Wednesday, May 03, 2006
grades in, miss sally not
to anyone that actually checks this, i am still on the road (visiting a friend, actually) and will check my email on monday. just wanted to leave this here for posterity. your grade is a reflection of your exam scores and your participation. (everyone got their participation scores for every single assignment.) any 'bonus points' during the year were applied to the last question on the final (for example, if it was totally wrong, i may have given you a -4 instead of a -5.). apart from this, there was no extra credit accepted or offered. finally, if you have a problem with your grade (a serious one, not something ridiculous like, 'i got a d, but since i showed up with a smiley face every week, is it possible to get a c? pretty pleaaaase???') then email me at sallysall@aol.com and make sure to put 4445 in the subject, or else i actually won't read it.. i left tallahassee with 755 emails on aol and i have a feeling this has mushroomed in the past week.
happy summer and all the best to you,
miss sally
happy summer and all the best to you,
miss sally
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Chapter 4
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Mubarak's Recent Decree Allowing Church Renovation and Rebuilding is "Toothless"
For more information on this, visit MEMRI.
Before you start reading this document, I want to give a big "I told you so!" to anyone who said me nay when they saw my documentary. I knew this would happen!
If Mubarak and Co. want to help, all they have to do is TELL everyone that there's a new sheriff in town, and that he isn't going to tolerate anti-Coptic behaviour--whether violent or not!--anymore.
This is really quite ridiculous; in the past week, we've had such upheaval in Egypt (re: Copts) and it's more about church-building than anything else. First al-Balyana, then Millawi/Dar el Saleeb, and now this.
Anyway, here's snippets from the blurb in Watani. Check back later tonight for some more of my shots from the 2005 trip to the dearest land in all the world (even though I wouldn't be able to build my own church! Hmph. Wait, I wonder if someone dealing in US Dollars or Euros or Quid could go in there and buy off State Security and just up and build a church? Never mind, on with the show..)
In early December, 2005, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak issued a Presidential Decree easing the severe restrictions on repairing and rebuilding churches in Egypt.(1) In an editorial on the Coptic Internet weekly Watani, editor Youssef Sidhom stated that the decree would deliberately be implemented in a way that would render it meaningless, and cited a letter by an Egyptian governor substantiating this claim.
The following are excerpts from the editorial, which was posted in English on Watani:(2)
"Previous Presidential Decrees Which Eased Restrictions on Church Building Have Frequently Been Implemented in a Manner That Emptied Them of Their Content"
"[After the issuing of Decree 291,] the media rushed to praise [Mubarak's] move, asking Copts of their opinion and pushing them to express their gratitude. Some even went to the length of deluding the public into believing that the decree put an end to all the problems of building churches. They claimed the Himayouni Edict—which pre-requires a presidential decree for the building of any new church—was abolished once and for all, and that complete equality among Egyptians as regards building and restoring places of worship has been attained.
"While some Copts adopted a pessimistic stance and argued that the decree offered nothing new, Watani was keen to objectively analyse the move. We wrote that the decree was a good step forward on the road towards a unified law for places of worship and, if properly implemented, could alleviate many of the hardships of church building. We argued that the presidential authority over licensing new churches – as opposed to mosques, the building of which was subject to no restrictions whatsoever – violated equality among Egyptians. We wrote that the new decree should be taken with caution, since previous presidential decrees which eased restrictions on church building had been frequently implemented in a manner that emptied them of their content. Security authorities, Watani wrote, should not be allowed to interfere in the process, because they have been notorious in their restrictive domination of church building."
"Was Decree 291 a Mere Attempt to Give the Egyptian Regime the [Appearance] of Tolerance Before the Outside World?"
"No more than a few weeks later, our fears materialised. It appears that the executive apparatuses in the municipalities are unhappy with the decree, and find it extremely difficult to give up the power to humiliate Copts and control church affairs. Before going into the details of the case in question however, a few questions beg answers. Who defends presidential decrees against trifling with? Was the decree 291 of 2005 a mere attempt to give the Egyptian regime a gloss-over of tolerance before the outside world? Did the decree fulfill its purpose through mobilising the media to praise the generosity of the regime? If the answers to these questions is no, how can the following story be explained?
