Final Questionaire

Age: 21

Sex: female

Degree subject: Maths

Does ‘Being Bad’ relate well to the other modules you are taking?
Not at all, I took this module for fun. I'm an exchange student from America, and I'm taking 3 other modules, all of which are maths modules.

If so, how? And if not, why not?
Too much Maths gets a bit boring, so I like taking at least one module every semester that is something completely different. It keeps my mind active in different subject areas.

Have you found ‘Being Bad’ too demanding, too easy, or at an appropriate level?
For me, the level of difficulty was perfect. I was just looking for an interesting extra module, and I didn't find the module very difficult.

Do you think the list of topics covered on the module was appropriate?
I found most topic appropriate. Bandits seemed to be a bit of a stretch, I didn't find that one to be very interesting at all.

Are there any topics not included in the module that you would like to see included?
Bad politicians and bad media would be great topics, and much more relevant to modern society than some of the topics that discussed more history than current thinking.

Do you think that the format for classes has worked well?
Yes, I liked the format and think it worked well for the large class size.

What did you think of the module team?
The variety of lecturers was good for the subjective nature of most topics, better than hearing the same lecturer's opinions each week.

Do you think it would have been better to have had more:

Small group discussions?
No, I found these to waste time, unfortunately. It's just the way students are.

Discussion and debate among the class as a whole?
Yes, I liked the remotes for the masturbation lecture. I would have liked to use those more often.

Information and talk from lecturers?
There was a good amount of this; some lectures could have been a bit more interactive. For two hours, there needs to be more variety than just a lecture.

The approach taken in the module is interdisciplinary (drawing on perspectives from English Literature, Film Studies, Creative Writing, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies and Politics): do you think this a useful way of approaching the topics covered in the module?
Yes, I do.

Do you think that interdisciplinary modules are a good idea?
Yes, it's important to be well-rounded and able to discuss a topic from a variety of angles.

Do you think you have benefited from the interdisciplinary approach taken in the module?
I do, but I'm also used to talking "general education" modules in America. We are required to take modules in a variety of subjects to supplement our degree(s).

Would you like to see more modules that cover this kind of subject matter?
I don't think it's necessary to have a lot of modules like this, as it's more of a general knowledge and discussion module than one that teaches specific skills or facts.

Are you planning to take the follow-up module PH2004 ‘It Shouldn’t Be Allowed’ at level 2?
No, I am only here for this semester, then I go back to my school in America.

Would you recommend ‘Being Bad’ to a friend?
Yes I would.

Do you think that the blogs (web logs) were a good idea?
Yes, it's a great way to collect assignments for such a large group, and I like the informal and interactive nature of it.

What did you think of the other assessments (e.g. would it be better to have one longer assessment rather than two shorter ones?)?
I would rather have one long assignment, as I found 300 words for a creative writing piece to be too short.

What have you learned from the module?
The motivation of some people to do various "bad" things, and how varied societies views are and have been about "deviant" behavior.

What parts of the module have you found most useful and why?
The polls in the masturbation lecture were the most useful, it was interactive and effective.

What parts do you think were a waste of time and why?
I think the assignments can be a waste of time, as they are so short. I also found some topics I wanted to write an essay about, but didn't like any of the topics.

Are there any other comments you wish to make regarding ‘Being Bad’?
If the lectures could be more interactive, I think people would stay more focused (come to class, perhaps talk less, stay until the end, etc.)

Comment: Football Hooligans

In response to Louise's post:

Ive never understood what the facination is with watching a group of men kick a ball around, but millions op people seem to think it is the be all and end all, there is nothing worse than goning out for a drink with someone and all they can talk about is football, surley there intellegence exstends further than a pitch and a ball? or does it?. Football creates so much violence, anger and binge drinking. When people get together in mass numbers why does it creates so much violence?

As an American, the fascination with football is pretty new to me. It's a big sport at home, but American football is definitely the big one, followed by baseball.

The closest thing we have to hooligans is fan rivalry, which is a bigger deal in baseball. Red Sox (New England) fans and Yankees (New Your) fans are known to be enemies... only a fool would wear a Red Sox cap or shirt in New York City. I think the crowd mentality and the primitive, aggressive way fans can act when they're in large groups satisfies a need that many people have. They feel like they belong to something, especially when everyone's worked up about the same thing.

