Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE)

Persistent link for this collection

https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/148010

The online journal, Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), sponsored by the University of Minnesota Retirees Association (UMRA), was established in 2013 by Professor emeritus, Martin Dworkin (Microbiology and Immunology). The journal is a collection of original articles intended for a general audience. The JOIE is not designed as an alternative to existing professional journals, but rather as a venue for articles that do not fit easily into conventional journals. These could include any of a variety of essays, such as experiences at the University or other life experiences, biographical sketches or tributes, matters of University interest or academic interest, comments on important issues, pedagogical matters, poems, hobbies, short stories or plays, book reviews, historical reviews, and for scientists, speculative hypotheses or essays on important scientific ideas. As an electronic journal, the JOIE features graphics and illustrations in ways that traditional journals often cannot accommodate, making it ideal for artistic or photographic essays. Please enjoy browsing our collection by using the search box below or click “view more” near the bottom of this page. JOIE publications are also accessible on browser searches such as Google and Bing. Article submissions are accepted from any member of the University of Minnesota community, active or retired.

Editor-in-Chief: Kristine M. Bettin, Neuroscience

Editorial Committee: Lynda Ellis, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology; Ed Griffin, Literature; Jan Hogan-Schiltgen, Family Social Science

Submission Instructions for Authors

To submit an item for publication in the JOIE, please send the document, prepared in Word or other similar format that allows conversion to a pdf, to Kris Bettin, betti002@umn.edu. Kris will be your contact at the JOIE and she will share your contribution with the editorial committee members, who will determine the suitability of the submission and review it for quality. Kris will return your submission, with any needed editing/formatting, in a timely manner and she will upload your finalized copy to the online journal. More detailed instructions for authors may be found here.

You may also visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/JournalofOpinionsIdeasandEssays/.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 39

