Robert Caro and Lyndon Johnson

I want to tell you about a series of books, and overall, an author that have made a tremendous impact on my life. At Hardin-Simmons, I majored in History, with an emphasis on modern US history. I love learning more, and reading about topics in US history.

It was, I think, three summers ago when I finally picked up a book recommended to me by one of my professors. It was The Path to Power, by Robert Caro. I knew that if I enjoyed the first volume, I would be undertaking a mighty reading task – the series will eventually include four volumes, and well over 2,000 pages. So, with this knowledge in mind, I went to Indiana to visit my grandparents and plow through the first novel to see if it was worth a major commitment of my reading time.

The first volume was engrossing and powerful – more so than any other biography I have ever read. The book drew me in with its descriptions of the extremely difficult life that Texans in the rural Hill Country faced. (As a matter of fact, it led me to have a series of wonderful conversations with my 90-year-old grandmother about growing up on a farm much like the Johnson farm.) Not only is the book, and the series as a whole, about the life of Lyndon Johnson, it is also a study of political power in the United States. Caro shows that Johnson is a master at finding, and using, this power.

This series, and the life of Lyndon Johnson, is a major inspiration to me. Let me qualify this, though – Johnson was ruthless, and was willing to go to any means to gain the power he desired, even if it meant stealing the senate race of 1948 from one of the finest Texans I know of, Coke Stevenson. Johnson also regularly engaged in extramarital affairs, and treated people who worked with him with disdain. However, he was willing to do anything he could to improve life for Americans, specifically for those who were less than fortunate. That is the Johnson I admire – improving American society as a whole. Before I read these books, I knew he was a very “dirty” politician, but after reading these books, I could see these actions through some sort of understanding – I believe Johnson wanted to improve the lives of Americans, and was willing to go to any lengths to make sure he could do this.

As I feel sure you have inferred from what I said above, the next two books in the series, Means of Ascent, and Master of the Senate were also wonderful. Master of the Senate is one of the finest non-fiction books I have ever read, but you cannot really appreciate it unless you have read the two preceding books in the series. Allow me to give this series my hearty recommendation, with some qualifications. First, be prepared to invest a good deal of time reading these books – it took me three summers to finish them. Second, know that you will be exposed to both the great aspects, and the very dirty secrets of political power in Texas, as well as in the United States. Third, you might actually end up with a great deal of respect for both the subject of these books, as well as the author.

Before I close, allow me to say a few words about the author, Robert Caro. Mr. Caro writes from an office in New York City, aided only by his wife, Ina. (If you get a chance and have a bit, view the video below, and listen to the way he talks about his wife. Wonderful!) Ina is his only research assistant, and has moved with him when Caro was researching these books. They moved first to the hill country, to research Johnson’s family, and talk to people who knew the Johnsons. Then, they moved to Austin, to research Johnson’s time there. Afterwards, they moved to Washington, DC, to better learn about Johnson’s time in the senate. For the fourth and final volume of the Johnson series, the Caro’s are planning to move to Vietnam to better research the impact of the Vietnamese War on the people of Vietnam. And, finally, Caro’s work was initially met with criticism from Johnson’s friends, but it is now widely accepted as the defining biography of the life of Lyndon Johnson, by scholars, critics, and Johnson’s friends alike.

Once again, I would highly recommend these books to you. If you are so inclined, I have attached an illuminating interview with the author below:

- Jason Dean

PS – I sent off my copies of his books to be signed last week – he was very kind and I am excited to get them back!

PPS - Jen and I are off to London next week, so there will be no new posts all next week.

Why did I choose to become a librarian?

It’s Thursday, and time for me to work at the Amon-Carter Library. Of course, that also means it’s time for a library post.

In this, the third and final installment of my library information series, I will talk about why I chose to become a librarian. A career in library science was not the first thing that came to my mind when Jen and I started talking about what I might do if I went back to school. We talked about history, art history, information technology, and many other things. It was mentioned as a possibility over a year ago, and when we were doing our career field research, it popped back into our minds. The more we thought about it, the more we realized that it would be just about a perfect fit for me.

