 18th of August would be great for me. How about the rest of the gang? Maria Wallis York University--Toronto, Ontario--Canada. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 11 14:10:44 1995 From: "Julian B. Dierkes" Date: Fri, 11 Aug 95 17:07:36 EDT To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Subject: Job Announcement Here's a job announcement for a position in our department. The announcement can also be found on the web at http://www.princeton.edu:80/~sociolog/job_announce.html. Princeton University: Department of Sociology seeks applicants for tenure-track Assistant Professorship. Area of specialization open, but with some preference for inequality/social differentiation, especially gender, race and/or ethnicity. Candidate must be prepared to teach methods at the graduate level. Send curriculum vitae, three letters of reference, and a writing sample to Sara McLanahan, Chair, Recruitment Committee, Department of Sociology, 2-N-1 Green Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1010. Applicants with a home page can send the URLs for their cv and other materials. Deadline for applications: October 31. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. C u all at the ASA. Julian ** ** * **** ***** ******* ********* *********** ************** ***************** ********************** *************************** *********************************** ******************************************************* **********jdierkes@princeton.edu**************jdierkes@eworld.com******** ******************http://www.princeton.edu:80/~jdierkes****************** ****graduate student****dept. of sociology****princeton university******* From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Mon Aug 14 00:02:48 1995 From: XSBERNUS@CCVAX.FULLERTON.EDU Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 00:00:56 -0800 (PST) Subject: ASA To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Hi! I am a grad student at CSU Fullerton. I have never been to an ASA conference, but am willing to help out with putting something together. Whoever is in charge,just let me know how I can help out. We are arriving on the 18th also. Sheila Bernus xsbernus@ccvax.fullerton.edu From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Mon Aug 14 06:02:03 1995 Date: Mon, 14 Aug 95 08:52:18 EDT From: "T R. Young" <34LPF6T@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU> Organization: Central Michigan University Subject: Corruption, Evil, Sin and Solidarity (fwd) To: GRADUATE STUDENTS IN SOCIOLOGY Explanatory Note: There has been quite a bit of debate on the progressive scholars network about Pres. Clinton's effort to limit the availability of tobacco products to children. Much of ------- this comment has been in terms of 'necessary' vs 'surplus' repression. My contribution is, as to be expected, to give a mini-lecture on the use of tobacco and other sacred/solidarity supplies on the general rules found in most societies regarding when to condemn and when to require the use of such supplies. You will note that I rely heavily on Durkheim for the mini-lecuture. In solidarity, T.R. Young Message begins***** Chris Lugo has opened up some anthropological/social psychological dimensions of tobacco usage when he notes that tobacco has been, traditionally in some societies, used both as a pathway to the Holy and as a solidarity mechanism among males and/or tribes which would otherwise have little structural reason to live in peace and an uneven cooperation. One can extend this analysis to a number of solidarity supplies which are used in one society to solve the problem of solidarity [absent some structural/div of labor/mutual aid sort of bonding means...Durkheim called, as you know, these activities mechanical solidarity rituals. Among the other solidarity/sacred supplies used in some societies are: alcohol, dance, gambling, special kinds/amounts of food, violence/pain [as in football/scarification], special sexual norms at sacred times/places as well as our most addictive friend, tobacco. Sanctification: at some level of awareness, people who use tobacco/sex/drugs/dance/gaming/violence 'know' that what they are doing is 'right' and 'proper' even if painful and dangerous. There is a corollary to this point from Howie Becker who, in his article, Becoming A Marijuane User, noted that people have to learn to define the effects of this usage as appropriate to the solidarity activity at hand. Generally, painful things can be defined as pleasureable and pleasureable things defined as painful/distressful within given symbolic social life worlds. Sic semper S-R and operant conditioning theory. Corruption: the use of these solidarity supplies are defined, by coercion and ideology as good and proper when used within and by the group being consolidated; when used outside such sacred times/places, such use is defined as evil, sinful, corrupt and the work of the Devil. Sanctification v. Corruption: Generally a society uses some limited set of solidarity supplies in their dramas of the Holy in pursuit of social solidarity...aother corollary rule seems to be that whatever solidarity supplies are used by other societies, the use of them is defined as corrupt and pathological in the first society. Thus the use of tobacco and alcohol is defined as right and proper for warrior males but corrupt when used by children and/or females...there is a tribe in S. America which uses music for male solidarity rituals...women can be put to death for even touching these instruments. The use of alcohol is forbidden in Islam but other solidarity supplies are used assiduously. Perversion: the solidarity supplies used when a solidarity is assembled and actively using them in search of the Holy are held to be sacred; the private, non-solidarity use of them are viewed as pathological. One can drink a lot of alcohol when males are assembled in their solidarity routines but drinking the same amount or less is seen to be pathological and deemed to be the subject matter for therapy and psychiatry. Rites of Passage: The solitary use of such psychogenic supplies is defined as non-pathological in a great many rites of passage in a great many societies; Among the America Indians tribes, it was/is defined as necessary to go up to the mountains, inhale the smoke of differing woods/leaves and come into contact with the spirit world. Inspiration: A good many holy men and women use some psychogen or another in order to come into direct contact with their Holy Spirit...they are to be left alone in their usage of such sacred supplies since the visions/messages they recieve from their god is important to some pressing problem/issue the answer to which is vital to the whole tribe. Commodification: Several colleagues have noted that capitalism tends to turn every such sacred/solidarity supply into a market commodity to be sold to whomever has the price. Market liberals addicted to rationality, urge the sale of tobacco, pornography, pre-teen sex and those other wise restricted goods and services. Controversy: Much of the cultural wars today involve the effort by white, euro-centric males to maintain their hegemony in gender relations, jobs and status generally. Much of the cultural conflict focussed on affirmative action, gender relations, equal opportunity and national chauvinism stem from the same kind of efforts to achieve status and power in a society with increasing class inequality. If one is a white, adult male drinking, smoking and gambling in company of one's friends or in splendid isolation are the few indicators of such standing...apart from the physiol- ogical addiction people note, there is a social psychological addiction which is very powerful to those with declining status. Solutions: There are solutions to the problems of status and solidarity; to the problems of 'corruption,' 'sin,' and 'perversion.' Some structural changes are neccessary to end the transformation of class struggle into cultural warfare; Some changes in religion and theology are essential to moderate cultural warfare on its own grounds. Some educational effort is required to teach people about the uses and abuses of solidarity supplies; especially where partisan religion and theology are entrenched in a community. Personal Statement: I have no particular animus against tobacco, different uses of sexuality, the use of alcohol to generate the sense of the 'super-organic' of which Durkheim spoke. Seems to me that most people use most psychogens sensibly when used within a party, friendly game or religious ceremony. I expect that we will need to be a good deal wiser and more discerning than have we been in the repression of such supplies. I am not against repression in general; indeed, I'm sure there is such a thing as necessary repression...it's just that it is very difficult to use rules, laws, and rational/linear thinking in deciding these questions...maybe that's what wisdom is; the rare ability to know when to curse and when to praise; when to start and when to stop; when to condemn and when to tolerate the very important efforts of people to come into solidarity and social standing...or what's a revolution for??? T.R. Young T.R.YOUNG@CMICH.EDU T.R.YOUNG@CMICH.EDU From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Mon Aug 14 22:48:42 1995 Mon, 14 Aug 1995 22:47:06 -0700 for Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 22:47:05 -0700 From: Laura Miller To: socgrad@mail.ucsd.edu Subject: ASA Is it definite about meeting Friday at 7:30 at ASA? I'd prefer Saturday myself, since I'll just be arriving Friday evening and I don't know if I'll get there in time, but if the consensus is Friday, so be it. Any chance of leaving a message somewhere about where the assembled will be going so we stragglers can catch up? Also, how will we be able to identify ourselves? Any bright ideas? Laura Miller From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 15 08:46:14 1995 From: SHAFER@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU (PMDF V4.3-10 #10451) id <01HU3N53Q1SG8WWSWA@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU>; Tue, 15 Aug 1995 11:44:16 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 11:44:16 -0500 (EST) Subject: meeting in washington To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU hello, I missed the discussion on where socgradders will meet in washington. will someone please re-post this for me. I understand it will be on friday at 7:30. thanks, dave shafer brandeis univ. