I will reveal my bias by saying that I expected this presentation to be informational rather than inspirational or promotional. I should have read the poster a little closer, near the bottom, where the invitation was to "come hear Beatrice and Stephen speak out against modern day slavery." But of course these two people would be speaking out against slavery. Who would speak out for slavery? Beatrice Fernando's presentation was troubling in its subject matter and moving in its presen...

Given the information that Ms. Graham presented yesterday during the Provost Forum--for example, the fact that until recently Alabama Death Row inmates were living in cells with a heat index of 120 degrees during the summer months, or the fact that most Alabama inmates are living three to a cell that measures 8-by 10 feet, or the fact that many inmates are not getting timely medical treatment--what do you think needs to be done about the situation in our prisons and why? Answering the "why" ...

Anyone who has seen the DVD cover of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and who still defines the film as a documentary has ignored a clue as big as the state of Texas that Moore is working within a different but equally respectable genre: satire. The image on the DVD shows Moore and President Bush holding hands and smiling as they walk across the White House lawn. What better introduction to the fact that the film relies on the manipulation of images for its power? The image on the cover i...

Although I was interested to hear at the end of Dr. Dalto's report how the Alabama population differs from the population in the rest of the United States, I would like to emphasize a couple of things he said about gender stereotypes. First, he said that although men have more testosterone and women more estrogen, which might lead us to believe men to be more aggressive and insensitive and women to be more empathetic and nurturing, the biological hypothesis wasn't valid in his study. Second...