22 Matching Annotations
  1. Aug 2018
    1. Personal and organizational histories occupy prominent figure positions in the figure-ground dichotomy, and that such histories are used to cope with the future is indicated by several pieces of evidence.

      Does this help to explain the need for SBTF volunteers to situate themselves in time -- as a way to construct a history in Weick's "figure-ground construction" method of sensemaking for themselves and to that convey sense to others?

    2. And if Weick has drawn the correct conclusion about how the past is used to enact the present, being able to note the differences may be even more im­portant than being able to see the similarities. This is especially so in equivocal enactments, which Weick (1979, p. 201) described as involving a figure-ground construction, one in which the ground consists of the strange and unfamiliar

      Weick describes the need to discern differences over similarities to effectively use past-present metaphors as a sense-making device.

  2. May 2017
    1. Some of the best cross-partisan conversation online happens on sports forums and sports bulletin boards, because, [the assumption is] “Hey, we’re all Patriots fans first, and Democrats and Republicans second.”

      Interesting to think about...

    1. thermal degradation of the permafrost

      Thermal degradation is the process of the breaking of molecules due to heating (Zeus). In Arctic regions, thermal degradation can occur to permafrost. This can lead to uneven snowmelt and ground instability (Grandpre). The ground instability affects any infrastructure built on permafrost, including roads, buildings, or piping systems. Uneven melting of the permafrost can create holes or indentations in roadways. A study by the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences in 2011 showed that heat transfer from groundwater movement can increase the rate of thermal degradation of permafrost. In areas where wildfires are prevalent, thermal degradation of permafrost is an even greater issue (Jafarov). Climate change effects change the patterns and prevalence of forest fires. A study performed for Environmental Research Letters found that under conditions of severe fire in an upland forest where no other climate change effects are present, 18 meters of permafrost can degrade in 120 years. In lowland forests, permafrost is more resilient to thermal degradation and these effects were not found. Wildfires affect permafrost because they burn the organic layer of soil and the rate of permafrost melt is directly impacted by how much of the organic layer is burned. If a thick organic soil layer is present and the fire is short-lived, the permafrost may not melt. Climate change also increases the rate of thermal degradation in permafrost. Temperatures in northern high latitude regions are expected to rise by 2.5 to 7 degrees Celsius. The thermal degradation of permafrost is important not only due to increased carbon emissions in the air and oceans, but also for its negative effects of infrastructure.

      References: Grandpré, Isabelle De, Daniel Fortier, and Eva Stephani. "Degradation of permafrost beneath a road embankment enhanced by heat advected in groundwater." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. August 01, 2012. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://cjes.geoscienceworld.org/content/49/8/953.

      Jafarov, E. E., V. E. Romanovsky, H. Genet, A. D. McGuire, and S. S. Marchenko. "The effects of fire on the thermal stability of permafrost in lowland and upland black spruce forests of interior Alaska in a changing climate." Environmental Research Letters 8, no. 3 (August 27, 2013). Accessed May 06, 2017. http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035030/pdf.

      "Thermal Degradation of Plastics." Zeus Industrial Products Inc. 2005. Accessed May 06, 2017.

  3. Mar 2017
    1. We have gradually built up a story.

      storytelling common story

    2. Terry, in his solitary picnic, talked of the difficulty of creating the conditions in which his students will want to connect with others in the CLAVIER network.

      common ground desire to connect. Why reach out?

    3. Marcin and Laura joined me on Thursday to talk about translating CLAVIER into their local cultures. They helped me, we are helping each other attempt to make that translation.

      translation respect of context finding common ground difficulty

  4. Nov 2016
    1. He murdered the son of the hacienda owner to avenge the rape of his youngest sister.

      He Killed an upper class kid because he raped his youngest sister

    2. he spent his life fighting the wealthy Mexican landowners and attempting to liberate the impoverished peasants.

