Civic Issues Blog

Deliberation Reflection

On Friday, February 27th, I attended another deliberation called “The Problem: Dealing with Heroin in PA”. Since this was the day before our class’s deliberations, I specifically was looking to take notes on what to do and what not to do while hosting a deliberation to maximize everyone’s experience. I saw that they had both a pre-survey and a questionnaire. They also used the whiteboard to take notes which helped a lot during the summary portion. I noticed that there was some confusion in the beginning about which group was which and finding seating for everyone. I thought that it was often hard to hear people speaking, even the hosts. I also observed that it was the same few people speaking and contributing their ideas.

For our deliberation, I made sure I told our group all of the above. We added more to our questionnaire. We focused on seating even before most of our guests arrived. We spoke up and were also able to hear everyone else who spoke. I think that almost everyone who attended contributed to the deliberation. When it came time for me to summarize, I used the whiteboard notes to refresh and as a visual for the attendees to follow along. I’m really glad that I attended another deliberation before ours.

Passion

Fears Episode 14: Koumpounophobia

Koumpounophobia is defined as the fear of buttons. It is classified as an irrational phobia. This phobia is relatively rare, affecting approximately less that 1% of the U.S. population, but is still more common that one would think. Signs ad symptoms of Koumpounophobia may include, but are not limited to, being unable to stand the sight, sounds, or texture of buttons, freaking out or losing control, nausea, hysteria, crying, screaming, panic, anxiety, increased heart rate, and/or trembling. There does not seem to be any known historical and/or evolutionary cause behind Koumpounophobia in particular. However, some psychologists could argue that it is tied to another fear that many scientists believe is evolutionary. The fear of circular objects is believed to have been gripping humans for thousands of years, as they remind us of ideas such as holes, resemble skin rashes, or and trigger thoughts of pits containing the unknown. Other possible causes could include a genetic predisposition to the fear or a close relative with the fear. Most likely of all, however, is a traumatic or negative experience in childhood involving buttons; such as choking on a button, being mocked for not knowing how to button, or even childhood abuse or neglect by someone wearing clothes with buttons. Potential treatments for Koumpounophobia may include talk therapy, cognitive/behavioral therapy, virtual reality exposure, help groups, and/or hypnotherapy.

Fun Fact: It is believed that Steve Jobs had Koumpounophobia.

 

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Civic Issues Blog

Gender/Sexuality/Rights 3 – Wellesley College to accept transgender women

Wellesley College, a women’s liberal arts college west of Boston, will for the first time ever admit transgender students who identify as women, or more specifically, any applicant who “lives as a woman and consistently identifies as a woman.” However, women who identify as men are not eligible for admission. The school did state that if a student during her time at Wellesley no longer identifies as a woman, the student will still be allowed to graduate if they continue to meet academic standards.

The policy will take effect in the next admission cycle, for the potential class of 2020. The new policy is believed to be a result comes of a committee President H. Kim Bottomly formed last fall to study “educational, social, legal and medical considerations about gender identity” according to the college. Bottomly said in a phone interview that a lot of thought was put into this move as a part of the college’s “mission-driven thinking”.

Wellesley is now the third local women’s college to create a more inclusive admissions policy by deciding to admit transgender students. Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, and Simmons College go one step above Wellesley and also accept women who identify as men. Each college says that they are responding to societal changes that are redefining how individuals, particularly young people, identify themselves. Bottomly stated that the new policy specifically at Wellesley is designed to reaffirm the college’s commitment to education women, as he believes that the need for a women’s college is “as valid today as it has been at any time in the past”.

The college will also be open to assisting students who would like to transfer due to their no longer identifying women. Bottomly made Wellesley’s position clear, saying, “We will support all the students who are at Wellesley and all of their kinds of finding themselves in all of the ways that we can”.