More template tweaking, just playing with column width, placement, etc...haven't worked with any HTML in a while so it's kind of fun :) Next goal is to revisit the whole comment thing - I'd like to find commenting script that includes permanent linking so I'll be on the lookout for that.

Am absolutely impressed with the way the instructors at Portland State have been so responsive to my requests to meet them on my trip! Complete contrast to the 'other' university I'm visiting where the program director can't make time for me (even though I gave her 6-8 weeks notice). I've decided my response to that whole bunch of silliness is going to be to have a great time visiting Colorado and just enjoy myself!

Read a couple of interesting articles in the local Creative Loafing last night. I'm about five weeks behind so these are a bit old (from the September 24 issue), but here they are:

An interesting look at a little talked about but highly pervasive attitude in American culture

From a normal, everyday Jane - a look at how Bush's foreign policy continues to alienate the European countries

A great story about race from a photojournalism perspective - here are what they're listing as the top 10 race topics in this exhibition:

1. Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide people according to physical distinctions, but according to religion, status, class, or even language. The English language didn't even have the word "race" until it turned up in 1508 in a poem by William Dunbar referring to a line of kings.

2. Race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait or even gene distinguishes all the members of one so-called race from all the members of another so-called race.

3. Human subspecies don't exist. Unlike many animals, modern humans simply haven't been around long enough or isolated enough to evolve into separate subspecies or races. Despite surface appearances, we are one of the most similar of all species.

4. Skin color really is only skin deep. Most traits are inherited independently from one another. The genes influencing skin color have nothing to do with the genes influencing hair form, eye shape, blood type, musical talent, athletic ability or forms of intelligence. Knowing someone's skin color doesn't necessarily tell you anything else about him or her.

5. Most variation is within, not between, "races." Of the small amount of total human variation, 85 percent exists within any local population, be they Italians, Kurds, Koreans or Cherokees. About 94 percent can be found within any continent. That means two random Koreans may be as genetically different as a Korean and an Italian.

6. Slavery predates race. Throughout much of human history, societies have enslaved others, often as a result of conquest or war, even debt, but not because of physical characteristics or a belief in natural inferiority. Due to a unique set of historical circumstances, ours was the first slave system where all the slaves shared similar physical characteristics.

7. Race and freedom evolved together. The US was founded on the radical new principle that "All men are created equal." But our early economy was based largely on slavery. How could this anomaly be rationalized? The then-new idea of race helped explain why some people could be denied the rights and freedoms that others took for granted.

8. Race justified social inequalities as natural. As the race idea evolved, white superiority became "common sense" in America. It justified not only slavery but also the extermination of Indians, exclusion of Asian immigrants, and the taking of Mexican lands by a nation that professed a belief in democracy. Racial practices were institutionalized within American government, laws, and society.

9. Race isn't biological, but racism is still real. Race is a powerful social idea that gives people different access to opportunities and resources. Our government and social institutions have created advantages that disproportionately channel wealth, power, and resources to white people. This affects everyone, whether we're aware of it or not.

10. Colorblindness will not end racism. Pretending race doesn't exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual prejudice. To combat racism, we need to identify and remedy social policies and institutional practices that advantage some groups at the expense of others.