Comment: Suicide is selfish

In response to Taking Your Own Life by stundreded:

I wondered at the beginning of this module, why suicide wasn't included as one of the topics. Like I've admitted before though, I do have a morbid curiosity -but I wasn't waiting for something tragic like this to happen before bringing the subject up in my blogs.

Suicide must be the ulitimate personal statement. I also have to admit that sometimes in my rather murky alcoholic past, it has been something that played on my mind quite a bit - as a way out of a situation I felt I had no control over. Alcoholism is a process of slow suicide in its own right, if you take it to the bitter end.
I digress though. The question in my mind isn't so much the 'why?' - but the 'how?' Not the mechanics of doing it, obviously, but how someone can feel so utterly at the point of no return, where they can actually go through with it. There are those that would say it's the coward's way out, but in my opinion, it's one of the most courageous things anyone can do. The act goes against a lot of peoples' beliefs and opens a whole debate on the rights and wrongs of it.One train of thought is that life was given to us by God, and only he can take it away again. I'm not a religious person, and feel that our life is our own and it's up to each individual to make the decisions in their life that they feel are the right ones for them; whether that be from the most basic and trivial, right through to what is probably the most difficult - whether to take your own life or not - it does have a certain finality about it; once you've done it, you can't change your mind.There's also the big question of what happens if it goes wrong? With some methods - such as hanging, a person could end up permanently brain damaged, and then they could have to live the rest of their lives powerless to do anything because they're trapped in a mind they have little or no control over - which to me would be worse than dying. Would that be seen by some as God's punishment for trying to take something that wasn't theirs to take in the first place? I'm sorry, but I can't see it that way. Mark Speight - Telegraph

I agree with what you say about suicide, that it must be the ultimate personal statement. I do not at all, however, agree with your statement that it is one of the most courageous things people can do.

Having lost a high school boyfriend to suicide when left home for Uni several years ago, I have a very different view of this tragic act. Think about how many people are affected by one suicide, and how the one committing suicide will never need to deal with the aftermath. Everyone else will hurt, and need to cope, and why? Because someone didn't want to suffer anymore. Suicide is selfish, causing everyone else involved to suffer. I consider the real victims of suicide to be the survivors.

Always Pushing the Line

Society's ideas about what's good and what's bad shift so drastically from generation to generation. Long before my time, rock and roll was considered to be bad: Elvis Presley was only shown on the Ed Sullivan Show from the waist up, because the way he shook his hips was considered to be too provocative. Today, you can see nearly naked young people drunk in a hot tub together on the Real World.

It makes me wonder how far things will go, in my lifetime. How many "bad" things will society deem acceptable in the name of entertainment? Or, will there be a return to more conservative values?

Is TV Really So Bad? by Dr Joel R. Beeke

Memorial Tattoos

We discussed different reasons for having tattoos in class last week, and one of these reasons is to create a permanent memorial for someone.

Here's what one article says about these tattoos:
Some folks believe that this form of body art is the best way to memorialize people forever. While other folks feel that getting this type of tattoo is not only a way to express grief externally but more of a ritual -- A way to acknowledge a person and their role in your life. One therapist even compared Memorial tattoos to gravestones or epitaphs.
-Memorial Tattoos

I have a tattoo in memory of a boyfriend who committed suicide several years ago, and it definitely helped me find closure. I am not religious, but I craved something tangible that would help me immortalize him and the way that one event changed my life. The pain involved in getting the tattoo actually helped me cope-- the real physical pain helped me to hurt again for losing him, but at the end that pain ended and I was left with my memorial tattoo. With it, I was able to move on.

Drugs (Happy Earth Day!)

Yesterday, for Earth Day, my friend Kara decided to go to the park between North Road halls and the Indian markets and pick up trash. She talked me into coming by for an hour or so eventually, so with gloves and several trash bags we picked up literally thousands of bottles (mostly alcohol), snack wrappers, and cigarette cartons.