Behind the Scenes at the University of Minnesota
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2013-08) Bloomfield, Victor
Those of us in academia who are faculty, students, and "white collar" staff and administrators are familiar with offices, classrooms, and labs. But there are many other places in the university, where things are done that make our work possible, that we may never see. About a year and a half ago I began a project to photograph "behind the scenes", to see---and to show others---the people and operations that make our academic work possible.
A Brief Overview: Humanity's Socio-Ecological Predicament and Unknown Future
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2023-11-07) Ware, Clifton
Ever since retiring in 2007 as a professor of voice, I’ve spent the last fifteen years transforming into a self-described socio-ecological philosopher and activist. Throughout the learning process, I’ve sought a big-picture, systemic understanding of our increasingly challenging human predicament; namely, how to address the harmful effects of multiple crises we’ve inflicted on our formerly pristine planet.
A Castle in Dalmatia: Zemunik in the Veneto-Ottoman peace Negotiations of 1573-1574
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2013-08) Tracy, James
For a Europe that feared continuing Ottoman expansion, the Battle of Lepanto (1571) was a great relief. But the Ottoman Empire continued to be dominant in the eastern Mediterranean, and in southeastern Europe. The Republic of Venice, a partner in the great Christian victory of 1571, was soon forced to make peace with the sultan, acknowledging the loss of important overseas territories. This essay deals with the vain effort by Venetian diplomats to recover through negotiation a small but strategically important territory lost in the fighting of 1571- 1573. Although the Venetian government refused to recognize it at the time, the permanent loss of Zemunik castle meant that the Ventian province of Dalmatia now had to form an economic partnership with the Ottoman province of Bosnia in order to survive.
College Athletics: Evolution of Structure and Control at the University of Minnesota 1893 - 1936
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2022-07-26) Engstrand, Gary
College athletics and its governance has a long, circuitous history. In its infancy, athletic activities at the University of Minnesota were governed solely by the student players. In 1893, the faculty gained control through membership in the Advisory Board of Athletic Control (renamed the Board of Control in 1894) and, later reinforced by Big Ten Conference rules, maintained that control for nearly three decades. Ultimately, in 1922, athletics and physical education were to be directed by professionals, while the faculty, through membership in the University Senate Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics (SCIA, established in 1912), retained a major voice in the management of athletics. In 1930, in response to a study of intercollegiate athletics by the Carnegie Foundation, SCIA powers were greatly reduced; a statement on “faculty control of athletics” was included in the updated SCIA constitution to demonstrate continued adherence of Minnesota to the rules of the Big Ten, but, in reality, control now “entailed institutional management review and administration.” This is the carefully researched story of the evolution of the control of athletics at the University of Minnesota, 1893 – 1936.
Eating Healthfully
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2016-07-19) Zimmerman, Ben G
Ideas and/or diets for either normal weight maintenance or to lose weight are presented. Works by Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, and Dr. Robert Atkins are mainly considered. Pollan describes and critiques the method of meat production by corn feeding of cattle in feedlots which has replaced meat produced from grass grazing animals. He lists criteria to use for choosing healthy food and why he became a vegetarian. His do’s and don’ts sum up some of his thinking. A dietary scheme of vegan before 6 PM and more typical food afterwards is how Bittman views a plan for both healthy eating and weight reduction. Samples of his recipes for both the vegan and afterward phases are outlined. Dr. Atkins’s sugar-restricted diet reported back in the late 1940s and early 1950s was extremely popular. He built a nutritional institute which early on made him a millionaire, but eventually went bankrupt. Bad publicity concerning his death and the realization that abolishing dietary sugar was unhealthful probably were responsible for his downfall. His diet is effective in causing significant weight loss, but in long term is considered unsound. My own reason for seeking a reduction in abdominal fat led to my limiting sugar for about one year. Indeed weight loss was achieved, but not noticeably in the abdominal area. Lastly, a husband and wife, the Bergs of LITTLE BEND HERITAGE FARM located in Minnesota, are producing heritage foods and listed the recipe for a very good one. Their Bean and Ham soup appealed to me. As it was easy to make with excellent results, I included the recipe here.
The Farmer-Labor Movement: A Minnesota Story
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2022-09-24) Croce, Randy; Kurhajec, Anna; O'Connell, Thomas
The Farmer-Labor movement founded the most successful third-party in U.S. political history. This progressive movement elected candidates and advanced political change in Minnesota from 1917 until it merged with the Democrats in 1944, to form the DFL, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The documentary portrays this history through the voices of Farmer-Labor leaders and their descendants, as well as contemporary historians and activists. Animated segments bring the personal stories of Farmer-Labor men and women to life, while songs from the period convey the spirit of the movement. The parallels between the show’s historic conflicts and contemporary issues are striking. The challenges the Farmer-Labor movement faced and its progressive legacy still resonate today.
Fate and collecting embroidery in India
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2013-11) Johnson, Donald Clay
An overview of the challenges and experiences the author had in 2005 while collecting embroidered textiles in India. This includes identification of some of the distinctive techniques used in India to enhance artistic expression on surface design fabrics.
Four Poems About the Natural World