"On 16 January 2006, the general manager of the office of Assiut governor sent the following letter to local administrators:
'We have the honour to attach herewith the instructions concerning the restoration and renovation of existing churches. Please abide by these regulations with the utmost precision. The following documents should be attached to any application in this regard:
"1. A letter of authorisation from the head of the sect, citing the name and address of the person sanctioned to follow up on the procedures.
"2. A registered ownership document that should be reviewed by the legal department at the municipality.
"3. Six copies of the architectural drawings approved by a certified architect.
"4. A map of the site and its location, approved by the survey authority.
"5. A letter from the antiquities authority proving that the building is not registered among those of historical values.
"6. The presidential decree licensing the erection of the church.
"7. A report from the local building authority indicating the required work.
"8. A review of the architectural drawing in accordance with the law organising and regulating building.
"9. The date the documents are delivered to our office after being completely reviewed is the date of the actual submission of the application.'"
"The [Governor's] Letter Implies a Host of Violations to Presidential Decree 291"
"The letter implies a host of violations to the presidential decree 291 of 2005. First and foremost, the decree authorises governors to approve the pulling down and rebuilding of existing churches, and stipulates that restoration and renovation may be conducted upon the approval of the local building authorities. Governors therefore have no role whatsoever in this regard. I do not believe that these facts were accidentally ignored. Rather, I assume the disregard was deliberate, because those who are well acquainted with reconstruction realise that the papers cited in the letter pertain to pulling down and rebuilding churches rather than restoring and renovating them. It should neither be comprehensible nor acceptable to confuse the two issues.
"Furthermore, the instruction of attaching the presidential decree which had originally licensed the erection of the church signifies a sinister intent, since an application for pulling down, rebuilding, or restoring a building should implicitly imply that the building is already there. This takes us back to the fact that many existing churches were originally built with no license, because of the difficulty – in many cases impossibility — of obtaining licenses for new churches. Authorities later accepted the existence of these churches as a fait accompli, stationed policemen to protect them, and enjoyed subjecting their congregations to the utmost indignity by controlling and trifling with the destiny of their places of worship. When it now comes to renovating or restoring these churches however, the authorities act as though these churches never existed. Some of these churches have been there for some sixty years when Egypt was a monarchy; are the church officials required to produce the royal decree which licensed the building?
"Those who extol the tolerance and generosity of the presidential decree 291 of 2005 should stand up to defend it. They should tell the governors and officials who appear incapable of grasping its meaning: 'Shame on you.'"
Endnotes:
(1) Al-Akhbar (Egypt), December 8, 2005.
(2) http://www.wataninet.com/article_en.asp?articleid=5956
Before you start reading this document, I want to give a big "I told you so!" to anyone who said me nay when they saw my documentary. I knew this would happen!
If Mubarak and Co. want to help, all they have to do is TELL everyone that there's a new sheriff in town, and that he isn't going to tolerate anti-Coptic behaviour--whether violent or not!--anymore.
This is really quite ridiculous; in the past week, we've had such upheaval in Egypt (re: Copts) and it's more about church-building than anything else. First al-Balyana, then Millawi/Dar el Saleeb, and now this.
Anyway, here's snippets from the blurb in Watani. Check back later tonight for some more of my shots from the 2005 trip to the dearest land in all the world (even though I wouldn't be able to build my own church! Hmph. Wait, I wonder if someone dealing in US Dollars or Euros or Quid could go in there and buy off State Security and just up and build a church? Never mind, on with the show..)
In early December, 2005, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak issued a Presidential Decree easing the severe restrictions on repairing and rebuilding churches in Egypt.(1) In an editorial on the Coptic Internet weekly Watani, editor Youssef Sidhom stated that the decree would deliberately be implemented in a way that would render it meaningless, and cited a letter by an Egyptian governor substantiating this claim.
