Hi JWU Spring Cleanup Participants! Great job last weekend! Everyone worked really hard and I think we made good progress on our two sites. We will use this blogger account to talk about what we did and what impact it made. I will also be posting photos from the cleanup here for you to share with friends and family!
As I announced at the end of the cleanup, instead of doing an in person group meeting on Friday April 22nd, we will be doing written "reflection" to think about the project. It is everyone's indvidual responsibility to contribute in two different ways. One, you will need to complete an individual feedback form that was emailed to you. This is not public so that you can share your personal feedback about the day, with the hopes that I can continue to improve our process for one day projects.
The other way that you will contribute to our group reflection is through posting 1 original, personal response to the following essays and then responding to 2 of your classmates' responses. Specific response prompts will be at the end of the post marked "Two Different Ways To Look At Starfish". Your personal response is due by midnight on Sunday, May 1st. The two responses to your classmates' posts will be due by midnight on Friday, May 6th. Remember that this assignment replaces your required class meeting.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Photos from the Spring Cleanup 2011!
Students, please leave a comment to identify yourselves in these photos! Leave your full name, major and hometown and then the numbers of the photos you see yourself in.
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| Photo 1: Admiring their work! |
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| Photo 2: Anyone missing a shoe? |
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| Photo 3: How much does a full barrel of disel sell for on the market these days!? We're rich! |
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| Photo 4: Looking cold but cheerful! |
Additional photos to come!
Two Different Ways to Look at Starfish
First read this short story entitled, The Starfish Story. Even if it is familiar to you, read it over again. Then read the follow up article, Stop Hurling Starfish by Dr. Keith Morton. Take some time to consider the implications of Morton's article on your feelings and beliefs about the classic Starfish Story as well as your own values about community service. Then respond to the questions below.
The Starfish Story
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"
The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man. To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"
The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man. To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"
Starfish Hurling and Community Service
One of the most popular stories in community service events is that of the starfish: a (fill in your description, usually young) person is running, hurling starfish deposited on the beach by a storm back into the sea. “What are you doing,” asks a (fill in your description, usually old) person, “you can’t possibly throw all the starfish back. Your effort makes no difference.” “It makes a difference to this one,” replies the first person, who continues off down the beach.
The usual conclusions drawn from this hackneyed tale are about the importance of making a difference where you can, one person or problem at a time; about not being put off by skepticism or criticism or cynicism. The story acknowledges the relief that comes when we find a way to relieve suffering. A somewhat deeper reading is that there is merit in jumping into a situation and finding a way to act - the first step in determining what possibilities for action might exist.
But the tale is, ultimately, mis-educative and I wish people would stop using it. First, it is about a problem - starfish cast up by a storm - that is apolitical (unless you stretch for the connection between pollution and el Nino that might have precipitated the storm). There is seldom any hesitancy or moral complexity in responding to a crisis caused by natural disaster. It is the one circumstance in which charity can be an unmitigated good. The story suggests that all problems are similarly simple - that there is a path of action which is right and can avoid the traps of politics, context, or complex and contradictory human relationships.
Second, the story is about helping starfish and not about helping people. It avoids, therefore, the shadow side of the service, the sticky problem of who deserves our help. The starfish are passive; they have no voice; they cannot have an opinion about their circumstances, at least not that we can hear. This one is much like that one. Their silence coincides with the fact that they can have done nothing (the story suggests) to deserve their fate. In most of the situations where this story is told, service is about people working with people: people with histories, voices, opinions, judgment, more or less power.
Third, the story avoids the possible complexity of ecology: it might be that the starfish are part of a food chain that is being interrupted as they are thrown back - birds might go hungry at a critical time of year, for example; or it might be that the starfish have been released by a storm from the ocean bottom because they have outgrown their habitat. It is never smart to intervene in an ecosystem without understanding how all of its parts are interrelated.
Fourth, the tale suggests that we should work from emotional response and not our heads, even though the problem is, in this case, a knowable one. As “overwhelming” as the miles of beach seem, the dilemma of the starfish is finite and knowable - this many starfish on this stretch of beach; a bit of advance organizing could result in enough volunteers to return all the starfish to the sea.
Fifth, the story privileges random, individual acts of kindness. It avoids questions of community (and we claim “community service” as our ground after all). It avoids questions of working with others. It polarizes the relationship of the two actors: how different would the story be if the second person joined in with the first? In short, the story does nothing to teach us about community or service. This in itself is not necessarily a problem; it could be an entertaining tale, and that could be enough. What makes it a problem, however, is that the tale of the starfish pretends to teach us something about community service, even as it misdirects our sympathies, our intellects and our sense of purpose.
Don’t go charging out to help. Talk, listen, build relationships, know your self, your environment; work with others where they and the situation itself can teach you how to act with more and more knowledge and effectiveness. Stop hurling starfish.
-Keith Morton, Ph.D.
The following questions are meant to stimulate thoughtful discussion about the above essays. You do not need to respond to every single question, but your comments should touch on several of the points below.
Had you read or heard the original short story in the past? If so, what were your previous impressions and feelings about it? How do you feel about Morton's critical analysis of the story and its message?
What aspects of the Spring Cleanup were purely simple- "hurling starfish"? What aspects of the Spring Cleanup work were political/man-made or complex?
How can you balance individual "good works" (aka hurling starfish) with more thoughtful, knowledge-based and effective collective action, as suggested by Morton in his article?
Did it feel wrong to think about criticizing such a sweet, simple message as the one in The Starfish Story? Do you feel it is sometimes okay to criticize different types of community service/civic involvement?
The following questions are meant to stimulate thoughtful discussion about the above essays. You do not need to respond to every single question, but your comments should touch on several of the points below.
Had you read or heard the original short story in the past? If so, what were your previous impressions and feelings about it? How do you feel about Morton's critical analysis of the story and its message?
What aspects of the Spring Cleanup were purely simple- "hurling starfish"? What aspects of the Spring Cleanup work were political/man-made or complex?
How can you balance individual "good works" (aka hurling starfish) with more thoughtful, knowledge-based and effective collective action, as suggested by Morton in his article?
Did it feel wrong to think about criticizing such a sweet, simple message as the one in The Starfish Story? Do you feel it is sometimes okay to criticize different types of community service/civic involvement?
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