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 15 15:51:26 1995 Date: Tue, 15 Aug 95 18:50:37 EDT From: Maria Wallis Subject: ASA To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Two meetings times were suggested: (1) 7:30 on the 18th and (2) 6:30 on the 19th (especially to meet up with those arriving late 18th) at the ASA Welcome Party. .....This is my understanding. Maria. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 15 17:16:04 1995 Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 20:20:29 +0100 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: danryan@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Dan Ryan) Subject: Re: ASA At 6:50 PM 8/15/95, Maria Wallis wrote: =>Two meetings times were suggested: (1) 7:30 on the 18th and (2) 6:30 on =>the 19th ... I concur. In my experience, though, the key to getting the most out of a big conference is to be flexible. As for recognition, perhaps we could all wear a golden pipe cleaner around one ear or something. I have some notes somewhere on "how to enjoy a convention" that include the following (completely unedited and unexpurgated): o Never pass up an opportunity to go out with a group to eat, especially in favor of a gathering with "more important people" that may or may not occur. o Don't let yourself get cynical about schmoozing. This IS what the meeting is about and that's not a bad thing. It is quite common for newbies and beginners to feel left out because they don't know too many people. A common response to this feeling is to express disdain for how "it's all just a big reunion of people who don't care whether a nobody like me lives or dies." That's true. The secret, though, is to that that IS all that it is and the only reason you feel that way is because you don't know too many people yet. Give yourself some time. Quickly slipping into the defensive wall- flower frame of mind is a sure recipe for prolonging the period in which you feel like you don't know anybody. o Related to this, don't get too turned off by nametag gazing. It is what people do at these things. Yes, people will check yours out, discover that you are nobody and then move on. Some of the folks doing this are real ass-kissing idiots who are just looking for famous people to kiss up to. Don't sweat it. Don't let the turkeys get you down. Think about this sociologically. You have a gathering of several thousand people from one profession. Most of them work in middle of nowhere places with two colleagues, one of whom they loathe. They spend all year teaching the writings of other people (some of whom are their heroes) to 19 year olds. Some of those heroes are walking around the hotel. Of course they're looking at the name tags. Alternatively, here you have a gathering of several thousand people in the same profession. Profession and job is one of the most common categories for sorting the people in one's world. If everyone around you is in the same profession, you need some other status markers to help you order the crowd. Look at the nametags. o Remember that it's OK to engage people in serious conversations about what they do, what they think about, etc. This may be the only time all year where you don't have to explain what sociology is or that it is NOT the same as social work to the person who says "oh, my brother is a social worker." o Don't worry about money -- that's what plastic is for. In the end, you are going to spend more that you intended; no use wasting emotional energy fretting about it o Stay in the main conference hotel whenever possible. The idea of staying with a friend who lives just twenty minutes outside of town is almost always a bad one. o Recognize and celebrate the fact that the most important and enjoyable part of the annual meeting is the stuff that occurs OUTSIDE of the sessions. o After you've heard your fourth or fifth poorly presented paper on poorly thought-out research, remind yourself that the speaker teaches for a living and wonder how someone who talks in front of groups 4 to 8 times a week can fail to have ever gotten good at it. o Upon checking in, locate the health club or fitness center in your hotel and see what their hours are. Then look around to see if they have a decent breakfast buffet in one of the restaurants. Next, scan through the index of the program to see if there is anyone you absolutely don't want to miss a talk by. Draw a little time chart and note where these talks are and when. If you're not doing anything else, you can try to catch them. After this, make a list of all the people you want to say hello to, have a meal with or meet. This roster is your main task list for the meeting. o Remember that everyone else is feeling like they don't know anyone too. o Always remember the first law of socializing: act like a host. This means taking the initiative and introducing yourself to others. It means keeping in mind the people you know and have met so that when you meet someone new, even if your interests are a million miles apart, you can always say "Have you met so and so? You should. I'll introduce you when I see you together." And then, when you do, they'll possibly be grateful for the intro, but definitely remember the service. All of this is based loosely on good network theory: weak ties are all -- be one whenever you can. o If you have the opportunity to introduce someone big and someone small, do it by asking the big person if they've met the small one, not vice versa. It's a wonderfully pleasant way to go against the standard status inequalities. o Be as socially generous as possible. It almost never "costs" anything to invite someone along, bring them into a conversation, introduce them to a colleague, connect them to someone of common interests, etc. and these things (a) are always remembered, and (b) go around and come around. o Buy some books. o If you're giving a talk, just tell us what you did, why you thought it was interesting and what we should remember about what you found out or showed. The point of the talk is to help me decide whether I might want to read your work or not. o If you are giving a talk, do not read your paper. Do not fight with the organizer over time. Do not be convinced that the audience will be enthralled if only you can get this one last point in. Do not edit out whole sections on the fly as you notice time running out. If you find yourself falling in love with your own prose, exercise caution. All of these things will serve only to make you look inept, unprofessional, immature and uninteresting. o Don't join your nutso colleagues in the mad rush to grab books at a discount as the book exhibits close. The behavior of some folks at this moment is truly embarrassing -- best not to join them. o Remember, you are going to spend a few days with 3 or 4 thousand people who are, perhaps, better at analyzing the social world than participating in it. Be kind. We're all in this together. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 16 12:02:35 1995 16 Aug 95 15:00:49 +1100 From: "JOAN HERMSEN" Organization: University of Maryland,College Park To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 15:00:20 EDT Subject: visiting washdc Hi - This message is mainly for those of you coming to DC for the meetings later this week. I'm a grad student at Univ of Maryland and live in the local area of DC. I've just finished hosting two weeks of houseguests and have "done the touristy thing" around DC quite a bit in the last two weeks. I thought I'd share some info with you on things to see or do. A favorite of my sisters is a stop at the garden cafe on top of the Hotel Washington. This old hotel is located across from the Treasury building and near the White House. The view from the top is great of part of the "The Mall" and the Potomoc River. It's a great place to rest and get a drink during your running around. My brother, a midwesterner with little access to good ethnic food, particulary enjoyed the "Lebanese Taverna" a restraunt (can't think clearly enough to spell!) near the Woodley Park metro station and a greek restraunt (ditto!) called Mykonos (I think that is right) at 1835 K Street NW - one block from the Farragut West metro station. There is not alot of cafe's for food near "The Mall". If you are near the Holocaust Museum and want food you have little choice. A quick place for lunch is the employee cafeteria at the Dept of Agriculture which is located across from the Holocaust Museum. Enter on the side opposite "The Mall" and ask any guard for directions. The Korean War Memorial is new this summer and may not be on your tour info for the city. It's nice and worth walking to (near the Lincoln Memorial). A favorite exhibit in the American History Museum of everyone who visits me is a small showing of the items left at the Vietnam Wall. This small, but extremely powerful exhibit is found on the 4th Floor. Viewing this exhibit, and then heading to the VietNam wall is a pretty awesome experience. The Archives are always very busy. The guards there suggest going in the evenings after 6:30 (it's open to 9:00) to avoid crowds and be able to actually stand and look at the constitution and declaration of independence. The Enola Gay exhibit is not open at Air and Space Museum. Tickets (free) are required as security for the exhibit is very tight. The earlier in the day you go to get tickets at Air and Space, the more choice you have as to time and also you up your chances of getting in to the exhibit. The Holocaust Museum is quickly becoming a very "popular" museum. You also need a ticket to this Museum. Tickets can be ordered in advance by calling Ticketmaster or my going to the ticket counter in the Museum. Tickets go fast each morning at the ticket counter so I recommend you try to go in hte morning and get a ticket for later in hte day (museum opens at 10:00). Also, all the museums close at different times -- you may want to plan accordingly. The Washington Monument has been closed to tourists most of the summer due to heat. If you still want a view of the mall from the top, the tower in the Old Post Office Pavilion offers an equally good view. Check it out. It's right down near the mall on Pennsylvania Ave. White House Tour tickets are given away starting at 7:00am for that day. There is now a White House Visitor Center near the White House grounds (dont know the address). The line for tickets forms around 5:30 am, but my experience is that if you get in line by 7:15 am you are pretty much sure you'll get tickets for that morning. Finally, Adams Morgan is a neighborhood with great restraunts and lively night life. It's not far from the main hotel. You can walk or cab to the area. There are many ethnic restraunts worth checking out. There is an Ethiopian place that I usually take friends (Meskerem) that is good. Most of all, enjoy your visit to the city. There is so much to see for free -- all it takes is a short ride on the metrorail system. The system is generally very safe and clean. Good Luck- Email if you want any more specific info, I'll try to help if I can. See you at the meetings! Joan Hermsen Dept of Sociology Univ. of Maryland College Park s-jhermsen@bss1.umd.edu From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 16 13:33:21 1995 From: Melissa R Herman Subject: Sociology of Education List To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU (socgrad network) Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 13:32:00 -0700 (PDT) Hi Folks, Professor Elizabeth Cohen from Stanford's School of Education has recently started a list for the sociology of education. She was bemoaning the fact that its traffic has been light recently, so I said I would do my part to spread the word. To subscribe, send email to: Majordomo@lists.stanford.edu The text of your message should be subscribe SOCED To unsubscribe, send a message to the same address saying unsubscribe SOCED To send a message to the list, address your message to SOCED@lists.stanford.edu I don't know what issues have been discussed on the list or what may happen, but I hope those of you who are interested in sociology of education will join up. Anyone who doesn't know what it is can come to my presentation at ASA on Tuesday the 22nd at 2:30. I'm giving a paper on status inconsistency and tracking in high schools. See you at the conference! -M -- Melissa Herman manoki@leland.stanford.edu Department of Sociology Stanford University From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 16 14:03:59 1995 From: blovitts@nsf.gov Date: Wed, 16 Aug 95 17:00:43 EST To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU, "JOAN HERMSEN" Subject: Re: visiting washdc I'd like to add a few pieces of tourist advice to tourists coming to DC over and above Joan's great and informative list. First, I want to second Joan's recommendation for the bar at the top of the Washington Hotel. I always take visitors from out of town there. The monuments are open 24 hours a day, the museums are not. So save the monuments for the evenings/night. I personally think they are much more beautiful lit up against the night sky. For those into microbreweries, Bardo Rodeo, (Court House metro stop -- Orange Line), 2000 Wilson Blvd in Arlington, VA is much better than the Capital City Brewery in downtown DC. The clientel is more local and less touristy, the ambience funky rather than stayed, and the beer is better, too. Georgetown is over rated. Go to the Adams Morgan section of town. Every type of ethnic restaurant you could possibly be interested in (East and West African, including Ethiopian and Etruscian), Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Carribean, Jamacian, Cous Cous, Sushi ... is there, and many have roof top dinning. DC has an okay Chinatown, roughly H and I Streets, NW between 6th and 8th -- Gallery Place metro stop on the Red and Yellow lines. DuPont Circle is another area with a lot of bars and ethnic resturants. However, DuPont Circle Underground is NOT worth a visit. My favorite outdoor scupltures are that of Albert Einstein on Constitution Avenue and 23rd (?) hidden behind shrubs in front of the National Academy of Sciences -- not far from the Lincoln Memorial. You can take your picture sitting on his lap. Also, if you have a car, The Awakening, (Prometheus Unbound) on the tip of Haines Point, which is a left turn detour on the way to the Jefferson Memorial, is a surprising treat. It also puts you just across the river from National Airport, so if you like to watch planes take off and land ... Also Metro accessible is Old Town Alexandria -- King Street stop and a little hike to the happening spots. Lots of restaurants and quaint shops, and a few good places to listen to music. The Torpedo Factory has been converted into an artists' colony, so it a good place to go if you are interested in original art. If you want to splurge on dessert in a nice setting, try Tabard Inn on N Street between 17th and 18th, which is near DuPont Circle. (The reporter in the Pelican Brief hid out there.) Meals are a bit on the expensive side, but they have several parlor rooms with comfy couches and chairs where you can schmooze over coffee and dessert. The Vegetarian Society of DC has a list of restaurants that serve vegetarian meals. However, with all the ethnic retaurants in DC, you should have no problem. My absolute favorite is (Chinese) Vegetable Garden in Rockville, MD which is accessible on the Red Line, White Flint metro stop, with walking. It is completely vegetarian. City Lights of China on Connecticut Avenue in DuPont Circle has a separate vegetarian menu, but you have to ask for it. They have a GREAT vegetarian hot and sour soup. Food for Thought, which I haven't been to in years, is near City Lights of China. It's your typical hippy-dippy kind of restaurant. Enjoy! Barbara From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 17 01:56:25 1995 Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 09:57:58 +0000 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: Jon Hindmarsh (Jon Hindmarsh) Subject: Re: visiting washdc many thanks to Joan and Barbara. the information provided is very much appreciated. ta-ra, jon. _____________ Jon Hindmarsh (j.hindmarsh@surrey.ac.uk) Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 5XH. Tel. +44 1483 300800 x3005 Fax. +44 1483 306290 From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Thu Aug 17 16:34:37 1995 Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 19:33:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Jennifer R Popovic Subject: visiting washington, dc To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU i live, work, and attend school in washington, dc, and will also be attending the conference. I read the many suggestions regarding dc's nightlife, etc., and wondered if anyone out there is interested in dc's lesbian/gay scene. If so, drop me a line, and i'd be happy to answer any questions! best, jen <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> "Never let schooling get in the way of your education." - Mark Twain <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 18 07:24:16 1995 From: "Julian B. Dierkes" Date: Fri, 18 Aug 95 09:54:18 EDT To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Subject: sociology of education hi! hope everyone is having/had fun in DC! someone recently mentioned a sociology of education list and its owner, a stanford prof. whoever that someone was, could you send me the e-mail address of the list-owner? i want to contact him/her to ask her/him whether i can list subscription information on our department's links-page here (http://www.princeton.edu: 80/~sociolog/links.html). cheers, julian ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | julian b. dierkes | | O jdierkes@eworld.com | | / \ jdierkes@princeton.edu | | / /\ url:http://www.princeton.edu:80/~jdierkes/ | | . \/ \ \ dept. of sociology | | princeton university | | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Sun Aug 20 16:51:24 1995 Date: Sun, 20 Aug 95 19:42:23 EDT From: Marni Hancock Organization: Emory University - Atlanta, Georgia, USA Subject: UPDATE To: SOCGRAD@UCSD.EDU Friends, some time ago I posted a note about my difficulties in grad school and received many kind replies. I have been dismissed from the sociology program at Emory. I am exploring a degree at Emory in Women's Studies which would allow the transfer of many of my hours. If that doesn't work out I will explore other options, including those suggested by the various individuals who responded to my original message. I will say that the blow to my self confidence has been severe but I also know I will recover far faster than they could ever believe possible. :-) They don't usually deal with so seasoned a survivor as I am. Thanks again for the friendship and support. If I disappear from these lists for a while I will reappear in time. Best wishes to all on the upcoming academic year. Marni Hancock socaw059@emuvm1.cc.emory.edu From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 22 04:12:16 1995 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 04:09:55 -0700 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: Joe Surfer Subject: Re: Corruption, Evil, Sin and Solidarity (fwd) Brother Young gave his opinion and lecture on the role of tobacco in society as a sacred substance necessary for rituals of communion and solidarity. Now I had to give my opinion on this one, I can't let it go by so easily. His lecture comes off as a little too new-agey. I'm afraid I take the more conventional opinion on this matter, I view tobacco usage as institutionalized drug culture. >Holy and as a solidarity mechanism among males and/or tribes >which would otherwise have little structural reason to live in >peace and an uneven cooperation. Do this imply that tobacco is the *causal* mechanism for peace and warfare is the natural state? I think if tobacco was never discovered, the peoples would have invented other festivals of catharsis or rituals of competition to generate cooperation. Hell the British have tea-time. The description of sacred substances and psychoactives as necessary and proper in their religious context is fine. However, tobacco is no hallucinogen like peyote. You can try it yourself, or ask someone you know to describe the "high" they get from cigarettes. It is not dramatic, indeed they may have trouble verbalizing WHAT it does for them outside of some vague "calming" effect. In fact, in physiological effects are more demonstrable than it's mental or social. Mostly users talk about their need to continue using, and why they feel they can't stop. Not "Gosh, I feel closer to Ted cause last night we both stepped outside for a smoke together. Now I think we get along better..." >Commodification: Several colleagues have noted that capitalism >tends to turn every such sacred/solidarity supply into a market >commodity to be sold to whomever has the price. I think this is the closest you came to the real explaination. Tobacco companies, tobacco subsidies = entrenched profit reaping machine. Change = hard, resistant. Counterpropaganda = banning smoking is the gov't trying to control YOUR life, consumers! Tobacco has quite a history. I'll not quote passages of my history book that tell us Tom Jefferson, George Washington, and other founding fathers as tobacco farmers. I'm sure you've all come across it yourselves. >Personal Statement: I have no particular animus against tobacco, >Seems to >me that most people use most psychogens sensibly when used within >a party, friendly game or religious ceremony. I expect that we A person is made up their own life experiences. In my old neighborhood, the Grateful Dead gave a concert at Calif State Uni Dominguez Hills. Yeah, yeah, Deadheads make a great extra credit report for your Collective Behavior courses, as far as I'm concerned. I have disdain for them, but not open contempt like most working class people. Anyways, under Garcia's advise everybody drops acid and tries to drive home definately NOT "sensible use" in my opinion. So this one girl drives thru Manhattan Beach, plows into a pregnant mom in a volvo (suburbia personified) and kills her and her unborn offspring. Deadhead completely unrepentant. (Duh, I was high...) CSU board passed a resolution - The Dead can never play the CSUDH campus. Banishment is the only legal punishment. To this day, I assign blame to Garcia and co. I'll refrain from commenting on his recent death. Some people say Prohibition proved one thing - it's impossible to remove alcohol from society as a legislative order, and supply-based (War On Drugs) efforts are a waste of time. No, to me Prohibition proves you can't take drugs away from people once they get used to them. You'd have to raise a generation in isolation from the substance, and then went the old generation died, society would be free of it. I see tobacco more as a an economic commodity with negative health effects rather than a value-laden conflict. Other drugs may be value-laden conflicts. Not tobacco. Welcome any comments or reactions. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 22 15:17:40 1995 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 95 18:04:29 EDT From: Marni Hancock Organization: Emory University - Atlanta, Georgia, USA Subject: UPDATE BACKGROUND INFO To: SOCGRAD@UCSD.EDU Hello all! Someone, not remembering my original post, has asked for an explanation of my recent update. Ergo, I have had difficulty, as a non-traditional student and nurse, "doing" theory in my doctoral program in Soc. One faculty member gave me an F in theory construction--when I repeated the course (in an attempt to salvage my 5 year investment in this degree) I was again informed that the paper would not get me a passing grade in the course. I had posted some limited information regarding my situation to the list and asked for advice. I got some excellent advice and some very supportive messages. My appeal of the faculty decision was denied--hence my recent post. I am now seeking admission to the womens' studies program at Emory--where I hope to be able to do 1 or 2 semesters of course work and then proceed to the dissertation. Thanks again for all the support and advice. Marni Hancock socaw059@emuvm1.cc.emory.edu From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 22 17:59:34 1995 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:54:41 -0400 (EDT) From: "Bonnie Gugler (SAIL)" To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Subject: University of Florida-Comments? I am thinking of applying to the PhD program at the University of Florida. Is there anyone out there who has any experiences they would like to share? I am primarily interested in qualitative research, but I wouldn't mind hearing from anyone... Thanks, Bonnie Gugler University of South Florida bgugler@luna.cas.usf.edu From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 23 08:05:53 1995 Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 11:04:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Jennifer R Popovic Subject: Re: University of Florida-Comments? I would also be interested in hearing anything about Florida's Ph.D. soc program; specifically regarding courses, resources, and professors interested in the sociology of sexuality. thanks in advance. Jen Popovic George Washington University denali@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu > I am thinking of applying to the PhD program at the University of > Florida. Is there anyone out there who has any experiences they would > like to share? I am primarily interested in qualitative research, but I > wouldn't mind hearing from anyone... > > Thanks, > > Bonnie Gugler > University of South Florida > bgugler@luna.cas.usf.edu > From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 10:41:03 1995 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 13:40:32 -0400 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: mshader@mailer.fsu.edu (Stephen Cook ) Subject: Presidents address How about some commentary on this group about the Eitzioni's presidential address at the ASA? I was not impressed by his talk. I felt that the evangelical tone of the speech was inapropriate, pleading with the audience to join him in his movement (communitarianism). The essential point of his talk was that we need to balance both the rights and responsibilities of citizens and that this can be done if we base this decision on moral grounds. He claimed that we can determine what are and are not the "genuine" wants of citizens, although his description of how this is to be done was cryptic at best. He glosses over important sociological conflicts with the use of morality, sounding much like many of todays right wing politicians. He does not deal with the obvious point of morality being differant across differant groups of society. Since those that are in power will no doubt play a large role in this determination, those that are not will probably not have their voice of morality heard. If this is not the case, Etzioni surely did nothing to allay this fear. I'm suprised that these are the views of our president. There are other scary aspects of this movement, including the mandatory testing for HIV and seeking out the lovers of those tested positive. Maybe we should have staged some form of social protest. