Blog 4: A Reflection

From a personal perspective, place-blogging Athens was a worthwhile enterprise. I learned a great deal about Athens and OU's history (the fact that OU was essentially started in a bar seems rather sadly fitting...), and was able to voice things that I've come to feel are important about living here. My hope is that this could do the same for my students, and in doing so let them practice the skills for rhetorically constructing place-connections wherever they choose to live in the future.


This is not to say that I wouldn't change anything about the blogging assignment. My initial assignment posited a 500 word (alphabetic text) requirement for each blog entry. I'm reconsidering that. My own entries outstripped this (the history entry came closer to 700). Also, I'm considering the possibility that, using multimodal techniques, it would be possible to fulfill the assignment with fewer words. (Perhaps a student wants to compose an entry via a short video, for example.) My potential change would provide the 500 word limit as a suggestion, but also require that any posted videos or images have descriptive captions, to ensure that writing stays an aspect of the assignment. (This might also be helpful if a student decides to compose an entry from downloaded images or videos--I'm not going to go into the relative merits of new media theory regarding original and borrowed material, but a writing requirement would insure that there is some original work on the students' part.)


I'm also thinking about narrowing at least some of the entry categories, to provide greater structure for the student authors. Particularly, narrowing a topic for my first category (history/geography) was challenging, because it is such a wide scope, and my students will be less familiar than I am with the means of researching these topics. I'm considering assigning a specific topic for each student (ex. research the history of your dorm, or research the history of campus ghost stories); this will insure that the students learn something about their local environment, but it doesn't necessarily mean it will be something interesting to them, which would be a potential drawback.


An Introductory entry, posted prior to any of the category-based entries, could provide a grounding base from which to send students on their metaphorical way (and to remind them of why they are doing this). In an intro, the students would contextualize their situation: who are they, where are they from, why are they here, what do they hope to achieve.


I considered briefly requiring process blog entries similar to mine, but with upwards of twenty potential bloggers, that may become unwieldy. I would like to require students to keep notes of their blogging processes, to make sure they are aware of the necessity of planning for each entry to be as successful as possible.I would also like to devote some class time to discussions of publicizing the blogs. My current strategy is to have students lead a class discussion section for each of their entries; this has worked very well, but if many students work on the blogging individually, this could become time-prohibitive. In such a case, I would probably also require students to comment online on each others' blogs.

Blog 3: Clearing the Air at OU

A Strip-style Coal Mine

People have seriously deep feelings about coal.  

I know people who work in the coal mines and are proud of it. They see it as a family tradition. They are thankful that the coal companies bring jobs.

Coal Burns Hot and Dirty

Others may work in the mines, or have worked in the mines, but they don't like it.

They or people they know have been hurt, or sickened, or had their land hurt or sickened, by the coal mining industry. But it's the only job they can have that will put food in the table. A recent documentary, On Coal River, looked at some of the mixed feelings people have about life in coal country and its consequences:

Some look at coal and see all these negatives. Coal is dirty, dangerous, and they want no part of it.

But love it or loathe it, coal is important. Know it or not, coal affects every day of your life at Ohio University. (According to one recent statistic, OU purchased over 31,000 tons of coal in 2007 [Bowling].) However, one group would like to see that change.

Ohio University Beyond Coal is a university group affiliated with the Sierra Club, that would like to change the source of energy at OU. Specifically, the group wants a change regarding the university's coal-powered Lausche Heating Plant. The plant, they argue, is in violation of the Clean Air Act, and is therefore a danger to the Athens community. The plant is similarly unhealthy from a financial standpoint; in 2009, the EPA fined OU $67,216 for toxic emissions. A change to a cleaner form of energy, such as geothermal, would benefit OU's air quality, as well as saving money and fighting the spread of Dirty Coal.

As of March 7th, the group has been able to gain from OU a verbal promise to retire the heating plant by 2016. However, there is no guarantee that the replacement plant won't also run on coal.

A change to a clean energy economy would provide jobs outside of the coal mines and avoid the negative health and environmental effects of coal usage. 

Tell the Decision-Makers to Make OU's Energy be CLEAN ENERGY!