      His goal was to fight wealth land owners

  5. Sep 2016
    1. And I know how they have suffered more than the pain of exile -- they also know what it’s like to be an outsider, and to struggle, and to work harder to make sure their children can reach higher in America.

      Here again Obama uses the common ground technique to relate himself as a fellow American and to get the sympathetic side of his audience, showing that he too has struggles and suffer just like the every day individual.

    2. So here’s my message to the Cuban government and the Cuban people:  The ideals that are the starting point for every revolution -- America’s revolution, Cuba’s revolution, the liberation movements around the world -- those ideals find their truest expression, I believe, in democracy.

      As President Obama continues his speech over the push for democracy in Cuba, he uses the rhetorical device of common ground to create an environment in which his audience feels as if they are on the same page as the speaker. His comparison of the Cub and American revolution shows that these two events connect us and therefore democracy is possible in both.


      Obama used "common ground" to bring together all the oppositions that he may face when discussing the policies. By bringing in something that everyone has been thinking despite the differences they feel, Obama is able to create unity.

    4. There is one simple answer:  What the United States was doing was not working.

      Obama use common ground here to help his cause and befriend the Cubans and continue to build a healthy relationship between the Americans and Cubans.

    5. Creo en el pueblo Cubano.

      Obama addresses the cuban people directly letting them know he believes in them in Spanish. By doing this Obama establishes a common ground with the audience and makes himself seem sincere/ trustworthy about such claims.

    6. Because in many ways, the United States and Cuba are like two brothers who’ve been estranged for many years, even as we share the same blood. We both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans.  Cuba, like the United States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa.  Like the United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners.  We’ve welcomed both immigrants who came a great distance to start new lives in the Americas. Over the years, our cultures have blended together.       Dr. Carlos Finlay’s work in Cuba paved the way for generations of doctors, including Walter Reed, who drew on Dr. Finlay’s work to help combat Yellow Fever.  Just as Marti wrote some of his most famous words in New York, Ernest Hemingway made a home in Cuba, and found inspiration in the waters of these shores.  We share a national past-time -- La Pelota -- and later today our players will compete on the same Havana field that Jackie Robinson played on before he made his Major League debut.  (Applause.)  And it's said that our greatest boxer, Muhammad Ali, once paid tribute to a Cuban that he could never fight -- saying that he would only be able to reach a draw with the great Cuban, Teofilo Stevenson.  (Applause.)   So even as our governments became adversaries, our people continued to share these common passions, particularly as so many Cubans came to America.  In Miami or Havana, you can find places to dance the Cha-Cha-Cha or the Salsa, and eat ropa vieja.  People in both of our countries have sung along with Celia Cruz or Gloria Estefan, and now listen to reggaeton or Pitbull.  (Laughter.)  Millions of our people share a common religion -- a faith that I paid tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans find in La Cachita. For all of our differences, the Cuban and American people share common values in their own lives.  A sense of patriotism and a sense of pride -- a lot of pride.  A profound love of family.  A passion for our children, a commitment to their education.  And that's why I believe our grandchildren will look back on this period of isolation as an aberration, as just one chapter in a longer story of family and of friendship.

      This section of President Obama's speech is meant to create common ground between Cubans and Americans. This creation of common ground allows Cuban listeners to momentarily put aside the differences between Cuban and American government and culture and focus on the similarities between the two nations. After this creation of common ground, President Obama uses the trust he's built between himself and the Cuban people to open their ears to the issues he wants to talk about.

    1. continue to suffer from an emptiness that they cannot quite define.

      My students are reading Suzanne Berne's NYT editorial "Where Nothing Says Everything"April 2, 2002 in which she speaks about the emptiness and the act of visiting filling that space again. I'm going to add this article to the texts we read about visiting the site. I posed the question "Should Ground Zero be a tourist attraction?" last week to focus our reading and thinking. ://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/travel/where-nothing-says-everything.html

  6. Oct 2015
    1. To convert your figures to cubic yards, multiply the length, width and depth figures, then divide the result by 324.

      measuring cubic yards

  7. Sep 2015