When I started finding needles all over the ground, I didn't feel so inspired to clean the area. Why should I pick up trash, I thought, so that junkies can have a clean place to shoot up? Maybe it's wrong to think of it that way. But when people use drugs and leave their paraphernalia littered on the ground, who is supposed to clean it up? I think every community wants clean public spaces and parks that are safe for kids to play in, but who picks up after "bad" people who leave hypodermic needles scattered in the bushes?

Googling this, I found my answer... volunteers. Here's one story of a many who devotes many hours a week to cleaning up his neighborhood and organizing cleanup efforts:

"Aggressive and single-minded in his search, the burly, 38-year-old former Marine
reconnaissance swimmer is hell-bent on cleaning up parks and neighborhoods throughout
the Eugene-Springfield area where drug users toss needles after shooting up.
"This has become my passion," said Ferguson, who began volunteering last year with the Eugene-based HIV Alliance."
-Pinpointing Needles

Happy 4/20!

It's 4/20: the day stoners celebrate toking up. I always find it interesting that public celebrations are able to occur, like the one in this cannabisnews.com article at the University of Colorado. The article says that the fine for a small amount of marijuana is not very significant, and police decided not to make a single arrest-- with that large of a crowd, it would cause more trouble than it's worth, and the celebration is an annual tradition.

I support celebrations like that, and I think it's great that marijuana smokers are making a public statement about their drug of choice. I believe that in my lifetime, I will see legalization of marijuana in more and more states (I'm American), and I'm glad to see peaceful demonstrations like this. Honestly, who will be more trouble: a gathering of stoned people, or a gathering of drunk people?

Comment: Bad Cartoons

In response to this post about bad cartoons:

But what is the phenomenon of south park? Well, it's bad, really bad. I don't know any other cartoon that make fun of religion, race, politics, social behavior, killing and dying, sex and all the other topics that are usually recognised as taboo. Badness of south park can be considered on two levels: 1) Characters in tv show act bad (eg. Cartman), what can encourage viewer to copy this behavior 2) Creators of south park make funn of serious problems in their show. But is it really bad to destroy taboo and make viewer think about serious problems in different way? I admit that almost every episode brings reflection on cotemporary world and society to me. Shows like that are cry: 'Wake up people! World isn't a candy shop'

I have to admit I'm a South Park junkie... I love the show. I like it because nothing is sacred, but it's definitely an adult cartoon.

Think about the concept of South Park: four ten year old boys living in an f---ed up world where the adults always seem to be doing something stupid, and one of the boys dies in every episode.

If you step back and put all the bad stuff into that context, it does become funny. Sometimes the show makes a point about society's obsessions, and sometimes it's just random. Interestingly, the later seasons have no cursing.

Comment: Religion and Ethics

In response to Becky's post:

We haven't done the 'Being Too Religious' lecture yet, so I don't know what that will entail. But I do have experience of what I think is being too religious.

Does anybody remember this on the local news? Here's a quote to refresh your memory:

A 22-year-old mother died just hours after giving birth to twins because doctors were forbidden from giving her a blood transfusion as a Jehovah's Witness.Emma Gough's family, including her Jehovah's Witness husband, Anthony, 24, refused to overrule her wishes and she died after losing blood.
I know that in the Jehovah's Witness religion they think that the Bible tells them that blood transfusions are against God's will, but I still think this is going too far. I know it's a belief system and therefore the people involved in the religion will see this as the Right Thing To Have Done, but I can't agree. I cannot help but feel strongly about this, since my half-brother is part of this religion. As an outsider, all I see is a woman actually being very selfish. Why not sin, so your children can have a mother when they grow up?

Also, what if it had been the other way around? There were complications in the birth and the babies needed blood transfusions? Would you deny them that? Or let them die for God's will?
This website explains more about why Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood, and a bit about the ethics involved.

This is awful. I agree with you, Becky, that Jehovah's Witnesses who refuse transfusions are going too far. I understand that it's a religious belief, and I do respect that... to a point. It's one thing for someone to refuse a transfusion for themself, it's their choice. But if that choice means that their children won't have a parent, or if a parent is deciding that their child shouldn't have a transfusion, this is wrong. Children have no say in this, and should not be subject to the negative consequences of this belief until they are old enough to understand it.