One of the most important aspects of any career, to me, is making some sort of positive impact on those around me. This was much of the reason why I taught, but as it turned out, I felt that I could not be an effective positive impact for many reasons. However, being able to help people help themselves seems to fit perfectly with the career of librarian. You are providing people with the tools they need to improve themselves, and beyond that it’s up to them that they do with those tools. The knowledge that I can help other people is very inspiring to me, and something I very much look forward to.

As I have grown up, I have discovered that I have a need to always be learning something new. I love to learn and to apply that knowledge to my life to better myself. A librarian must be familiar with many different areas of knowledge in order to have the ability to help patrons with what they are looking for – whether the patron is just looking for the newest John Grisham book, or is a researcher gleaning new information from the archives and papers that libraries hold. This appeals to me – being able to continue the growth of my knowledge base, and use it on a regular basis in my career to help others. Also, I will have access to materials that I would never have been able to access before – rare books, manuscripts, and the unusual ephemera that libraries hold.

While Jen and I were discussing me being a librarian, we also thought about how it fits my skill sets I already have. My degree in history taught me critical thinking skills, critical reading skills, and made me a much better writer – all of these are important skills to being a librarian. My previous career as an educator gave me the skills I need to work with all types of people, young and old. Of course, the library is open to everyone, and so this is very important. Teaching also taught me excellent communication skills, as well as how to present information in a succinct and interesting manner. Not only will being al librarian use all these skills, it will also improve them, and add other, unforeseen skills to my skill set.

Another aspect of being a librarian that appeals to me is trying to fight censorship and making sure those who want information have access to it. This has been a recurring theme in the research I have done for this series, and one which excites me. It is the ethical expectation of the librarian to work against any entities efforts to censor material. It is not my duty, as a librarian, to limit people’s access to the information they seek, it is my duty to help them find that information. As a matter of fact, the ALA made a Bill of Rights about this very subject. You can check it out here.

Finally, on a more practical level, the job itself is great. By that I mean that the pay is good, you get to work in a great place, and even now the job market for librarians is great. Also, you can advance fairly quickly and end up making quite a tidy sum for a salary.

All of these things together convinced me that being a librarian is a great career for me.

- Jason Dean

Taxes

Obama’s Taxes

You might not have noticed, but on April 15th, the White House released President and Mrs. Obama’s 1040 tax return. This made me happy, as it seems to be a very transparent act, one indicating that the Obamas have nothing to hide in their finances, and pay taxes, like everyone else. If you are so interested in seeing their return, you may do so here.

According to what I have figured out, the Obamas made a little more than 2.5 million dollars last year, and paid nearly 700,000 dollars in federal income tax. That’s quite a lot – but did they complain? Not at all. Also, I would like to point out that thy donated about seven percent of their income to charitable organizations, including the United Negro College Fund, and a local anti-poverty fund.

Their income comes mostly from royalties from the two books the president authored. Before that, they made decent money (250,00 a year) but were certainly not very wealthy.

One of the things I so respect about the first family is that they practice what they preach. They pay taxes without grumbling, give charitable donations to programs that inspire them and that they believe will make a positive impact in the US. This is true not only of their taxes and giving, but also of the vegetable garden on the White House lawn, from which much of the produce is given to local homeless shelters. The President has called for all Americans to do what they can to help others out – and sure enough, the Obamas are “practicing what they preach.” I respect that, and I am happy to see it happening. Also, Mrs. Obama shops a J. Crew, which Jen and I think is great for a couple of reasons. First, it’s Jen’s favorite clothing store, and it also demonstrates that Mrs. Obama wants to look nice without being outfitted daily by some exorbitantly priced designer.

I think their taxes tell us a great deal about them as a family. Yes, they are making good money – but that income is something they have earned, and have worked hard for for most of their lives. They realize that their taxes are the price they pay to live in a great society. They give generously to charitable organizations. They live a financially responsible life, and are setting a good example for Americans everywhere.

