Deciding the fate of others

I spent the afternoon listening to appeals of university nonresidency determinations. One such student missed being a resident (and therefore paying a fraction for the tuition) by just three weeks. Basically you need to live in the state for a full year prior to your studies to be regarded a resident for tuition purposes. This young man had been taking time out in New Zealand, and could not get a frequent flyer ticket back in time (so he says) to give himself the requisite year. How strictly does one follow the letter of the law? Ever? Sometimes, the law relaxes its boundaries to grant equitable relief to someone unfairly victimized by a strict interpretation of a rule. In this case, the student made such an impassioned plea that the appeals committee, me included, was almost in tears. Should that change anything? What if he had been dorky and inarticulate and not so personable?

FAMILIES IN CRISIS

On NPR, we hear/read the report on the Division of Youth and Family Services in NJ – an agency that made headlines when it was discovered last year that it had neglected to check on the welfare of foster children who had been severely malnourished in their foster home. It is also an agency with a stagnant budget and a 31% increase over the last decade in the number of abuse & neglect cases that it must handle. So that, instead of the optimal 15 – 20 cases per social service worker, the average now reaches somewhere around 100.

Imagine: 100 children to look after in the eight hours that you have in each day. One hundred potential crises that require your attention (for instance, a call indicating that a child is being mistreated in a foster home means that you drop everything and pull the kid out and keep her/him safe until miraculously a new home emerges – hence your 99 other cases are on hold until this crisis is resolved….. until the next crisis requiring, for instance, your appearance in court and a filing of a report on a placement that isn’t working because the foster parent wants out…).

One hundred placements that require periodic, vigilant oversight, one hundred children having you as the only person to ensure that they are not further harmed. That also means more than one hundred parents needing your help in directing them to court-ordered programs, or in providing supervision for visits, or in finding affordable housing… One hundred children for you to look after. Can't even think of it: one hundred, under your care.

Apples and Apples

After a second evening this month at another book club meeting…

[Webster’s definition of junkie: Main Entry: junk•ie
Variant(s): also junky /'j&[ng]-kE/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural junk•ies
Date: 1923
1 slang a : a narcotics peddler or addict b : a person who derives inordinate pleasure from or who is dependent on something
2 : a junk dealer]

[definition of book club junkie – let’s pick 1.b]
[for feeding other passions, consider a browse through thejunkie]

…I’m reminded that book clubs have received similar levels of scrutiny to what bloggers now appear to be getting.

A comment from the sociologist, Elizabeth Long, on book clubs:

Far from just an excuse to get together once a month, book clubs are here revealed to be a vital arena for self-formation, one that has as much currency now as it did a century ago.

Interesting.