Thank You For Smoking

There are many things about the main character Nick Naylor in the film Thank You For Smoking that we can call bad. The tobacco lobbyist essentially lies to people for a living, and in doing so shares the responsibility for the health problems of cigarette smokers. In the film, we see behind the scenes as Naylor tries to get Hollywood to push cigarettes by having actors light up on camera. His actions are shameful, but the film is humorous and eye opening to the pervasive nature of big tobacco companies.

Legalized prostitution?

My trip to Amsterdam wouldn't have been complete without a visit to the Red Light District. On a guided tour, I felt safe walking through the area at night. Before seeing this I wasn't sure how I felt about the legal prostitution going on here, but I learned some things on the tour that began to change my mind.
Girls are able to rent windows, and this means:

1. No pimps
2. Prostitution is kept off the streets
3. Rent includes protection from the landlord, and each room has a panic button that will bring undercover security guards within minutes (And they are rarely needed, it's been years since one was used)
4. The STD rate among the young women who rent the windows is lower than that in the Netherlands as a whole

The way I see it now, prostitution is the oldest profession in the world and will always be around whether it's legal or not. Why not make it safer by bringing it out in the open? As long as it's in its own place and people can avoid it if they wish, I think this is a good idea.

Marijuana use in the U.S. double that in the Netherlands

I just got back from Amsterdam... what a unique city! I love the canal network and the fact that everyone has a bike instead of a car, and a beer was surprisingly inexpensive for a tourist destination.

Most people who heard I was going to Amsterdam had the same reaction: they asked if I was going for the legal weed. With all the hype, you'd think the Dutch are all toking up... not the case.

I saw these statistics in the Hemp Museum in Amsterdam, and I found them again online:

The Netherlands has significantly fewer cannabis users than its reputation as a soft drugs haven might suggest, according to a study released on Wednesday.
...It found 15.6 percent of Dutch people aged 12 and over had used or tried cannabis, versus a U.S. figure of 32.9 percent.
-Reuters, available from MarijuanaNews.Com

Somehow I'm not surprised that the strict drug laws we have in the U.S. don't work. We have far too many people in prison for marijuana related charges (note: Incarceration rate as a percentage of population (1997): 73 per 100,000 in the Netherlands; 645 per 100,000 in the U.S.). I think the fact that marijuana is forbidden in the States makes it just that much more appealing, especially for younger people.

Imprinting

The clean smell of deodorant danced brightly around the musky aroma of cigarette smoke and his leather jacket. Pressed into his chest I was dizzy; if I’d been thinking about anything but taking in his scent I would have been glad to have the support of his arms, his body, his skin.

Djarum Blacks—those are what he smoked, with a crackle, and then a luxurious sweet exhale of smoke that you can taste on the tip of your tongue. I heard from someone that clove cigarettes are worse for your lungs than regular cigarettes, more tar I think. He laughed when I told him, and then chided me for my own bad habits, with a wink, of course. The cigarette itself was black, and he liked that. I didn’t know anyone else who smoked black cigarettes. “Classy,” he called it, in the self-ironic way he always carried himself. God I loved him.

Let’s stay like this, one of us said, as the August sun began to sink behind the trees. He leaned against his car in his leather jacket, me against him, and lit another cigarette. I was leaving for college in a week, a new life that would be a plane flight away in Washington D.C., and he would stay here. Let’s not think about it, neither of us needed to say, but I wrapped my hands under his jacket and pulled on his shirt anyway, fruitlessly trying to make him closer. To make me stay.

I inhaled the exotic smoke and tasted it. I still have that, today, every time I smell a black cigarette, it’s him.

**************************

I think a huge part of the sex appeal of cigarettes is the smell of cigarette smoke; maybe it was originally something we saw that we were attracted to, but it's the smell that we remember most vividly.

When you smell a certain scent it feels as though you slipped back in time and that you are actually at that scene again. If it was not for the other senses of your body, you might really feel as though you are back there again. But why is it that smell has this ability to instantaneously trigger memories of events, places or people that you usually would not "think" of?
-Smell and Memory by Shigeyuki Ito

Kids: A wake-up call to the world?