Contacts:

Ohio University President's Advisory Council for Sustainability Planning: sustainability@ohio.edu

Office of the Vice President and Provost

Office of Facilities Management: (740) 593-2911

Works Consulted

"Ball State Professor Explores BSU's Switch to Geothermal, Says OU Could Do the Same." College Green. 25 Sept. 2010. <http://www.collegegreenmag.com/ball-state-professor-explores-bsus-switch-to-geothermal-says-ou-could-do-the-same>

Bowling, Caitlin. "Activists Strive to Reduce OU Coal Emissions." The Post. 9 March 2011. <http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1041703790915222066&postID=4254012755521164483>

On Coal River. Dir. Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010.

"Protesters Denounce 'Dirty and Done' Coal in Friday Demonstration. College Green. 8 Jan. 2011. <http://www.collegegreenmag.com/protestors-denouce-dirty-and-done-coal-in-friday-demonstration>

"Update: OU Confirms Promise to Retire Lausche Heating Plant by 2016. College Green. 8 March 2011. <http://www.collegegreenmag.com/beyond-coal-claims-ou-promised-to-retire-lausche-heating-plant-by-2016

Blog 3: Local Issues (Pre-work)

The prevailing research on place-based writing seems fairly clear on one point: understanding the social and environmental issues in a place is necessary to constructing a place-based identity. My primary "social" interests have always been environmental. I suppose this is because I grew up in the country; I've always appreciated it more and been protective of natural spaces. (This isn't an iron clad reasoning--I know plenty of rural people who would be happy to take down a mountain in exchange for a coal mining job, etc.) But I do have to acknowledge that environmental issues are complicated, particularly in cases of environmental degradation being opposed to jobs in impoverished areas. (Little known fact: Appalachia's per capita income before the mining industry was actually HIGHER on average than other parts of the country, because the people were very self-sufficient and provided for their own needs via natural resources. Once they pushed people into the mines, they became dependent on salaries and store-bought supplies, and eventually lost many of those skills. In essence, mining made the region poorer.)


But I have to look realistically at the situation as it is. We are dependent on industrial jobs, largely mining related, yet those jobs cause health problems and environmental degradation in our communities. I wish often that we could just bypass coal altogether and get our power from clean wind and sun power, which we have plenty of and which we're wasting. Of course, this leads to another problem: as a typically impoverished area, few can afford to install the needed equipment for wind and solar power.


These issues have a local relevance. I was walking past college gate in February--and being Ohio in February, it was cold--but a small group of people were determinedly standing near the gate holding a banner: OHIO UNIVERSITY BEYOND COAL.


I did some digging on this group, and I found an article posted by College Green Magazine. The Ohio University Beyond Coal group is working for a very specific purpose: altering the source of Ohio University's power from coal to a cleaner energy, such as geothermal. The group is protesting the high levels of air pollution caused by the current coal-burning Lausche Heating Plant; they contend that the plant is in violation of the Clean Air Act. The plant has caused the university EPA fines, which, given the upcoming budget cuts OU is facing, I'm doubting the school can afford. 


So what I'm hoping to do with my "issue" entry is look at the role coal plays at OU, explain what the Beyond Coal group wants to achieve, and let interested readers know how they can influence the outcome of this debate. Additionally, I'd like to show my students my process for constructing a public-oriented position on an issue, with the focus on a mainly local audience. 


Research Plan and Sources:
My primary lines of research will be local news sources, in order to ascertain more recent information focused on locally-relevant aspects of the coal/energy discussion. Among the sources I found:
College Green Magazine: This article describes the recent meeting between OU and the Sierra Club. (An additional article explores a guest speaker's discussions of possible coal alternatives for OU's future.)
The Post: an article in The Post gives details about the problems the current heating plant has caused, including EPA fines.


Modal Construction: I would like my readers/viewers to visualize both coal and the environmental costs of coal mining. I would like to acknowledge the complexity of the situation, given that many local people are dependent on the coal industry. To this end, I may include a clip from the recent documentary, On Coal River, to show how the coal debates are effecting a local community. In addition, part of the purpose of this assignment is to allow students to position themselves on a local issue, and to provide them with a means of influencing that issue via public writing. Therefore, I'll include links to contact pages and/or email addresses for authorities, so that interested readers can voice their opinion on OU's energy future. 