The following are excerpts from the editorial, which was posted in English on Watani:(2)
"Previous Presidential Decrees Which Eased Restrictions on Church Building Have Frequently Been Implemented in a Manner That Emptied Them of Their Content"
"[After the issuing of Decree 291,] the media rushed to praise [Mubarak's] move, asking Copts of their opinion and pushing them to express their gratitude. Some even went to the length of deluding the public into believing that the decree put an end to all the problems of building churches. They claimed the Himayouni Edict—which pre-requires a presidential decree for the building of any new church—was abolished once and for all, and that complete equality among Egyptians as regards building and restoring places of worship has been attained.
"While some Copts adopted a pessimistic stance and argued that the decree offered nothing new, Watani was keen to objectively analyse the move. We wrote that the decree was a good step forward on the road towards a unified law for places of worship and, if properly implemented, could alleviate many of the hardships of church building. We argued that the presidential authority over licensing new churches – as opposed to mosques, the building of which was subject to no restrictions whatsoever – violated equality among Egyptians. We wrote that the new decree should be taken with caution, since previous presidential decrees which eased restrictions on church building had been frequently implemented in a manner that emptied them of their content. Security authorities, Watani wrote, should not be allowed to interfere in the process, because they have been notorious in their restrictive domination of church building."
"Was Decree 291 a Mere Attempt to Give the Egyptian Regime the [Appearance] of Tolerance Before the Outside World?"
"No more than a few weeks later, our fears materialised. It appears that the executive apparatuses in the municipalities are unhappy with the decree, and find it extremely difficult to give up the power to humiliate Copts and control church affairs. Before going into the details of the case in question however, a few questions beg answers. Who defends presidential decrees against trifling with? Was the decree 291 of 2005 a mere attempt to give the Egyptian regime a gloss-over of tolerance before the outside world? Did the decree fulfill its purpose through mobilising the media to praise the generosity of the regime? If the answers to these questions is no, how can the following story be explained?
"On 16 January 2006, the general manager of the office of Assiut governor sent the following letter to local administrators:
'We have the honour to attach herewith the instructions concerning the restoration and renovation of existing churches. Please abide by these regulations with the utmost precision. The following documents should be attached to any application in this regard:
"1. A letter of authorisation from the head of the sect, citing the name and address of the person sanctioned to follow up on the procedures.
"2. A registered ownership document that should be reviewed by the legal department at the municipality.
"3. Six copies of the architectural drawings approved by a certified architect.
"4. A map of the site and its location, approved by the survey authority.
"5. A letter from the antiquities authority proving that the building is not registered among those of historical values.
"6. The presidential decree licensing the erection of the church.
"7. A report from the local building authority indicating the required work.
"8. A review of the architectural drawing in accordance with the law organising and regulating building.
"9. The date the documents are delivered to our office after being completely reviewed is the date of the actual submission of the application.'"
"The [Governor's] Letter Implies a Host of Violations to Presidential Decree 291"
"The letter implies a host of violations to the presidential decree 291 of 2005. First and foremost, the decree authorises governors to approve the pulling down and rebuilding of existing churches, and stipulates that restoration and renovation may be conducted upon the approval of the local building authorities. Governors therefore have no role whatsoever in this regard. I do not believe that these facts were accidentally ignored. Rather, I assume the disregard was deliberate, because those who are well acquainted with reconstruction realise that the papers cited in the letter pertain to pulling down and rebuilding churches rather than restoring and renovating them. It should neither be comprehensible nor acceptable to confuse the two issues.
"Furthermore, the instruction of attaching the presidential decree which had originally licensed the erection of the church signifies a sinister intent, since an application for pulling down, rebuilding, or restoring a building should implicitly imply that the building is already there. This takes us back to the fact that many existing churches were originally built with no license, because of the difficulty – in many cases impossibility — of obtaining licenses for new churches. Authorities later accepted the existence of these churches as a fait accompli, stationed policemen to protect them, and enjoyed subjecting their congregations to the utmost indignity by controlling and trifling with the destiny of their places of worship. When it now comes to renovating or restoring these churches however, the authorities act as though these churches never existed. Some of these churches have been there for some sixty years when Egypt was a monarchy; are the church officials required to produce the royal decree which licensed the building?
"Those who extol the tolerance and generosity of the presidential decree 291 of 2005 should stand up to defend it. They should tell the governors and officials who appear incapable of grasping its meaning: 'Shame on you.'"