I had never heard of the movie Kids before it was discussed in Being Bad last week, so I didn’t know what to expect. After the lecturer introduced the film, I was expecting the worst… but still, I was surprised by just how bad some events in the film are. Watching those young kids recklessly doing what they do every day would shock almost any viewer, and this was the intention of the film- to shock, and to warn.

Says the Rolling Stone review of Kids:
“[Director Larry] Clark, a former druggie who in the mid-'70s spent 19 months in prison for shooting a man, is now a father of two who sees his film as a wakeup call.”

But is the warning effective? I don’t think so. I suspect the audience of this film includes mostly college students and educated adults who follow arty or controversial films, not at-risk kids or their parents. Is the film eye opening? Yes, very much so. But as a call to action, I think in reality it is pretty ineffective. All I can hope is that it inspired a few people to get tested.

She's faking it

Sometimes, talking to my sister can be impossible. She's twenty months younger than me, just turning 20 this past January, but at times the age gap divides us into two different worlds. I think she holds back from telling me the real story of what's going on in her life because I either won't understand or I'll judge her (this is more likely the case)-- but honestly, I grew up with the girl and her roommate probably knows more about her than I do.

I shamelessly tell my sister about stupid things I've done in public, or crazy stories about my ex boyfriends. When I talk about sex, she often giggles in agreement, but I sense her uneasiness. A part of me relishes watching her squirm as I urge her to be as blunt as I sometimes am.

And so, while we both spent Christmas break back in our New Hampshire hometown (in New England, U.S.), all I knew about the boyfriend she'd been with for a month was that "he's cute." I prodded for details: what attracted her to him? "We don't have much in common. It just works." So you're happy? "Yeah, it works, you know... it's cute."

Suddenly last week in our web cam conversation, she starts telling me about how she's having the best sex of her life.

I should probably add now that at one point last summer, I experienced a mind-blowing, several minute long, quadruple orgasm (yeah, for real). Needless to say, my boyfriend had a grin on his face all week and I was so proud of this incredible accomplishment that I had to brag about it to my little sis during our next phone conversation.

So I tell her that's great, and I'm glad she's happy. Then jokingly, I add, "so, any quadruple orgasms?"

She giggles and nods, "yeah, all the time!"

At that point I realized that my sister had never experienced orgasm before. It was tragic, really, watching her smile and gush about her great sex, because I could tell she really believed what she was saying. I remember beginning to masturbate in the beginning of high school and getting a bit frustrated when I hadn't yet discovered how to catch that elusive orgasm every time. The more often orgasms I had, I realized, the easier it became to have more. Eventually I could get myself off in 30 seconds, I learned tricks to prolong my orgasm, and I began to experience multiple orgasms. I bought sex toys and made a daily orgasm (at least one) part of my routine. But a crashing quadruple orgasm? That didn't enter my repertoire until my boyfriend (now fiancee) and I had been practicing our fantastic sex for eight months, and my sister is most certainly not as open about her needs or as willing to experiment in bed as I am.

I bet she doesn't masturbate. A decent percentage of women never have, and that percentage is even higher for young women. It's not that uncommon: I've seen questions posted online by young women who are wondering if they've had an orgasm (believe me honey, you'll know), and there are several websites and books devoted to helping women have their first orgasm.

Well, someone needs to get this girl into a sex shop.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV by Georgia O'Keeffe

Bad Politicians

Politics would probably be a great topic for Being Bad: politicians are ruthless, driven people who are good liars and put their issues above other people. It's always been this way, in any type of government, and human nature dictates this won't change anytime soon.

In particular, I've been following the Democratic primaries and caucuses in the United States. Now that we're getting close to the final decision for a Democratic nominee, Clinton and Obama are dropping any appearances of politeness and going at each others throats.

Take this ad by Clinton: she's using scare tactics to try and dissuade Obama supporters. Honestly, this makes me dislike her even more. (Read the NY Times article on Hillary's National Security ad)

Event idea for PH1000 Being Bad...

This isn't a trip idea, and unfortunately it would (probably) only include the women in the class. Sex toy party, anyone?