Blog 2: Ain't No Mistake (or, Chancy/Chauncy)

Things I've Heard at the Athens, Ohio Walmart:

...We've only got about tin more minutes 'fore the car's ready...

...My kids really injoyed that book...

...Now don't you'ns start crying 'cause we ain't getting that game...

...He let on like he didn't want none!...

...Don't git any of them beans you gotta hull out...

...You don't need no more clothes. All the ones you got at home needs worshed...

...We got to laughin' so hard...

...Whenever I heard watermelon was on sale, I came in to get some...

...Well, you go on down past Chancy....

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

The Hills

I still remember the time a middle school teacher asked me if I'd been born in a barn.


She asked me this because I'd used the word "you'ns."


Because of course, "you'ns" ain't a word. Ain't ain't a word, neither.  Our teachers made an earnest mission out of scrubbing clean our Southeast Ohio speech.

It wasn't until I was in college that I started looking into the history of Southeast Ohio language, and Appalachian dialects as a whole. What I found instead of wrongness was an alternate dialect history, one with roots in Scotland, Ireland, and the American pioneers. An excerpt from the documentary Mountain Talk explains:

According to linguist Michael Montgomery, the author of "How Scotch-Irish Is Your English?," much of what is considered to be "Appalachian" English is in fact an outgrowth of Scotch-Irish dialect, brought to the mountains by early settlers.

Cottage in the Scottish Highlands

Cabin in the Appalachian Mountains

This also explains the famous Chancy/Chauncy debate. Despite the popular belief (that the "locals" refer to our neighboring town as Chancy simply to weed out unsuspecting outsiders, who of course say Ch-awwn-sy), this pronunciation has a lot more to do with ancestral language than modern cattiness. 

Still, with such a long history of mistrust and miscommunication, it still seems like there's a long way to go to achieve cultural understanding between OU's students and the rest of Athens County. One of my former students discovered this when interviewing his dorm mates: 

Works Cited

Montgomery, Michael. “How Scotch-Irish is your English? The Ulster Heritage of East Tennessee Speech.” The Ulster-Scots Language Society. 30 July 2010 < http://www. ulsterscotslanguage.com/en/texts/scotch-irish/how-scotch-irish-is-your-english/>.

Mountain Talk. Dir. Neal Hutcheson. NCLLP Films, 2004.

Rybka, Steve. "What Do OU Students Think of Appalachia?" YouTube. 21 Feb. 2011. 

Blog 2: Local Language and Culture (Pre-work)

PreWriting:
I conceive of this category as covering much more than the language and culture of southeastern Ohio, which is, of course, where Ohio University is. But Ohio University is arguably unique in the surrounding area in that it brings together multiple cultures and languages in the forms of students and university employees. Also, the Ohio University environment encourages the development of multiple discourse ecologies. Students are learning the professional discourses of their fields, as well as the discourses of dorms, classes, social groups/clubs/teams--the combinations are rich and various.

The reason why my one particular place-entry for this category centers on the language of the world immediately around OU is that, unlike most on-campus discourses, this language is almost entirely overlooked by OU affiliates. Students can, and often do, graduate from OU without ever knowing they'd lived for 4 years in Appalachia; even those with a cursory knowledge of OU's Appalachian background view "the natives" through a lens of prejudice, if not disdain. Language is one of the most noticeable cultural markers separating OU from its surroundings, and the Appalachian dialect spoken in southeastern Ohio is as often misunderstood as any aspect of rural culture.

Something that irritates me about as much as anything regarding peoples' the mistaken interpretations is the sense that Appalachian dialect is "wrong" language--these are speakers who have simply failed to speak correct English, and the "wrong" language has become habitual. This is what we are taught in school, for goodness sake: we are speaking "wrong" when our subjects and verbs don't "agree," and "ain't" ain't a word, stupid.

