“We sent the letter to the APA asking them to refrain from making certain declarative policy statements that are likely to do more damage to the field and mislead the public than be helpful,” said Christopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and chair of the Psychology Department at Stetson University.

In 2005, the APA issued a policy statement called the Resolution on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media, which stated in part that exposure to violent media appears to increase feelings of hostility, thoughts about aggression and suspicions about the motives of others. But, “Research shows there is not consistent evidence to support this statement,” said Ferguson.

In fact, the opposite may be true, said Ferguson, who initiated the letter to the APA.

“In my recent research,” said Ferguson, “we found that for some teens with a pre-existing mental health issue, playing violent video games seemed to be associated with less bullying.” That research was published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence in April.

Ferguson and Cheryl K. Olson, Ph.D., an expert on using media to change behavior, tested 377 children. The results revealed no increase in aggressive or bullying behavior among those who played violent video games. One group, those with ADHD, appeared to have less aggressive behavior, particularly bullying, when they played more violent games.

“This was just one outcome of four, and needs to be replicated in other work,” cautioned Ferguson.

So why do violent video games get blamed whenever there is a mass shooting like recent incidents at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., and Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.?

“The impression that a link exists is a classic illusory correlation in which society takes note of the cases that fit and ignores those that don’t,” said Ferguson in a recent blog post. “When a shooter is a young male, the news media make a fuss over violent video games, neglecting to inform the public that almost all young males play violent video games. Finding that a particular young shooter happened to play these games is neither surprising nor meaningful.”

Ferguson also cautions against extending research into psychological issues beyond where it can go.

“In the 1950s, psychiatrists testified before Congress that comic books caused delinquency and homosexuality because, they claimed, Batman and Robin were secretly gay,” Ferguson said. “We have to be careful not to repeat these mistakes.

“Unfortunately, the line between reasonable reflection and cultural crusade can sometimes be blurred, with activists drawing in shootings to advance their particular axes to grind,” he said.

Even worse, is that such claims are a distraction from the real issue: the common thread for most mass shooters is a person full of anger and struggling with mental health problems, according to Ferguson.

On the positive side, the research may be having another impact: the APA has assigned a task force to review its earlier policy statement, a move that Ferguson welcomes. However, he cautions, policy statements can set scientific agendas and at stake is the credibility of the field as a careful and objective science.

“The signers of the statement to the APA welcome the APA’s initiative to look into their 2005 statement,” he said. “We hope that they will take up this opportunity to either retire the problematic 2005 statement or replace it with something that carefully reflects the debates and inconsistencies in this field.”

Dear APA Science Directorate:

As you know, many individuals within the scientific community have been concerned about the APA’s past policy statements on violent media.  Many of us welcome the APA’s review of past policy statements, but also worry about potential pitfalls within that process.  Given, that approximately 230 media scholars, psychologists and criminologists have signed a statement urging the APA to refrain in the future from declarative policy statements as these are likely to do more damage to the field and mislead the public than be helpful.  I attach the statement below.

Cordially,

Christopher J. Ferguson

Stetson University

Statement:

(Updated 9/25/13)

We welcome the appointment of a Task Force charged with examining research on media violence, and previous statements on the subject by the APA.  The issue of video game and other media violence continues to be contentious among both the general public and the scholarly community.   Particularly in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, whether rightly or wrongly, much discussion has focused on this issue.   Much is at stake regarding the way scientific information is communicated to the general public, the way in which policy statements can set scientific agendas and the credibility of the field as a careful and objective science.   We very much welcome the appointment by the APA of a new Task Force to revisit the issue, pursuant to new research that has questioned previously held views.   We appreciate the APA’s efforts to revisit the topic and believe that, given the scientific progress in the field, there are unprecedented opportunities to develop a solid basis for a careful and nuanced communication of research findings to the general public.   We also express concern that there are risks involved, particularly in light of methodological and sociological issues well known to impact this field.   Below we highlight several issues that we hope the APA Task Force will consider as they reflect on this matter.

We express the concern that the APA’s previous (2005) policy statement delineated several strong conclusions on the basis of inconsistent or weak evidence. Research subsequent to that 2005 statement has provided even stronger evidence that some of the assertions in it cannot be supported.   As an important scientific discipline that helps shape the public discourse on issues of behavior, policy statements that are rigid or ideological can serve to stifle scientific innovation and new theories and may inadvertently serve to increase publication bias, particularly given concerns about both disregard for null findings and researcher degrees of freedom (Simmons et al., 2011).

Against this background we further express the belief that it is possible for responsible scholars to make good faith arguments both that media violence may have some influence on aggression or other outcomes, or that media violence may not have such effects.   Similarly, we believe that pressure to produce “positive” findings is present throughout the review and publication process as well as in grant-seeking.   Obviously, positive findings should certainly be welcomed, but so should “negative” findings or failed replications.   Without care taken to encourage publication of non-replications, we will not have a full view of the data in this field.