Endnotes:
(1) Al-Akhbar (Egypt), December 8, 2005.
(2) http://www.wataninet.com/article_en.asp?articleid=5956
Saturday, March 11, 2006
“The Happy People”
Chapter 1 Questions
1. A small group consists of how many characteristics?
Answer: 9
2. What are the four immediate indications that would help a person decide whether of not a small group is present?
Answer: Communication, space, time, and size
3. What is the definition of a small group?
Answer: Few people engaged in communication interaction over time, in both face to fae and/or complete mediation environments, who have common goals and norms and have developed a communication pattern for meeting goals.
4. What is the ideal small group size?
Answer: 5-7 people
5. A __________ is a task oriented group that can collaborate across time, space, and organization boundaries by harnessing the power of computer mediated communication and group communication support systems.
Answer: Virtual team
6. ___________ allows individuals to collaborate and share information with two or more participants in real time.
Answer: Web conferencing
7. What are the three types of rationale study for small group communication?
Answer: Cultural rationale, corporate rationale, academic rationale
8. Name three ways to communicate electronically for a group meeting?
Answer: Instant messaging, web conferencing, video conferencing
9. The communication patterns and rules that groups create and re-create in their decision making is the _____________?
Answer: Structuration theory
10. Why has the cyborg group become a generic type of group?
Answer: Because computer-mediated communication fundamentally changes the culture of organizational groups that use it.
Chapter 2 Questions
1. All human groups in all cultures experience periods of awkwardness when they first get together. True or False?
Answer: True
2. Name and identify which stage is the most complex and difficult portion of a problem-solving group’s existence.
Answer: Conflict (task) and Secondary Tension (role)
3. What are the five parts of the model of small group communication?
Answer: Outcomes, skills, signposts, process, and theory
4. What is primary tension?
Answer: Formal uneasiness that every group member feels when a meeting is called.
5. In stage one – orientation (task) and primary tension (role), it seems that groups always get along with its members with no troubles. True or False?
Answer: False
6. What is secondary tension?
Answer: A more serious kind of tension.
7. What types of groups, in their pure form, produce personal self-growth?
Answer: Encounter groups
8. What is stage two of the decision-making and role theories process?
Answer: Conflict (task) and secondary tension (role)
9. The use of team building and relationship building communication helps group members get through primary tension. True or False?
Answer: True
10. In stage four – reinforcement, it says that once a group decision appears to be emerging, there is a lot of social tension. True or False?
Answer: False
Chapter 3 Questions
1. Of the ten most frequently played roles in group discussion that are presented, which is the negative role?
Answer: The self-centered follower
2. Group decisions pose threats to individual convictions. True or False?
Answer: True
3. Paraphrasing is also an important communication strategy for clarifying an idea that a group is discussing. True or False?
4. What is the functional decision-making theory?
Answer: There are key task communication procedures that must be performed in groups.
5. When you feel comfortable with your group members, should you risk self-disclosure?
Answer: Yes
6. What novel described gambling as a mixture of both pain and exhilaration?
Answer: The Gambler
7. What may reassure the group members that everyone is okay, and they can safely reenter the problem solving discussion?
Answer: Relationship-building talk
8. Rational communication has been defined as _________ and ________ messages that create the social fabric of a group by promoting relationships between and among members.
Answer: Verbal, Nonverbal
9. Name three of the ten commitments to group ethical standards.
Answer: Doing your best, the group good, to fair play, good listening, preparation, to objectivity, tolerance.
Group Members: Cheuk-Shuen Wong “Cecilia”, Jordan Banks, Casey Dorety, Christine Ferreri, Samantha Hunley,
1. A small group consists of how many characteristics?
Answer: 9
2. What are the four immediate indications that would help a person decide whether of not a small group is present?
Answer: Communication, space, time, and size
3. What is the definition of a small group?
Answer: Few people engaged in communication interaction over time, in both face to fae and/or complete mediation environments, who have common goals and norms and have developed a communication pattern for meeting goals.