The truth is more cultural. The Appalachian dialect is inherently creative, with words and expressions that were invented by the speakers themselves from a sheer love of language. The roots of the dialect come from a combination of influences, predominantly the English spoken by the Scotch-Irish, a group which composed some of the earliest settlers, and whose linguistic influence runs deep in modern Appalachian speech. (Having Celtic roots has become trendy in recent years--thank you, Riverdance--but ironically few people make the connection between Celtic Appalachia and Celtic Europe.) An overview of some of the predominant Scotch-Irish features that can be heard from speakers in Athens County might prove illuminating to people who could otherwise mistake this language as simply incorrect.

Tentative Topic: The Scotch-Irish influences in Athens County rural dialect.

Research Plan:

I would like to investigate some regional variation of speech in Athens County. I think the best way to do this is simply listen to people--hang out in public places and see what I catch. Of course, those public places will likely have to be off-campus; not many OU students are locals, and while their speech undoubtedly has its own regional variation, I'm interested at the moment in the speech of Athens County. I will then research some of the variations I hear, and see if they have a traceable Scotch-Irish origin. This will require some linguistic research; I'll probably be using the works of Michael Montgomery of John McWhorter for this.

Modal Construction:
I've got at least two video clips I'd like to include. One is from a documentary about Appalachian dialect history; the other is a video my student made, asking people in his dorm what they thought about Appalachia. In addition, I'd like to include images of the Appalachian landscape, particularly the Southeastern Ohio landscape, to provide visual context. (Also because, seriously, this place doesn't get enough credit for natural beauty.) I'd like to possibly compare this with images of the Scottish/Irish landscapes--I've heard it said that there is a resemblance between Appalachia and parts of these countries, and since the point of the entry is to provide an alternate context for Appalachian speech development, these images might be fitting.

Blog 1: What's in a Name? Ask Dr. Cutler

Like most stories worth knowing, it involves lies and betrayal. And it starts in a bar.

Naming Names

I'm a believer in the rhetorical influence of names. I think it is just possible that the citizens of the town of Fairview will have a somewhat different attitude that those living in Mud Run. And I think people (mostly) put some thought into the names they give. If you're going to take the trouble to name some place, or somebody, why wouldn't you have a reason for your choice? 

So it struck me as whimsical and downright delightful that so many place names in Athens County are classically influenced. I mean...Athens. Here? Really? What eighteenth-century pioneer looked at that hilly expanse of dense, sparsly populated woodlands and thought: Athens?

Nominative History

The answers vary a bit depending on where you look for them, but they seem to keep coming back to the Ohio Company. According to Thomas Hoover, in 1786, a group of guys with familiar names took up a round in the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in Boston, and made plans to “become adventurers in that delightful region” known as the Ohio Country. I don't know just how delightful Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Samuel Parsons, and Manasseh Cutler found the Ohio Country, but it does seem to me that they went there with education on their minds, in addition to settlement. From the first, the Ohio Company lobbied the Continental Congress to specify land in their new-found county for schools: each township was to have one, and two together were to have a university (Beatty and Stone 112). 

The members of the Ohio Company were "men of classical education," so when it came to naming "a harmless pedantry was evinced" (Walker 87). The result was Athens, Rome, Troy, and Carthage. In truth, most of these men fudged a bit on their educational credentials; at the very least, they didn't correct the impression of themselves as men of letters. In fact, Cutler was the only pioneer of those named above who could have packed a college diploma in his deer-skin pack (Yale, no less), though this perhaps makes the others' educational emphasis more laudable. But it also makes me wonder if Cutler had more to do with naming Athens, et al, than the others. 

We know that Cutler was serious about getting his pioneer college off the ground in this new-found county (Hoover 11), a school he dubbed: American University.

Cutler wrote in an 1800 letter:

As the American congress made the grant which is the foundation of the university, no name appeared to me more natural than American University. The sound is natural, easy, and agreeable, and no name can be more respectable. There is a Columbian college, and a Washington college, etc., already in the country, but no American college. I hope the name will not be altered. (Walker 320)

Manasseh Cutler wanted his pioneer college to be a true American school, bound not by city or place name, but rather by nation; this was to be a school for all America. Well, that Ben Franklin of the backwoods didn't get his wish, in a sense. In 1804, when Cutler was  away serving in the House of Representatives, the name was changed to Ohio University. 