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2015-10-01) Gorham, Eville
These poems were written in the 1970’s, inspired especially by the English poet Kathleen Raine, a Cambridge M.A. in botany and zoology with a strong focus on the natural world. Soon I was asked by my friend Professor Dennis Hurrell to speak to a class on Women’s Literature entitled “Form and Function in Literature” and to provide a contrast by focusing on “Form and Function in the Biosphere.” In doing so, I read and described the significance of a set of poems that had an ecological context, and slipped in a couple of my own.
The Future of the History of Computing
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2013-12) Nelsen, R. Arvid
The history of information technology is not the history of how wires got into boxes. Technological developments are intertwined in the social fabric, and their story includes the direct experience of individuals and the impacts felt by communities. Computers were once thought to be relevant only to specialists, but people today are more aware of the reach of computers into their lives. Similarly, the history of computing has traditionally been the focus of specialists in technology, but a greater variety of scholarly researchers is now studying archival collections about computing. The Social Issues in Computing Collection at the University of Minnesota’s Charles Babbage Institute seeks to collect a wider array of perspectives on the industry and even to change the way people think about computing and archives.
The Gravediggers of France at the Château d’Itter, 1943-1945
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2013-08) Munholland, Kim
Discussion of responsibility for the defeat of France in 1940 has been a matter of controversy and debate among historians of France. Given the importance of this event in French history, which brought the downfall of the Third Republic, the establishment of the collaborationist Vichy Regime and Occupation by the Germans, these debates have led to accusations of incompetence and even treason. One author has called these individuals the “gravediggers” of France. A number of these individuals were arrested by the Germans in 1943 and assigned to a prison, the Château d’Itter (or Schloss Itter) in annexed Austria from 1943-45. This imprisonment compelled those whom some see as the guilty parties to confront one another and assess their own roles in the conduct of French politics leading up to the defeat and armistice. The paper revisits the way these individuals assessed their roles in the immediate aftermath of defeat, going back to the atmosphere at the time and a reexamination of responsibilities through the eyes of the participants. The article concludes that the severe condemnation of these individuals as “gravediggers” is excessive, reflecting the anger and frustration felt in the immediate aftermath of defeat.
How America Was Discovered
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2021-02-24) Sanders, Ralph
How certain are we that our famous European discoverers of America - the Columbuses, Vespuccis and their like - were actually the first discoverers of America? Claims for first discovery of America rightly belong to unnamed people in the prehistoric archaeological record. The arrival of Europeans in America stemmed from centuries of ever-widening circles of Atlantic sailing, led initially by Irish, Norse, and Basque mariners, ensuring that European discoveries of America were an inevitable outcome by the end of the 15th century. Early landfalls on the two American continents were piecemeal, guided significantly by the facts of global latitudes. Final popular accountings of who first discovered America in its diverse continental parts has been driven more by political interest than straightforward geographical and historical facts.
Impact of UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees Program
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2021-04-04) Craig, William J
Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) grants have been awarded by the University of Minnesota Retirees Association (UMRA) since 2009. PDGR has helped retirees continue their intellectual work and yielded significant benefits to both academia and society. This article is based on surveys of 38 individuals who received grants from 2014-2020. It documents the wide range of projects they undertook and the impact those projects had on those individuals and society. Projects ranged from history and art to medical and environmental topics. Results have improved individual lives, societal understanding, environmental quality, the reputation of the University of Minnesota, and the personal satisfaction of the retired grantee. Individual projects are briefly described, along with their results and impacts.
Intersections of Art and Politics: Clemenceau, Monet and Republican Patriotism from Commune to Nymphéas
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2015-10-01) Munholland, John Kim
In the aftermath of France’s defeat in the war of 1870-71 and the Commune uprising of 1871, the French sought a new political identity and sense of unity, which brought a new political regime, the Third Republic. At the same time, a younger generation of French artists began experimenting with new forms and techniques that came to be known as Impressionism. The Third Republic was born at the same time that a new generation of artists were emerging. While there was always a distance between the artistic and political worlds, two representative figures, the politician Georges Clemenceau and a leading Impressionist, Claude Monet, found themselves joined in a common cause, despite Monet’s dislike of political conflicts, in defending the newly formed republic from its opponents during three crises in France at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This paper examines this curious alliance of two friends and patriots during times of crisis during the formative years of the French Third Republic.
Jim's Secrets: What Mark Twain Knew But Huck Finn Didn't
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2013-08) Griffin, Edward