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 10:58:00 1995 From: John Hollister Subject: Re: Presidents address To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 13:55:15 -0400 (EDT) It seemed like Etzioni's speech was nothing but a string of platitudes delivered with a grave, authoritative voice. His grand abstractions about freedom and responsibility are exactly the kind of vapid generalities that sociology could mercilessly deflate. In contrasts to Coleman's address a couple of years ago in which he effectively proposed that sociology become a fascistic cadre, Etzioni sounded too amorphous to scare me. -- John Hollister bb05246@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu I believe it because it is absurd. -Tertullian From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 11:23:41 1995 by BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU (PMDF V4.3-10 #10451) id <01HUHRN7D5M88X16MW@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU>; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 14:22:30 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 14:23:34 -0400 From: Scott Blake Subject: Re: Presidents address To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Regretably, I am missing everything, but I cannot resist commenting on communitarianism in general since it is something I am familiar with. At 01:40 8/25/1995 -0400, Stephen Cook wrote: > He claimed that >we can determine what are and are not the "genuine" wants of citizens, >although his description of how this is to be done was cryptic at best. This is perhaps the scariest part of communitarianism, though it is by no means unique to it. Totalitarian systems of thought often often use similar logic -- sometimes known as "positive freedom." In the Enlightenment, it was thought that by freeing oneself from the biases of culture, one could express "genuine" desires. Here's the kicker: Not only would one so freed known what "he" wanted, said person would also understand what others *would want if they were free*. Thus, said person could make "right" decisions for others. The problem, of course, is that you never really know when you are "free". The whole thing gets further complicated when you *don't* include the biases of culture. Capitalism, for example, assumes that desires are not problematic. Wants and needs, as expressed in the market, are considered to be "natural" expressions of human desire. advertisers clearly know that said desires can be shaped to create demand for products and services -- or at least particular providers of goods and services. We are left not wanting to let corporations decide what we want, but being incapable of figuring out what we would want if they weren't telling us. Hence people like communitarians and fascists come along and say that *they* can tell us what we want. I personally find this line of thinking marginally appealing, if only because it opens up the idea that maybe the market isn;t the best and only way to distribute resources. Unfortunately, the rest of the ramifications leave much to be desired. > Maybe we should have staged some form of social protest. Always a good idea, IMHO. The ASA hasn't had a good riot in far too long. =:) Scott S. Blake Graduate Student (Sociology), Graduate Assistant (Hiatt Career Center), President (Graduate Student Association), Network Administrator (HomePort Collective), Senior Consultant (HomePort Consulting Services/Computing Solutions for Academics). blake@binah.cc.brandeis.edu|blake@homeport.org From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 11:44:18 1995 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 11:21:00 -0700 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: Joe Surfer Subject: evangelical characters > I was not impressed by his talk. I felt that the evangelical tone >of the speech was inapropriate, pleading with the audience to join him in >his movement (communitarianism). The essential point of his talk was that Maybe he was very impressed with Dennis Hopper's portrayl of "The Deacon" in Waterworld, and sought to emulate his style. >president. There are other scary aspects of this movement, including the >mandatory testing for HIV and seeking out the lovers of those tested >positive. Taken out of context, this little tidbit would be like nitro-glycerin among the privacy rights and civil liberatarian sects. Sounds like more ammo for the far right new world order conspiracy people. Quick, someone mention Nazi Germany so this thread dies. [__ @///////[o]_ [ _/ It's sad a family can be torn apart by something as simple _/ as a pack of wild dogs. - Jack Handey _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 11:52:38 1995 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 14:51:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Carla M Eastis To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Subject: Top Ten phrases from ASA 1995 10. Let's just go down Connecticut Ave and eat wherever. 9. Social capital 8. Where's the hot tub? 7. What am I paying dues for? (heard at the cash bar at several section receptions) 6. Is this session really worth getting on the shuttle? 5. When do you go on the market? (like I'm a steer or something!) I leave the last four for someone else..... Carla From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 12:08:02 1995 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 15:05:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Carla M Eastis To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Subject: communitarianism in general First, a confession. I was at the pool during the presidential address. And I know some of you were out there, too. But I didn't have to hear the address to know that 1) a lot of what he said was going to be straight out of his book(s) and off the National Press Club type speakers circuit that the Communitarian Network has set up, and 2) I would have a lot of trouble finding the kernel of good sociological insight that I believe is lurking beneath the incredible torrent of platitudes to which communitarian folk seem so prone. I don't have the same reaction to all this as Scott does. I think there's a certain tone of noblesse oblige to the rights and responsibilities talk that acknowledges the fact that some folks are higher up the ladder than others. And uncomfortable as it is, noblesse oblige is a step forward from the dog eat dog we have now. >We are left not wanting to let corporations decide what we want, but being >incapable of figuring out what we would want if they weren't telling us. >Hence people like communitarians and fascists come along and say that *they* >can tell us what we want. Maybe this is an accurate read of Etzioni's comments, but there are plenty of other communitarian-types who avoid the moralistic tone and focus on the process of negotiating rights and responsibilities. I think there's enough substance in there to really find the middle ground between utopia and hell. Carla From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 12:35:31 1995 From: LBurns@edc.org Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 15:40:15 EST Encoding: 52 Text To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Subject: Questions I hope you all enjoyed the ASA conference. Some of you will remember that I posted a message here in May asking a lot of questions about graduate programs in sociology. Thanks again for all of your responses. I have some good news. I will be starting a research assistant job at a small education evaluation firm in September. It has been a long struggle to break out of administrative work, but I've finally succeeded. I think this job will give me the experience I need to get the most out of a graduate program. I need some advice about recommendations. I think a recommendation from my new employer will help my application significantly. Hers will be the only solid rec I'll have. I just completed a graduate level sociology class at Harvard with an A grade and have asked the professor to write one for me. I don't know how much weight his letter will have, since he has only taught me one course. Other than that I can only get recommendations from previous employers. I held administrative positions in an architecture firm and an education research and development firm. I do not have recommendations from college professors because I never had a professor for