What's In a Name?

We gain and lose by this change--as seems to be the case with most changes--Ohio University ties us more tightly to a place, which any place-blogger will tell you is a good thing. But perhaps we lost that sense of representing America in the way Cutler hoped; no matter that we now have students from every state and many countries; in the end, we represent Ohio. Specific. And cut off? Did it change something when we claimed lineal allegiance to Ohio, instead of the wider country?

Ohio University's Cutler Hall, 2010

Well, if nothing else Cutler will always have something to say about the concept of names in his pioneer school, because his own name is solidly attached to the oldest building on campus: Cutler Hall. 


Works Consulted


Beatty, Elizabeth Grover, and Marjorie S. Stone. Getting to Know Athens County. Athens: The Stone House, 1984. 


Hoover, Thomas. The History of Ohio University. Athens: Ohio UP, 1954.


Walker, Charles M. History of Athens County, Ohio. Cincinnati: R. Clarke & Co., 1869.

Blog 1: Local History/Geography (Pre-work)

Category 1: Local geography and history--PreWriting

I already know a good bit about the geography of Athens County, in part because they're so similar to the rest of southeastern Ohio and share connections with conditions throughout Appalachia. I know less about the specific history of Athens County, such as local settlement patterns, university history, local legends and myths, etc. These are things I would like to learn, and that I think are valuable to feeling like a citizen of Athens County. (I went to a talk Craig Meyer gave about his research on the Civil War experiences of Springfield, Illinois; he claimed that after all the research he felt like Springfield was his hometown, even though it wasn't, simply because he'd learned so much about it. That seems like a very powerful statement about the influence of place knowledge and our interpretations of what it means to feel at home in a place.)

In thinking about the historical conditions of Athens County, I'm realizing that, unlike my home county, I don't really know the story behind the county's naming. I'm assuming that it was named after Athens, Greece, as several locations in this area reflect classical names (Troy, Carthage, and Rome townships come to mind). Is it solely due to the influence of Ohio University? Whose idea was it? Why Athens and not another famous seat of learning (such as Miami University's town of Oxford)? What can we learn about the early county residents from this name choice?

I think it would be worth knowing this information for its own sake, but also in order to understand the rhetorical power behind such a name. Living and attending a university in a town and county named for one of the great centers of learning was intended to mean something. It's a responsibility as well as a name. My target audience for this blog entry would therefore likely be a local one, of university and county residents. However, I would like to convey something about the power of naming that could have an effect for readers in multiple locations. Place names are (usually) chosen thoughtfully and with a purpose. Maybe knowing what this purpose is can teach us something about ways to live there.

Tentative Topic: What is the history behind the Athens place-name?

Research Plan: My first source would probably be an internet scan, as most counties have a webpage, visitor's bureau, and a historical society that could give me more information about county origins. Beyond that, the reading room at Alden Library's rare book collection has copies of Ohio county histories which would likely prove useful. Failing this, direct contact with staff at the historical society might provide needed information about the county's formation and naming. 

Sources:

History of Athens County, Ohio by Charles Manning Walker (1869)

Getting to Know Athens County by Elizabeth Grover Beatty and Marjorie Stone (1984)

The History of Ohio University by Thomas Hoover (1954)

Entry Outline:

Introduction: Why is this a significant topic?

Ohio Company: "Athens" and the founders' "classical educations" (which really only Cutler had)

Cutler: naming the American University (a name which changed; explore the rhetoric behind this change)

Conclusion: Cutler Hall 



Modal Construction:
There are several things going on in this entry. I talk about my interest in the rhetorical power behind naming, then my specific focus on the naming of Athens and Ohio University. Then I discuss the history behind these naming choices, including an excerpt from Manasseh Cutler's correspondence. To provide a level of internal division to reflect the altering focus within the entry, I'll utilize blogger's options for font and color. Additionally, I'd like to emphasize the concept of OU's complicated naming history with an illustrative photo of Cutler Hall. I chose a photograph I'd taken last summer, which includes the building and the plaque bearing the building's name and age.