The Exception?

Over the weekend I remembered that the original CSI (Las Vegas) features Lawrence Fisburne, African-American actor, as a main character. He plays Dr. Ray Langston, who joins the CSI team just as night shift supervisor Gil Grissom retires. Grissom was considered the main character and received a majority of the show's screen time. The timing of Langston's arrival paired with Grissom's departure indicated that Langston would play a major role on the show.

Now, I do not watch this show on a regular basis, but from the few episodes that I have seen Langston is certainly a key character. I saw the first episode that featured Langston, and despite his future as a main character there were elements of tokenism during the show. One example I noticed was how Langston is judged for being a nice dresser. Below is a preview for this episode, the season 9 opener. Take note of the other CSI's initial impressions of Langston (especially at :20!)

For those of you who watch this show regularly, can Langston truly be considered the exception to the apparent tokenism in network TV dramas?

But more importantly, to the general public, how did CBS set up your initial perceptions of Langston? Was he portrayed more as token character or as a main character?

Media and Democracy and Identity: AmStudDay Review

After hearing Idris Goodwin, Kevin Coval, and James Fallows speak at American Studies Day, I was absolutely amazed at what they had to say! Fallows's speech about media and democracy really made a lot of sense to me and I loved learning about the importance of media working to serve the public rather than profits. When he discussed the media's necessary role of informing the American public, I wondered about the other ways the media informs Americans as well.

As I listened to Goodwin and Coval perform their poems about their own identities, I thought back to what Fallows said about media and democracy. Media is not only important in creating a democracy but also in creating individual identity. When Goodwin spoke about being 'black' and all the representations of that color it seemed apparent that the media played a part in forming those interpretations. The ways African Americans are portrayed in the media and on the news are bound to contribute to an African American's view of themself.

In my case, the media has certainly served to inform me about my identity as a student living in the North Shore. We have talked about this in class before, but the North Shore is certainly quite different from the rest of the world and ultimately those differences are demonstrated by the media.

How has the media contributed to your own identity? In what other ways does the media affect your life?

Some Data-Driven-ness at Harvard

Adam Wheeler, a senior at Harvard University, was recently convicted of larceny (when a person steals someone's belongings and uses them for their own good) and identity fraud. After Wheeler's application for the distinguished Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships seemed suspicious to Harvard English Professor James Simpson, his application was investigated further. Simpson determined that Wheeler had plagiarized the writing of another Harvard professor, and upon further investigation it turned out that Wheeler changed his transcript and changed/added to the letters of recommendation professors had written for him.


This scandal caused Harvard to additionally examine Wheeler's background information before being accepted to the university. Wheeler claimed he went to high school at Phillips Academy in Andover and additionally spend a year at MIT before Harvard. His SAT scores (a perfect 1600), high school recommendation by the director of college counseling, letters of recommendation from MIT professors, and MIT transcript were all faked.

Personally I cannot believe an academic institution like Harvard failed to do a background check on at least some of Wheeler's information. A school that prides itself on excellence relied on numbers and written information to admit Wheeler, and the lack of communication in the admissions process of this student astounds me. Clearly Harvard assumed that a student with a "qualified" written background could be accepted. This reliance on written data can clearly cause problems concerning believability and truth. Truth is found through the use of different types of sources, not just statistical data.

What are your reactions to this situation? How does it reflect on America's education system?

This is an article from the Boston Globe that describes the situation in greater detail.

The End of Junior Theme

It feels great to finally be done with Junior Theme! Overall it really served as an important learning process for me in junior year. It was challenging to simultaneously work on different parts of the paper. I always struggle putting my thoughts on paper and for me that was probably one of the most difficult things about junior theme. It took a very long time, but eventually I had a rough, and I mean rough, draft. During the editing process I additionally struggled to determine the best way to organize my paper. I moved around paragraphs, eliminated some pieces of information, and constructed new paragraphs in order to complete my final draft. This was certainly a long process for me and after all the hard work I put into it I was glad to at last hand it in.

As I researched the reasons for declining newspaper circulation, I found information in one of my sources about the way democracy in America is affected by declining newspaper circulation. For the United States to have an effective democracy, Americans must be well-informed about news within our country. Cutting costs at newspapers is certainly changing the amount of information Americans receive about the country. So, I definitely have background knowledge about the things James Fallows will talk about during American Studies Day!