more than one course. I didn't get to know any of them. I took a research methods in sociology class last summer (94), but the professor didn't want to write a recommendation for me because he had only taught me one course even though I was by far the best student in the class (not to brag, but this class was a total joke). Really I think he was just too lazy, given the way he taught the class. Also, I don't think he would put much effort into it if he did write one. So this is the weakest part of my application. Any suggestions? Even though I will probably stay at my new job for two years, I am considering applying for fall 96 admission as I had originally planned. This would mean I could not include a rec from my new boss since she wants me to stay at least two years. This would make my recommendation section of the application even weaker. Do I have a prayer without her rec? What is the policy on deferring admission for a year? If I am not accepted to a program one year and reapply the next, will it help me, hurt me, or make no difference? Finally, a lot of people responding to my first posting felt that they needed to know more about my interests in order to give me advice about programs. While this area is still a little fuzzy, my interest include family and life course studies, social psychology, gender issues, education and quantitative methods. I do not want to teach. I see myself doing research for a public or private institution. Therefore, I want a more research oriented program than theory oriented. The programs of greatest interest so far are Johns Hopkins, UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA, University of Chicago and University of Arizona. Any thoughts about how these places would suit me would be appreciated as would any suggestions of places I may not have considered. Thanks a lot, Laura From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 12:38:55 1995 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 15:35:21 EDT From: Alan Davidson Subject: Next 4 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU 4. You Sociologists are something special -- (paraphrase of Clinton) 3. Rights and responsibilities 2. Communitarianism 1. Oh Wow! I get to staple my C.V. to my employment service application (if this is the kind of stuff future Sociologists live for, we are in trouble) From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 13:20:52 1995 by BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU (PMDF V4.3-10 #10451) id <01HUHVA9EI008X0M0E@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU>; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 16:06:35 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 16:07:40 -0400 From: Scott Blake Subject: Re: communitarianism in general To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU At 03:05 8/25/1995 -0400, Carla M Eastis wrote: > And uncomfortable as it is, noblesse >oblige is a step forward from the dog eat dog we have now. I almost hate to point this out, but noblesse oblige is a step backward. Not necessarily a bad step, but it is backward nonetheless. > I think >there's enough substance in there to really find the middle ground >between utopia and hell. I, for one, certainly hope so. Scott S. Blake Graduate Student (Sociology), Graduate Assistant (Hiatt Career Center), President (Graduate Student Association), Network Administrator (HomePort Collective), Senior Consultant (HomePort Consulting Services/Computing Solutions for Academics). blake@binah.cc.brandeis.edu|blake@homeport.org From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 14:10:39 1995 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 17:06:17 EDT From: Alan Davidson Subject: "Sociologizing" Etzioni To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU It might help to put things in perspective to look at how Etzioni represents a generation of intellectuals which saw in Sociology the promise of transcending the partisan politics of their parents (the labor Union activities and socialism of Roman Catholics and Jews, and the rural right-wing farmers among Protestants -- overgeneralizing a good deal of course), and the religious "old world" ways of their grandparents. Communitarianism is just 1950's Parson's Social System grown up and socially engineered. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Fri Aug 25 15:16:23 1995 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 18:21:00 +0100 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: danryan@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Dan Ryan) Subject: Re: Top Ten phrases from ASA 1995 Some nominations: Can you tell me where the thoroughbred room is? Got any dinner plans? Have you been to any sessions yet? How much more time do I have? There's not enough time to tell you what's really interesting about this paper so I'll just skip to the conclusions. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Sat Aug 26 20:33:47 1995 Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 23:32:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Bill Sakamoto White To: Stephen Cook Subject: Re: Presidents address Unfortunately, I did not make it to ASA this year, but have been following the communitarian debate on the PSN. The dialogue on communitarianism over there led me to some articles written on the subject both pro and con. What strikes me as extremely odd, especially since Etzioni is supposed to be the "president" of ASA, is where is the sociology in communitarianism? Am I the only one, or do others out there feel that he either disregards or totally neglects basic theoretical foundations in the constructs of his "project?" Hasn't he a clue on the basic tenets of Conflict Theory? Now, I can appreciate his call for a greater "community" spirit, but as a sociologist shouldn't he ground his proposals in sociological theory? For me, it's just not there. _________________________________________________________________ William Sakamoto White "You cannot have a Revolutionary Dept of Sociology Movement without a Revolutionary Georgia State University Theory." socwawx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu --V. I. Lenin _________________________________________________________________ From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Sat Aug 26 20:39:08 1995 Date: Sat, 26 Aug 95 22:25:13 CDT From: jane downing Subject: "KIDS" - the film To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU To anyone who might be interested in responding - privately or to the group: This evening, I saw the film "KIDS," having no idea what I was about to see. I am now very curious about this film and responses to its play in cities where it is likely to have received coverage. I am at the University of Missouri in Columbia, the movie just arrived at a small theater, and I have yet to hear or read anything about this film. Upon seeing it, I am very curious about the author of the book the screenplay was developed from - was this a "fictional" work or based upon the author's own experience/empirical knowledge? What other biograph- ical information is available about the author? producer? Has anyone discussed this film within the context of an undergraduate course? How have you framed the discussion, if at all? How is it that this film was given a "non-rated" status? I ask this not with the assumption that it should have been "rated" with any particular evaluation, but because I am interested in the process by which film ratings are negotiated. Having seen the film without any context for making sense of its "meaning" beyond that which I might create simply on the basis of the film itself, I was left feeling very curious about the making and the reception of the film. If anyone has some feedback for me based upon the questions I have noted, please respond. I am also interested in "hearing" any other input. I bring this up on the soc network because I think this film speaks to a number of issues that could be examined sociologically, including but certainly not limited to sexuality, gender, ethnicity, adolescent culture, mass media....... Thanks. Jane (c540140@mizzou1.missouri.edu) From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Sat Aug 26 23:01:55 1995 Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 01:01:03 -0500 (CDT) From: Edward N Ester Jr To: jane downing Subject: Re: "KIDS" - the film See the 8/20/95 NY TIMES entertainment section for an article about the film, director and author. Ed Ester From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Mon Aug 28 02:06:54 1995 Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 01:45:47 -0700 To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: Joe Surfer Subject: Re: "KIDS" - the film >This evening, I saw the film "KIDS," having no idea what I was about to see. Ah, you missed the interview with the director on KPBS radio's These Days just a few days ago. (around 8/21 to 8/24 - email me if you want info on how to get some KPBS back tapes) The director was the same guy who did "Clerks" - Clerks was not great art but funny and alternative as all hell. I get the feeling it's fictionalization of his life in New York, but don't quote me on that. I haven't seen it yet, but I found the