- Jason Dean

Dexter

I’ve never been much of a cat person. My mom and I had a cat when I was a boy, but it scratched me pretty often, and so I was afraid of the cat and I didn’t like it. So, of course, I transferred this dislike of this one particular cat to every cat on earth. I went along disliking cats, and not wanting to change my mind. Things were just fine.

But then I met Dexter.

Dexter was Jen’s cat, and had been with her since she lived in California. He was grey and white, and his front pars had been de clawed. When I first met Jen and we were at her house, Dexter was pretty shy around me, trying to see what I was up to with his buddy. After about a week passed of me seeing Jen regularly, Dexter (I would like to think) felt better about me and my intentions and started warming up to me. This, in turn, prompted me warming up to him.

At first, I could pet him for a second, but he would never get in my lap, or let me pet his belly. Only Jen could have those privileges. As time went on and he got more and more comfortable with me, he started letting me pet him, and he would lay next to me as I read or watched TV.

Probably the most important event to me was the night he crawled up in my lap and went to sleep while I petted him. He purred until he fell asleep – and I didn’t want to move and wake him up. I knew Dexter and I had a special relationship.

He really became my buddy – when I was home from school or whenever, he would keep me company. He made Jen and I laugh so hard sometimes, especially when he went all crazy and ran around the house. He really was a part of our family.

Of course, I didn’t know how much of a bond I had with that kitty until we had to put him to sleep because he had very bad liver cancer. We did the best we could for him, and let him know that we loved him, but we had to let him go. It still makes us cry sometimes. But, on our evening walks we see lots of kitties, and they all let us pet them. I’d like to think that somehow Dexter told them about us, and he wants us to know that he knows we did what was best for him, and that he loved us.

I’ll close with telling you all this came about because Jen and I watched this amusing and lovely video on YouTube a few weeks back, so I have included the video below.

- Jason Dean

How do you become a librarian?

For those of you all who are regular readers, this is the second part of my three part series on librarianship. The first post was “What is a librarian?”

First, allow me to make a confession. When I first looked at the field of library science, I assumed all of the people who worked in a library were librarians. As I later found out, this is not the case at all. There are two areas of employment in a library: library support staff, and librarians. The librarians act more in a managerial role.

For example, where I work, at the Amon Carter Museum Library there is only one “librarian,” and that is the director. There are two full-time support staff, the archivist/research assistant, and the cataloger. Additionally, there are volunteers and interns in the library – of which I am one.

As such, the training to become a librarian is challenging. The accepted educational standard is a master’s degree in library science from an American Library Association accredited school. Unlike many other master’s degrees, there are only about 60 schools around the country that are accredited by the ALA. To me, this was surprising - only 60 schools offer this program. This helps shrink the job candidate pool, allows schools to be more selective in admission, and increases the quality of the accredited degree-granting institutions. If you are so interested, you can watch this brief video about ALA accreditation:



































At my school, Syracuse University, the program is a Master’s in Science in Library and Information Sciences. This degree is a combination of classes teaching traditional library skills (cataloging, reference skills, archivism, etc.), management classes, and information technology classes. When I was selecting schools to apply to, I wanted to attend a degree that will prepare me for the library of the future, and Syracuse (according to my research) does a phenomenal job of that.

The course of study for the MSLIS program is about 2 years, going full time each semester. If you are curious as to what the curriculum looks like, here is the official document from Syracuse:
MSLIS handout.pdf

You can go on to earn your PhD in library science, but that is even more difficult, as the 60 or so master’s accredited programs do not all offer a PhD. If you want to teach, or be a dean of an academic library, you would want to earn your PhD.

Whatever path you take, employment in the field is very good. The work environment and hours are excellent, and in general you have very good co-workers. The pay is also very good, especially when you move up into assistant director/director positions.

As a matter of fact, librarianship is one of US News and World Report’s best careers for 2009.
The New York Times also stated that the need for librarians will triple in the next decade.

