Knox in the News

Tim Kasser, pyschology, comments on the simple life and “voluntary simplicity” in the Tacoma News Tribune.

Excerpt:

Those who practice Voluntary Simplicity do it for many reasons. Some consider it part of their religious or spiritual beliefs, others hope to lessen the environmental damage they’re responsible for, and some seek emotional and physical health.

But, as the Dillards point out, it’s not always so easy.

“Sometimes doing the more simple thing doesn’t seem as simple,” Lauree said. Her handmade wedding invitations were a production. Unprocessed foods can require more labor to prepare. Taking the bus takes time.

Don’t even mention gardening.

In addition to sometimes increased labor, those who choose to live more simply often have to swim against a strong current of material culture. Trends, advertisements and celebrity worship give the impression that more is better. In short, materialism dictates that if you can have something that you want, you should.

Emerging research suggests differently.

In a recently released study comparing 200 people who practice Voluntary Simplicity to 200 mainstream Americans, the former group were much happier and more satisfied with life.

Tim Kasser, the associate psychology professor from Knox College in Illinois who conducted the study, told The New York Times that simple-livers were also more likely to be careful about spending their money, which could translate to increased financial security.

Why? Perhaps, as Logan suggests, it goes back to the line from the movie “Fight Club”: “The things you own end up owning you.”

Read the full story in The News Tribune.

Professor of Anthropology Jon Wagner and his wife traveled to Haiti to spend two weeks staffing a medical clinic.

Excerpt:

Two local college instructors left the relative comforts of American life this summer to spend two weeks volunteering in the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.

Jan Lundeen, a nursing instructor at Carl Sandburg College, and her husband Jon Wagner, professor of anthropology at Knox College, left for Haiti on July 8. The couple volunteered with the Friends of the Children of Haiti organization, which provides medical care to Haitian residents out of a clinic in Cyvadier, Haiti. This was Lundeen’s second year to volunteer with FOTCOH and Wagner’s first trip…..

Wagner and Lundeen joined a crew of three doctors, four nurses and other support staff, like Wagner, working with interpreters. A surgeon joined them during the second week of the clinic.

The participants stayed in the clinic, Wagner said, in modest dorm rooms. The crew woke before dawn most days and worked throughout the day in 100 degree temperatures.

“Exhaustion was the only reason we could sleep at night, it was so hot,” Wagner said.

While Lundeen spent her time caring for patients, Wagner stood outside the gates doing “crowd control.” Each morning, hundreds of Haitians stood in line outside the clinic waiting to be seen. Wagner was tasked with checking the crowd for urgent cases and distributing stickers to those who were allowed to be treated. Only about half of those at the gates were treated each day. Wagner said their clinic group served 2,600 people in less than 14 days.

“Some people that come to the clinic have walked for days,” Wagner said. “They camp outside and sleep on the ground.”

Read the full story in the Register-Mail.

In a bid to find new uses for an old jail in Maine, the Bangor Daily News notes that the Old Knox County Jail now serves as academic space for the students and faculty at Knox College.

Knox Professor Frank McAndrew appeared on The Today Show (July 25, 2007) to discuss his research on gossip. McAndrew’s research also appeared on MSNBC and was mentioned during Jay Leno’s opening monologue on July 20. His appearances were reported in The Register-Mail.
Excerpt from the Register-Mail:

Frank McAndrew won’t get to see the segment he taped for NBC’s “Today” show because he’ll be in an airplane on his way to New York.

McAndrew, Cornelia H. Dudley professor of psychology at Knox College, spent two hours Tuesday afternoon taping a 25-minute interview for “Today” about his research on gossip. He was invited Monday to fly to New York City to appear live on “Today,” but already had plans to accompany 10 Knox students to Buffalo, N.Y., to give research presentations for the college’s Ronald E. McNair program.

“I’m a bit disappointed,” McAndrew said of not getting a chance to visit Studio 1A in Rockefeller Center, where “Today” tapes. “I think my wife is more disappointed than me, though. I think she wanted to meet Matt (Lauer).”

McAndrew has received a bit of publicity recently after his research, published in July’s Journal of Applied Social Psychology, was cited in an article on MSNBC.com about America’s gossip culture. On Friday, Jay Leno mentioned McAndrew’s research and Knox College during his opening monologue on The Tonight Show.

Knox student Maurice Harris offers advice to the transitional school board governing St. Louis’s public schools.

Excerpt:

The face of public education in Saint Louis is changing. Although court challenges continue, the City’s school board has become superseded by a new transitional board appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt, Mayor Francis G. Slay and Lewis Reed, president of the Board of Aldermen.

It’s a change that makes sense: During the past four years, the City’s school board has devolved into a group where members attack each other and those who criticize them for failing to do the job they were elected to do. This bickering has taken focus off of the school district’s worsening financial situation and declining student achievement. The new transitional school board should keep a few things in mind if it wants to avoid the same problems created by the elected board.

First: Do the job you were created to do. The transitional school board’s primary focus is to stabilize the district’s governance and finances. The elected board had tried to micromanage the day-to-day operations of the school district - a job that should be left to the superintendent, who is responsible for implementing district policies and regulations, and developing educational plans of the district. This role is filled better by one person than by a panel filled with people who have conflicting goals, and who can’t be present every day to make sure the district is running smoothly.

When elected officials misunderstand the school board’s proper place in public education, a power struggle can form between the board and the district administrators, with both groups trying to maintain a greater amount of control over the district. If the transitional school board wants to succeed where past boards have failed, it should leave education to the superintendent and the administration, focusing instead on the finances.

Read the full column in the St. Louis American.

Once again, the Knox campus glowed purple as the annual Relay for Life began on Friday, July 20, 2007.
Excerpt from the Register-Mail:

Emotions ran the gamut at Friday night’s Relay for Life of Knox County at Knox College. There was joy and enthusiasm during the survivors’ walk; there were tears as some recounted their battle against cancer; there were bittersweet memories of those claimed by the disease.

Sixty-five teams registered for this year’s American Cancer Society event. Most have at least 15 members, though some have fewer….

Pickrel said the goal was at least 180 survivors at this year’s event. By Friday morning, 184 were already registered, with many more signing up at the college Friday night…..

As the survivors began their walk around the sidewalk near the Knox College track, friends, families and supporters clapped and cheered as they walked past. The survivors let their purple and balloons go, setting them free to fly away.

Janice Maxwell, a cancer survivor since 1985, said she thinks of a number of different things as she walks her lap.

“I just think of all the people that come here every year,” Maxwell said. “Some of them aren’t with us anymore.”