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, persistently attacked since 1885 as vulgar and inelegant, has more recently been condemned as elitist, sexist, and racist. The charge of racism turns not only on the pervasive use of the “n” word, but also on a misunderstanding of Jim, the runaway slave, as a minstrel-show stereotype of the powerless simpleton. Urging a reconsideration of Jim’s role in light of the literary and psychological features of the captivity narrative, this essay argues that Mark Twain builds the novel around two related forms of captivity: Jim’s slavery in the first part of the novel and, in the second part, the joint captivity of Jim and Huck by the Duke and the King. The first half turns on two competing plans: Huck’s and Jim’s. Huck’s is a juvenile plan, open-ended and in search of thrilling adventures. Jim’s is an adult plan with specific ends in view: escaping from from slavery at the risk of his life and eventually freeing his wife and children. Huck Finn would like to diminish Jim’s manhood, but Mark Twain will not allow it. And when Mark Twain realizes that if he defeats Jim’s plan he will be writing a tragedy, he searches for a comic ending--with the ostensibly insuperable difficulties resolved--by turning to parody and by using all the trappings of the traditional captivity narrative for social satire until, when all seems lost, by supplying Tom Sawyer to provide a deeply ambiguous tragi-comic rescue. The final section of the essay provides a brief meditation on that ambiguous resolution.
The Long-Term Impact of a Summer Institute Course on Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2021-06-01) Cohen, Andrew D
This article reports on a study undertaken to explore the possible effects of a summer institute course aimed at encouraging participants to consider not just strategies for the teaching of languages, but also strategies that language learners might use to enhance their own learning. In addition, the course showcased the learners’ sensory, cognitive, and personality-related style preferences which influenced language learning outcomes. The 29 participants in the study had taken the course at some point during its more than two-decade trajectory. The findings from responses to a written survey and from oral interview data obtained from a subset of the respondents provided indications as to the ways in which such a course can have a lasting impact on the participants. The study is deemed of particular relevance to those who offer such summer courses, as well as to those who are looking for courses to take which may have the greatest payoff on their professional development.
The Medical School “Massacre” of 1913: President Vincent Revamps the University
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2015-10-03) Clawson, C. Caryle
George Edgar Vincent was President of the University of Minnesota from 1911 to 1917. In these few years he did much to revamp the University, which many thought had become a complacent institution lacking in vitality. Of the numerous schools and departments that he overhauled or inaugurated, probably the most contentious struggle he encountered was in dealing with the Medical School. This paper looks at Vincent the man and his background in an attempt to clarify his goals and motivations in his dealings with this institution. It then goes on to examine some of his accomplishments in light of this background and in particular the result of his restructuring of the Medical School.
Mr. Pepys, A Play in Two Acts
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2017-05-12) Clawson, C. Caryle
This play is a fictionalized presentation of singular events in the life of Samuel Pepys (1633-1703). Today Pepys is best known for his diary, which is valued by historians for its colorful descriptions of life in 17th century London, England. However, his diary, written in the first decade of his three-decade career in the office of the English Admiralty, was unknown in his lifetime. Later in his time at the Admiralty, during the reign of Charles II, Pepys was caught up in the political intrigues of a fictitious plot to assassinate the Monarch, a scheme that was known as the Popish Plot. He was falsely implicated in the murder of a prominent magistrate, accused of treason, removed from his Admiralty appointment, and imprisoned in the Tower of London under threat of his life. This play examines these events and how Pepys survived to became one of the most colorful and influential figures in England.
My Experiences Living in a Politically Divided Country
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2023-11-15) DeLong, Marilyn
Growing up in a relatively small but sustainable university town has affected my ideology and influenced my thinking about politics. As I track my hometown, it has benefitted greatly from having in its midst a public research university that is actively engaged with the community. I can cite many examples of common goals that can be reached by fostering a good working relationship between that university and the surrounding community.
New Topics for the Pre-med Physics Course
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2013-08) Hobbie, Russell
This article describes some topics that the author suggests be included in the pre-med physics course, based on his experience auditing the first two years of medical school in the early 1970s. They are: exponential growth and decay, fitting exponentials and power laws to data, diffusion and solute transport, Intracellular potentials, the cable model for nerve conduction, and the electrocardiogram. The paper is aimed at physics instructors. It explains why the topics are important and suggests how they might be made accessible to the students.
The Northrop Auditorium Inscription (It was harder than you think.)
(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2021-03-04) Engstrand, Gary; Ramsay, John
In January 1928, University of Minnesota President Coffman appointed a committee, chaired by Dean Guy Stanton Ford, to compose an inscription of 50 words for the façade of the new Northrop Memorial Auditorium. The committee did not begin meeting until February 1929 and labored for most of the year before producing an inscription acceptable to most of its members and President Coffman and approved by the Board of Regents. It was a quotation from Paul's Letter to the Philippians. But the individual responsible for having the inscription cut into the façade, the founding director of the University's School of Architecture, Professor F. M. Mann, refused to have the work done. Nothing happened for five years, in the midst of the Depression. In the spring of 1935 Vice President Middlebrook got the ball rolling again, and Mann brought in an inscription consultant who worked with the committee; they started over from scratch and deliberated at length again. There was finally agreement in May 1936.