Well, I certainly hope that answers all of your questions about how one becomes a librarian. If not, feel free to leave your questions in the comments section!

Jason Dean

PS - Here’s another video summing this up, from the director of the Syracuse program, Scott Nicholson:

Pirates

I feel sure many of you read or heard this week about the pirates off the Somali coast. The capture of the Maersk Alabama and its captain was among the top headlines recently, and I want to express my opinion about the pirates, and what we should do about them.

Send in the US Navy and blow them from the water.

Seems a bit drastic, no? Well, allow me to inform you that in the 19th century, the small and inexperienced US Navy did exactly that, off the coast of Africa. American couriers and captains, and cargo were kidnapped and held for ransom, much like the events off the coast of Somalia have done. If you are so interested, take a look at the article Lessons from the Barbary Pirate Wars, by Jeffery Gettleman. In the end, President Jefferson sent in the navy and the marines, and made it so risky for the pirates that they left American ships alone.

We should do much the same thing, I believe. Deploy a carrier group to the area, and work with other nations to get them involved in ending this threat. Last year, as you remember, the pirates took over a ship with Russian military hardware onboard, as well as attempted to take over an Indian Navy warship. This crisis involves all nations with ships going through the area, so we should make a multinational effort out of this.

I think, though, that we should stop short of some kind of military action on the ground. That is a military quagmire we just do not need to involve ourselves in. Allow the Navy to do its job and annihilate the pirates that threaten the vital shipping lanes of the world, and leave the war torn nation of Somalia free from invasion.

- Jason Dean

Simplicity

I will bow and be simple,
I will bow and be free,
I will bow and be humble,
Yea, bow like the willow tree.

I will bow, this is the token,
I will wear the easy yoke,
I will bow and will be broken,
Yea, I'll fall upon the rock.

Oftentimes I find myself quietly singing the words above. These words are from an old Shaker hymn, and singing these words have both been a comfort to me in times of need, as well as a reminder as to what sort of man I should be.

Over the past few years, I feel as if I have been developing a closer relationship with God. My understanding of him has deepened, through many areas of study and reflection. One of the topics I have studied has been Shakerism. My purpose in this post is not to give you some abstract on the history and theology of the Shakers, but to tell you why the song I Will Bow and Be Simple is one of my favorite songs. None of what I write here is meant nor intended in any way to be “preachy,” it’s simply me telling you why this song is so special to me.

I first heard the song in the introduction to Ken Burns’ film, The Shakers. The song is sung by an unaccompanied male voice, with video images of Shaker architecture behind. The sequence is a wonderful, simple summation of what Shakerism truly is – one I would like to think that the Shakers would be pleased with. That being said, I’d recommend watching the film if you have the chance and the inclination to.

The first theme that strikes me in singing this song is “bowing.” To me, bowing is an act of humbling yourself so that God might act in your life, and in the lives of others through you. It is through this bowing that we gain the blessing the songs mentioned.

I will bow and be simple
We gain simplicity – a very valuable gift in our very complex and busy society. Not simple-mindedness, but simplicity in how you live your life. Pruning out the things in my life, which are not necessary or truly beneficial to me, allows me to focus on important areas of my life.

I will bow and be free
We gain freedom – the freedom from pettiness, vanity, competitiveness, and many other negative traits that plague our society. It is a freedom to truly be who you are, unburdened by the expectations of the world.

I will bow and be humble,
Yea, bow like the willow tree.
When we have taught ourselves this humility, and have become simple and free, then when problems arise in any area of our lives, we can then bow like the willow tree does when strong winds blow. We can react to problems in an appropriate manner.


I will bow, this is the token
This, to me, means that the humility, the “bowing,” is the path to improving yourself, and the world around you. It is also a mark of someone seeking a better relationship with God and with their fellow human beings.

I will wear the easy yoke
I believe this is a reference to Matthew 11:29-30:
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. If we seek God, and be come like him – meek and lowly in heart – then our yoke is easy. Through this humility, our burden in life will be lightened. This makes sense to me – shed the unnecessary things, and you have less to bear around with you, on your mind or in your heart.