idea of the 14 year old HIV+ male who seduces and infects virgins as hideous, unrepentant evil. About the NR rating - NR or NC-17 is just a polite was of not getting it an X rating. Most mainstream theatre chains won't touch a film with that rating, thus it's limited engagement in select cities. It's only playing in ONE theatre to my knowledge in a 50 mile radius of San Diego State University. - - - Let's examine the word "politics". "Poly" means many, and "tics" are blood sucking, disease filled - maggot like creatures. So politics is many, blood sucking, diseased maggot like creatures. An appropiate definition if there ever was one. _/ It's sad a family can be torn apart by something as simple _/ as a pack of wild dogs. - Jack Handey _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Mon Aug 28 11:49:52 1995 Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 14:45:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Carla M Eastis To: Joe Surfer Subject: Re: "KIDS" - the film--correctsion I take my movies seriously, so let me add or correct some little things: > The director was the same guy who did "Clerks" - Clerks was not great art > but funny and alternative as all hell. "Kids" was directed by Larry Clark, not the same guy who directed "Clerks" whose name I don't recall. Clark has been an auteur-wannabe for a long time. Check out the interview with him in a recent cover story of "Artforum" magazine. The "Clerks" guy is fairly new on the scene. They're totally different people. The screenplay was written by Harmony Korine, who was a 19-year-old skateboarder from NYC at the time. He says it's a fictionalization that doesn't stretch the truth that much. > About the NR rating - NR or NC-17 is just a polite was of not getting it an > X rating. Most mainstream theatre chains won't touch a film with that > rating, Technical point--the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) reviews every film to give it a rating. It has pretty much stopped giving X's to the arty type flicks like "Henry and June" and "Kids" that would have gotten that rating just a few years ago. Now it issues the NC-17, which means no one under 17 is admitted--the same as X, of course. Now, if a director or studio or whoever wants to distribute the film without the MPAA rating, it is perfectly free to do so. I *think* that's what happened with "Kids"--it's been released with "NR" printed on the ads, which means not rated. Thus, each theater or theater chain is free to make its own policy. Here in New Haven, it's been interpreted as no one under 17. In NYC, I hear they're treating it like an R rating--no one under 17 without a parent or guardian, which in practice means a lot of teens sneak in. And they could just let anyone in if they wanted to. I think that's the most interesting part of this whole hoopla. When "Henry and June" was released as NC-17, the studio and director didn't get all upset that the teenagers of the world were deprived of their chance to see a biopic about Anais Nin and Henry Miller. But "Kids" simply had to be available, in theory at least, to everyone. I think every 13-year-old girl should see it, as a warning, but that no boys under the age of 20 should be allowed to in case it gives them ideas. How bout them inflammatory apples? Anticipating passionate response, Carla From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Mon Aug 28 21:59:34 1995 Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 23:57:34 -0500 (CDT) From: "Laura F. LaMarr" Subject: Signs that you are a grad student (fwd) To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Enjoy!! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 13:27:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom Freeman Subject: Signs that you are a grad student I found this quite amusing and thought you might enjoy it. Feel free to share it with friends. Best, Tom Freeman Development Director KAOS Olympia Community Radio (360) 866-6000 ext. 6894 The Carnegie Commission Report, which led Congress to pass the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, argued that public TV and radio programming "can help us see America, whole, in all its diversity," serves as "a forum for controversy and debate," and "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard." For any grad student.... You just might be a graduate student if... ...you can analyze the significance of appliances you cannot operate. ...your carrel is better decorated than your apartment. ...you have ever, as a folklore project, attempted to track the progress of your own joke across the Internet. ...you are startled to meet people who neither need nor want to read. ...you have ever brought a scholarly article to a bar. ...you rate coffee shops by the availability of outlets for your laptop. ...everything reminds you of something in your discipline. ...you have ever discussed academic matters at a sporting event. ...you have ever spent more than $50 on photocopying while researching a single paper. ...there is a microfilm reader in the library that you consider "yours." ...you actually have a preference between microfilm and microfiche. ...you can tell the time of day by looking at the traffic flow at the library. ...you look forward to summers because you're more productive without the distraction of classes. ...you regard ibuprofen as a vitamin. ...you consider all papers to be works in progress. ...professors don't really care when you turn in work anymore. ...you find the bibliographies of books more interesting than the actual text. ...you have given up trying to keep your books organized and are now just trying to keep them all in the same general area. ...you have accepted guilt as an inherent feature of relaxation. ...you reflexively start analyzing those greek letters before you realize that it's a sorority sweatshirt, not an equation. ....you find yourself explaining to children that you are in "20th grade". ....you start refering to stories like "Snow White et al." ....you frequently wonder how long you can live on pasta without getting scurvy ....you look forward to taking some time off to do laundry ....you have more photocopy cards than credit cards ....you wonder if APA style allows you to cite talking to yourself as "personal communication" ....You actually end up writing one of the cryptic dissertation papers you used to make fun of as an undergraduate and, what's worse, you really think what you're writing about matters. I'll add one of my own. Feel free to add your own too: ....you find yourself inviting friends over to the library to read your thesis entry on the computer's online public access catalog, and encourage them to "check it out." ----- End Included Message ----- From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 29 00:48:57 1995 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 00:49:52 -0800 To: Alan Davidson , socgrad@UCSD.EDU From: lichter@nicco.sscnet.ucla.edu (Michael I. Lichter) Subject: Re: "Sociologizing" Etzioni Two comments on Etzioni. First, a couple of people complained about his moralizing. I had gotten the impression that this generation of graduate students had gotten beyond the notion that value-free social science is possible or desirable (especially the former). I don't find Etzioni's values especially attractive, but at least he's being explicit about them. In fact, his extolling of his values at ASA might be considered courageous if it were not for the facts that (a) they are (as remarked) sufficiently ambiguous to appeal to a broad audience (apparently including a large cross-section of the ASA), and (b) since he does not explicitly connect them to research methodology or even a research agenda value-free counterattack is forestalled. I personally don't object to the fact that Etzioni has a standpoint, even though I do agree with many of the criticisms people have made about that standpoint. Second, Alan Davidson wrote: >It might help to put things in perspective to look at how Etzioni represents >a generation of intellectuals which saw in Sociology the promise of >transcending the partisan politics of their parents (the labor Union activities > and socialism of Roman Catholics and Jews, and the rural right-wing farmers > among Protestants -- overgeneralizing a good deal of course), and the >religious "old world" ways of their grandparents. Communitarianism is just >1950's Parson's Social System grown up and socially engineered. I agree that historical context is important, although I'm not sure Alan has captured it fully. If I understand correctly, Etzioni's generation is the one immediately prior to the (sometimes) radicalized '60's generation. As kids they saw World War II, and maybe the end of the Depression, and they got their degrees in the "Happy Days" of the 1950s, as high wages for unionized blue collar workers stabilized and the Civil Rights Movement was just beginning. An alternative hypothesis is that as the apparent social calm of the 1950s was shattered by the Civil Rights and anti-war protests of the 1960s, these children of the 1950s were especially driven to try to bring back those Happy Days of polite (and white) boys and girls, and mom happy in the kitchen. Etzioni himself criticized