4. What is the ideal small group size?
Answer: 5-7 people
5. A __________ is a task oriented group that can collaborate across time, space, and organization boundaries by harnessing the power of computer mediated communication and group communication support systems.
Answer: Virtual team
6. ___________ allows individuals to collaborate and share information with two or more participants in real time.
Answer: Web conferencing
7. What are the three types of rationale study for small group communication?
Answer: Cultural rationale, corporate rationale, academic rationale
8. Name three ways to communicate electronically for a group meeting?
Answer: Instant messaging, web conferencing, video conferencing
9. The communication patterns and rules that groups create and re-create in their decision making is the _____________?
Answer: Structuration theory
10. Why has the cyborg group become a generic type of group?
Answer: Because computer-mediated communication fundamentally changes the culture of organizational groups that use it.
Chapter 2 Questions
1. All human groups in all cultures experience periods of awkwardness when they first get together. True or False?
Answer: True
2. Name and identify which stage is the most complex and difficult portion of a problem-solving group’s existence.
Answer: Conflict (task) and Secondary Tension (role)
3. What are the five parts of the model of small group communication?
Answer: Outcomes, skills, signposts, process, and theory
4. What is primary tension?
Answer: Formal uneasiness that every group member feels when a meeting is called.
5. In stage one – orientation (task) and primary tension (role), it seems that groups always get along with its members with no troubles. True or False?
Answer: False
6. What is secondary tension?
Answer: A more serious kind of tension.
7. What types of groups, in their pure form, produce personal self-growth?
Answer: Encounter groups
8. What is stage two of the decision-making and role theories process?
Answer: Conflict (task) and secondary tension (role)
9. The use of team building and relationship building communication helps group members get through primary tension. True or False?
Answer: True
10. In stage four – reinforcement, it says that once a group decision appears to be emerging, there is a lot of social tension. True or False?
Answer: False
Chapter 3 Questions
1. Of the ten most frequently played roles in group discussion that are presented, which is the negative role?
Answer: The self-centered follower
2. Group decisions pose threats to individual convictions. True or False?
Answer: True
3. Paraphrasing is also an important communication strategy for clarifying an idea that a group is discussing. True or False?
4. What is the functional decision-making theory?
Answer: There are key task communication procedures that must be performed in groups.
5. When you feel comfortable with your group members, should you risk self-disclosure?
Answer: Yes
6. What novel described gambling as a mixture of both pain and exhilaration?
Answer: The Gambler
7. What may reassure the group members that everyone is okay, and they can safely reenter the problem solving discussion?
Answer: Relationship-building talk
8. Rational communication has been defined as _________ and ________ messages that create the social fabric of a group by promoting relationships between and among members.
Answer: Verbal, Nonverbal
9. Name three of the ten commitments to group ethical standards.
Answer: Doing your best, the group good, to fair play, good listening, preparation, to objectivity, tolerance.
Group Members: Cheuk-Shuen Wong “Cecilia”, Jordan Banks, Casey Dorety, Christine Ferreri, Samantha Hunley,
Monday, January 30, 2006
CHANNEL X
Greetings, darlings..
Wanted to share some news.. CHANNEL X, which has online streams of the documentaries and also Sally Bishai's 30 Minutes With... is on the air.
It can be found at xculturefilms.blogspot.com
May God be with you all, and see you soon.. :)
Miss Sally
Wanted to share some news.. CHANNEL X, which has online streams of the documentaries and also Sally Bishai's 30 Minutes With... is on the air.
It can be found at xculturefilms.blogspot.com
May God be with you all, and see you soon.. :)
Miss Sally
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Why Does It Keep Saying "No Posts" ??
This is a very horrid thing, and it had better not erase the "I Hate Today" posting!
Well?
Ok, you're signed up... now tell us who you are!
Pretend you don't know one another in class, and tell us about yourself...
Pretend you don't know one another in class, and tell us about yourself...
Sunday, January 15, 2006
You Guys CAN Start Posting, You Know..
Hi all, why don't you introduce yourselves to the blogging world?
(This doesn't count as an assignment, so don't get any ideas.. :)
Love,
miss sally
(This doesn't count as an assignment, so don't get any ideas.. :)
Love,
miss sally