I will bow and be broken,
Yea, I’ll fall upon the rock.
Even when truly tragic events happen, horrible things, because of the humility and simplicity in our lives, we will react how God would want us to react – thoughtfully, gracefully, and with love.

- Jason Dean

Easter Egg Roll

I thought this was great, and that I should share it with you, as a way of saying Jen and I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend! Welcome back, Spring!

What is a Librarian?

It’s Thursday, and that’s the day I go work in the Amon Carter Museum Library. So, in honor of that, I am starting a new three part blog series.

As a part of the blog where I talk about library and information issues, I want you, good readers, to have some background as to what a librarian does, and why I chose to be a librarian. This post, the first in a series of three, will describe what, in general, a traditional librarian does. The second post in the series will cover how one becomes a librarian, and the third will discuss in-depth why I chose librarianship as a career.

To be honest, the term “librarian” is much more broad than I initially thought. As a matter of fact, here’s a pretty good list of the roles of the librarian:

Public service librarian
Children's librarian
Reference or research librarian
Technical service librarian
Collections development librarian
Archivist
Systems Librarian
Electronic Resources Librarian
School Librarian
Outreach Librarian
Instruction Librarian

If you want to find out more about any of those specific roles, go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Librarian. Suffice it to say that though the different roles are complex and seem very different from one another, the end goal is the same.

As you can see, there are many roles a librarian can perform, but all of them share one overall task in common: to connect people with the information they are seeking. It might be in a book, microfiche, in a database, or online. A librarian takes the massive amount of information at their disposal, and sorts out only what the patron needs. Helping people find the information they need to improve themselves – but I’ll talk more about that in the another post, where I describe why I chose librarianship as a career.

Of course, many people assume the librarians to be the bespectacled, dour, and generally grumpy ladies of so many films and TV shows. This is not the case. Just take a look at this:

A Hipper Crowd of Shushers, by Kara Jesella

Generally, librarians are creative, well-educated people. All licensed librarians must have a master’s degree, so all librarians share that minimum educational experience level. They have a knack for organization (especially for a cataloger) and also have good people skills (specifically for a reference librarian). Of course, librarians have to be well-read so they can be familiar with information on many topics. Although, to be honest, in searching for material for this post, I discovered that many librarians make very nerdy videos. But, what did I really expect?

To be fair, though, not all librarians work in traditional libraries – some are freelance, some work for corporations, government, or even in prisons. I never had any idea how broad the field really was until I started researching it as a possible career field. As the amount of information in the world increases, there will be a greater and greater demand for people who can connect people with the information they need.

Jason Dean


Even Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock knew what a great and challenging career being a librarian is:

Student Roundtable in Turkey

Q: What actions will you take after you wrote your quote, peace at home and peace at the world, to -- (inaudible) -- and what do you think, as Turkish young men and women, how can we help you at this purpose you have?
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, some people say that maybe I'm being too idealistic. I made a speech in Prague about reducing and ultimately eliminating nuclear weapons, and some people said, ah, that will never happen. And some people have said, why are you discussing the Middle East when it's not going to be possible for the Israelis and the Palestinians to come together? Or, why are you reaching out to the Iranians, because the U.S. and Iran can never agree on anything?

As a student of history, I am happy to hear the current president say that he’s willing to try and be reasonable, and logical about bringing peace to the middle east. He sees, of course, that this is where he can make major foreign policy gains in an administration already beset by domestic issues. This idea is something I read in the New Yorker last week, in the article Syria Calling by Seymour M. Hersh. The effort by the administration to restart substantive peace talks in the region is a good move, I think - they are asserting themselves not only in domestic issues, but also in foreign policy issues. Most administrations are more focused on one area over the other - but it seems that the Obama administration will at least try and see if it can focus on both.