protests against the Vietnam War, not on the basis that the war was right, but because the protests were tearing the country apart. His disaffection is not from partisan politics or unions (per se) but from movements and actions which expose or exacerbate divisions within the society, whether those divisions are over the conduct of a war, the division of wealth, or the oppression of particular social subgroups. The ideal of communal caring harks back to the imaginary 1950s suburb/rural town where everybody looked after each other, and the desire to maintain unity/solidarity over all else reflects uneasiness over today's (genuinely unsettling) political and social fragmentation. That's my take, at least for today. By the way, I did attend the Etzioni talk, but left after I started falling asleep. The room was about half empty (though supporters might note that it was half full), which said to me that a substantial number of ASA-ites are not Etzioni fans. Regarding protest, people from PSN had talked about disrupting the speech, or possibly protesting it from the outside. I was a little surprised that neither of those things actually materialized. I guess that people decided that voting with their butts (not setting them into those un-comfy meeting chairs) was more appropriate. Michael -- Michael Lichter UCLA Department of Sociology From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 29 05:51:03 1995 id <01HUN0V8SEF4002LRS@OPIE.BGSU.EDU> for socgrad@ucsd.edu; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 08:50:14 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 08:50:14 -0500 (EST) From: STEVE Subject: Job Hunting To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Like most of us who are about to finish up a PhD, I am scanning the job market for places to apply. I figure that I am not alone in this task, so, I thought that socgrad might be a good place to find out where others look for info on possible jobs. I am not talking about actually postings but, rather, publications that we as sociologists can look at to get an idea about whats out there. There are 2 sources I regularly comb through to find postings: 1 - The ASA Employment Bulletins (obviously) 2 - The Chronicle of Higher Ed What I am primarily interested in is whether or not there are any other major sources of info that some of you regularly look at in order to get leads. If those of you who know other sources would share them, I think quite a few of us would be interested. Also, just in case some of you did not know, the Chronicle is accessible via the WWW at:http://chronicle.merit.edu/ Within this page, you can get to the job listings section. It is also available on gopher, although I forget how to find it at the present time. Steve Swinford Bowling Green State University From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 29 06:16:02 1995 (PMDF V4.3-10 #10451) id <01HUN1X8EAIU8X28L2@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU>; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 09:15:09 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 09:15:09 -0500 (EST) From: SCOTT BLAKE Subject: Re: Job Hunting To: SSWINFO@opie.bgsu.edu In my work as graduate assistant at Brandeis's Career Center, I have not come across anything better than the ASA Employment Bulletin and the Chronicle for academic jobs. For non-academic jobs, I have compiled a list of resources that is available on the WWW at: http://www.brandeis.edu/hiatt/hiatt_home.html That's the top-level page. There's a section that's especially for grads, but the whole thing can be helpful, particularly if you want to include non-academic jobs in your search. Scott Blake Brandeis University blake@binah.cc.brandeis.edu From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 29 06:30:31 1995 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 09:28:42 EDT From: Alan Davidson Subject: additions to grad. student list To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU >From an earlier version I saw on a religious studies list this Summer, you might just be a graduate student if ... "you have had more addresses than either cars or significant others for the last five years" I could think of others but my original list disappeared from my reader. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 29 06:45:26 1995 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 09:34:37 EDT From: Alan Davidson Subject: "Sociologizing" Etzioni To: Michael , socgrad@UCSD.EDU The only difference between the historical context Etzioni was situated in and those of other American intellectuals of his time period is Etzioni (especially in his footnotes article and his PSN posts when I used to subscribe vs. reading it via gopher) makes a big point about his opposition to absolutisms which grew out of, among other things, his being a Holocaust survivor. In this respect, far from being a Conservative period of the country's history, the 1950's was the only time period where, on the basis of voluntary group participation and America's status in the world system the U.S. experiment of checks and balances was working to cut down "extremist" groups on the right and left -- the role of Hoover's FBI in this is, of course, seldom mentioned. Neither is the attempt to infiltrate U.S. labor union to get the reds out for that matter. I too attended his address. It was my first ASA, so I have no basis for comparison audience-wise. It seems that in the beginning there were a lot of people, and then they filtered out -- I guess commentaries on Parsons and Merton didn't exactly excite sociologists who may or may have not read them. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 29 07:18:56 1995 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 10:17:49 EST From: DLevin@air-dc.org (Levin, Doug) Encoding: 661 Text To: STEVE , socgrad@UCSD.EDU Subject: Re: Job Hunting Another job hunting possibility for those who are looking for work in an applied setting (and who are feeling resourceful -- or desperate): (1) Identify federal grant (Federal Register) or contract (Commerce Business Daily) announcements that match your methodological and substantive interests. (2) Call the sponsoring agencies and request copies of their "Bidders List" -- a list of all those organizations that have requested a full copy of the RFP (request for proposal). (3) Call or write those organizations and ask for a job. From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Tue Aug 29 19:11:26 1995 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 22:08:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Billette Isabelle Subject: Midwives To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU I am currently working on the evaluation of the midwives pilot project in Quebec from a sociological perspective. I would be interested to know if anyone else has or is working on the subject of midwives in general and what are the interests of that topic in their region, province, state or country. If your are interested to share about it, just please contact me. Thank You! Isabelle Billette Universite de Montreal e-mail : billetti@ere.umontreal.ca From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 30 09:59:56 1995 Newsgroups: alt.sci.sociology Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 12:58:06 -0400 From: James Cassell To: Sociology Graduate Student Discussion Subject: SRSA Call for Papers (fwd) FYI; please contact the program chair for more info. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Cassell jwcassell@UNC.EDU Institute for Research in Social Science Phone: 919-962-0782 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Fax: 919-962-4777 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3355 USA ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 12:28:23 EDT From: Coughenour Subject: SRSA Call for Papers The Southern Rural Sociological Association (SRSA) will have its 1996 Annual Meeting , February 3-7, 1996, Greensboro, NC. The theme of the meeting is "Challenge for Sustainable Development in a Natural Resources Framework: Scenarios for Visionary Planning and Policy." Schedule for participants: September 1, 1995 Call for papers: one page abstracts October 6, 1995 Deadline for all submissions, abstracts and other requests to Program Chair December 4, 1995 Deadline for all completed papers to be submitted to Program Chair Program Chair: Dr. Dremal Worthen Florida A&M Agricultural Research Tallahassee, FL 32307 Phone: 904/599-3440 FAX: 904/561-2221 From list-relay@UCSD.EDU Wed Aug 30 21:28:44 1995 From: XSBERNUS@CCVAX.FULLERTON.EDU Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 21:27:31 -0800 (PST) Subject: prospective graduate programs To: socgrad@UCSD.EDU Hi everyone! I am presently finishing up my sociology MA this falland am looking forward to moving on to a full fledged doctoral program. I was hoping that maybe you all could give me some advice about which one is best for my interests. I am very interested in race,class,gender and organizational behavior. I know that is pretty vague,but its a start. If anine has any inforamtion on the programs at UC Berkeley, Stanford and UC Santa Cruz, I would really appreciate it. Please contact me at xsbernus@ccvax.fullerton.edu