In the first paragraph of President Obama’s response, he alludes to his ideas for the Middle East not being grounded in logic and realism. To me, this seems to run against a theory of foreign policy called realpolitik. This theory was first practiced in a major way in modern times by Nixon and Kissinger. Realpolitik tends to abandon ideals and morals, and dealing with nations in a practical manner. As I read it, the statements by President Obama blend realpolitik with some moralism and idealism. The president mentioned this later in his response:

If we want to say to Iran, don't develop nuclear weapons because if you develop them then everybody in the region is going to want them and you'll have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and that will be dangerous for everybody -- if we want to say that to Iranians, it helps if we are also saying, "and we will reduce our own," so that we have more moral authority in those claims.

I find it interesting, and heartening, that the president wants the United States to act with some moral authority in issues of foreign policy. To my memory, rarely does the US act with moral authority - we act in what we think is a moral manner, but our nation behaves differently. The president is saying he does not want the US to engage in hypocrisy. Other nations will take us and our ideas more seriously if we show that we actually believe what we say by living in accordance with what we want other nations to do.

My attitude is, is that all these things are hard. I mean, I'm not naïve. If it was easy, it would have already been done. Somebody else would have done it. But if we don't try, if we don't reach high, then we won't make any progress. And I think that there's a lot of progress that can be made.

I also find this paragraph of the president’s response to be a great synopsis for the term of President Obama thus far, as well as for the president’s foreign policy goals. Having high standards for yourself, as well as for others, is an excellent way to make sure you perform very well. I saw this when I taught, and I see it in my own life - as well as the life of my wife. Continually striving for something better, even if it seems impossible, will improve your situation - whatever it might be. I am happy to have a president that is constantly striving to improve his nation, as well as the world around him. The poet Robert Browning said is best when he said:

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

- Jason Dean

If you would like to read the whole text of the president’s answer, you can do so here:
Student Roundtable in Turkey

National Library Week

All next week, it’s National Library Week! So, go in to your local library and check it out - and say thanks to one of your wonderful librarians! (I know this is from last year, but I couldn’t pass it up.)

Cruel and Unusual

As you may know, Jen and I subscribe to The New Yorker. It’s a great magazine that we both enjoy reading. In last week’s issue, there was an especially thought-provoking article, which I recommend reading before you continue with the post:

Hellhole, by Atul Gawande

According to the 8th amendment to the US Constitution, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Until I read the New Yorker article, I really had not thought of the 8th Amendment outside the context of how the death penalty may be legally administered. This is really the only context in which this amendment was framed in for me, in high school or in college. I had always accepted solitary confinement as a necessary component in the American prison system, and had never really contemplated the consequences for the prisoner. To me, if a prisoner was breaking the rules of the prison, solitary confinement was their punishment. Solitary also improved the safety of the general prison population by removing the violent individual and the rule-breaker.

But, honestly, I should have known better.

In the article, Mr. Gawande points out that though Sen. John McCain underwent some horrific tortures, the worst part of his incarceration in a Vietnamese prison was the solitary confinement. In my mind, this would not be too hard - the painful and humiliating torture would be worse. But I have never been in an environment like that solitary. Gawande also points out several other cases of prisoners held in solitary confinement - they generally were far less mentally and emotionally stable in solitary, and regained their composure when they were released to the general population. Not only did the prisoner’s mental condition deteriorate, their removal had no effect on the violence or safety of the general population. So, what is the real point, and the effect of solitary confinement? Gawande seems to be leading the reader to conclude that it has no place in a humane, civilized society - which the United States is. What, then, should we do?

After reading the stories of the prisoners held in solitary, I was curious to know how Gawande would propose to fix this situation. He proposes following what the British have done - giving the prisoners more control while in prison. Give them opportunities for work, self-improvement, and social improvement. Initially, this seemed ludicrous to me - isn’t the point of prison to be a form punishment for crimes, and to force control on the prisoners? Then, I thought back to my classes in college for my teacher certification. One of the best ways, I was taught, to handle out of control students, was to give them choices. This was originally proposed by Dr. William Glasser, and it’s called Choice Theory. The person can choose their actions, and be fully informed of the consequences of their actions. This gives them some sense of control over a setting (the classroom) in which students lack control, as well as in their own lives. I tried this in my class while teaching, and in general, it worked.

I thought, why wouldn’t it work in a prison? If you give the prisoners the chance to improve themselves in many areas - education, social, work ethic - won’t they come out as better citizens? If not better, they at least would have the skills to improve themselves. Of course, it would still be their choice as to what they do with the skills they learned. I believe it’s our responsibility as a society to improve everyone’s lot in life - even the extremely violent prisoner. And, on a higher lever, isn’t that what we are supposed to do as Christians - love everyone? Even the violent criminal.

Upon further reflection, I have another problem with the idea of solitary. Once again, in my education classes, we were taught about the theories of BF Skinner, and its criticism. If we apply Skinner’s theories of radical behavioralism to an inmate in solitary confinement, the punishment aspect would be the prisoner’s placement in solitary. According to Gawande’s article, this punishment has the opposite effect for many prisoners - more antisocial behavior. If Skinner was right (and I tend to think he is wrong) then solitary confinement would be widely accepted as a helpful and legitimate punishment tool in prisons the world over. However, to quote from the article, “The use of long-term isolation in England is now negligible. In all of England, there are now fewer prisoners in “extreme custody” than there are in the state of Maine.”

I’d like to close by pointing out the conclusion of the article - the conversation with Mark Felton. Even though he was subjected to what amounts to torture, he still wouldn’t wish it on his former, and corrupt, warden. Telling, isn’t it?

Jason Dean

PS - If you’d like more evidence about the negative psychopathological effects of solitary confinement, check out these articles:
Psychopathological effects of solitary confinement, by S. Grassian
Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and "Supermax" Confinement, by Craig Haney
Death Row Syndrome and Demoralization: Psychiatric Means to Social Policy Ends, by Harold Schwartz

Jason’s New Career

Many of you might be unaware that I am not teaching anymore, and am preparing to return to school for a graduate degree. Over the past year, it became apparent to both Jen and myself that my career as a teacher was having a very negative impact on our relationship. Though I did not do any work at home, I certainly brought my work home with me - meaning my frustrations, my gripes, and the bad mood that I generally had by the time I left the high school. We decided it would be best for me to find another career, so in 2008, I resigned my position as a Social Studies teacher and began looking for a new job. Little did we know that the economy would go sour at about the same time. I had a few job interviews, but nothing came of them. Jen and I discussed me going back to school, but we weren’t sure exactly what I would do if I went back.

We looked at many lists, ideas, and researched several career fields. I took a few personality tests to see what I would be suited for. After much research, we came to the conclusion that a master’s degree in Library and Information Science would be a good fit for me. Why? Well, first, I love to organize and categorize (as you might have noticed from my facebook profile). LIS also uses my skill-sets from education, as well as history. I feel that it is a career I can help other people in, and not have all the stress of teaching, and far less of the suffocating bureaucracy too. According to what we have read, LIS is one of the most employable, and fastest growing fields in the job market - even now with the recession on. I am excited about this new career, and the possibilities it holds for Jen and myself.

Why Syracuse Univeristy? It is the third ranked LIS program in the country with one of the highest employment rates after graduation. Also, the distance based learning format is very straightforward and easy to understand. Graduates of the LIS program at Syracuse are very well equipped for the field, and are highly employable. After talking with all the other schools I applied at (Rutgers, University of Washington, University of North Texas, and Syracuse), I felt that Syracuse was the best fit for me - challenging, employable, and they are very interested in me as an individual, not just as a source of revenue. The program starts with a nine day residency this July, and I can return to campus next summer to take some hands on courses if I like.

All in all, we are very excited and grateful about my returning to school. I’ll keep you updated through here - not just about school, but about important things in our lives, as well as my thoughts on photography, music, books, and the Library and Information Science field.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Jason Dean