We also acknowledge that meta-analysis has its place, but express the concern that meta-analysis in this realm can be misleading.   For instance, many previous meta-analyses have relied on bivariate effect sizes, which is normal due to the homogeneity assumption of meta-analysis, but which may be of limited value in this realm.   As a simple matter, boys both consume more violent media and are more aggressive, so small correlations may reflect gender effects.   Naturally, other variables may well explain small correlations as well.   From our observation, considerable research data bears this belief out.   Unfortunately, it is our observation that, in communicating results to the general public, scholars and the APA’s previous policy statements have tended to focus on bivariate effect sizes, which may be more misleading than informative.   Similarly we are skeptical of a “the average effect size wins” approach to meta-analysis, which could be used to smooth over inconsistencies and failed replications.   Previous meta-analyses have disagreed on the presence of publication bias, but given the issue of researcher degrees of freedom, some forms of scholar-driven bias may simply be hard to detect.

We also express concern about the overgeneralization of controversial laboratory measures of aggression to public health issues and violent crime.   Laboratory measures certainly have their place, but we believe that greater caution should be used in generalizing them to real-life behaviors they may only obliquely measure.   Further, the unstandardized and “ad hoc” nature of many of these measures is of concern to us, given they may create false positives.

During the video game epoch, youth violence in the United States and elsewhere has plummeted to 40-year lows, not risen as would have been expected if the 2005 APA resolution were accurate.   Although we do not assert video games are responsible for this decline (such would be an ecological fallacy), this decline in societal violence is in conflict with claims that violent video games and interactive media are important public health concerns.   The statistical data are simply not bearing out this concern and should not be ignored.

Fundamentally, we are of the belief that the task force has a tremendous opportunity to change the culture of this research field to one which is less ideological and open to new theories, data and beliefs.   So too, should scholars feel free to argue for existing theories.   We believe that the field is beginning to undergo theoretical and data-driven changes that challenge previously held beliefs.   Only with the freedom for data to sort itself out can this field progress.   We would endorse any attempt to properly reflect these differences in data, theories, and beliefs. Such a policy statement might be less conclusive, but certainly more sophisticated, and it could do much to restore the credibility of this field. Policy statements based on inconsistent and weak evidence are bad policy and over the long run do more harm than good, hurting the credibility of the science of psychology.  We are certainly happy to help the Task Force however we can in support of their important work.

Signed:

Paul Adachi, Brock University

Jason C. Allaire, North Carolina State University

James Anderson, University of Utah

Len Annetta, George Mason University

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Clark University

Dominic Arsenault, Université de Montréal

Mary Ballard, Appalachian State University

Jaime Banks, University of Toronto

Wolmet Barendregt, University of Gothenburg

Martin Barker, Aberystwyth University

Matthew Barr, University of Glasgow

Anthony Bean, Pacifica Graduate Institute

Kevin Beaver, Florida State University

Katrin Becker, Mount Royal University

Gary Bente, University of Cologne

Fran Bernat, Texas A&M International University

Kristin Bezio, University of Richmond

Rafael Bienia, Maastricht University

Staffan Björk, University of Gothenburg

Jerald Block, Oregon Health and Science University

Fran C. Blumberg, Fordham University

Leonardo Bobadilla, Western Carolina University

Walter Boot, University of Florida

Randy Borum, University of South Florida

Wolfgang Bösche, Technische Universität Darmstadt

Nicola Bowes, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Nick Bowman, West Virginia University

Linda Breitlauch, GA University for Applied Sciences, Berlin

Johannes Breuer, University of Münster

Douglas Brown, Brunel University

Jo Bryce, University of Central Lancashire

David M. Buss, University of Texas

Jon Cabiria, Walden University

Kursat Cagiltay, Middle East Technical University

Alessandro Canossa, Northeastern University

David Canter, University of Liverpool

Rogelio E. Cardona-Rivera, North Carolina State University

Ineke Pit-ten Cate, University of Luxembourg

Adam Chapman, University of Hull

Isabelle D. Cherney, Creighton University

Anne Collier, Connectsafely.org

John Colwell, University of Westminster

Lorenza Colzato, Leiden University

Mia Consalvo, Concordia University

Victoria Cooper, University of Leeds

Patrick J. Coppock, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Aysegul Bakar Corez, Kocaeli University

Mark Coulson, Middlesex University

Francis G. Couvares, Amherst College

Angelica Ortiz de Gortari, Nottingham Trent University

Frederik De Grove, Ghent University

Bob de Schutter, Miami University

Jonathan deHaan, University of Shizuoka

Jennifer deWinter, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

M. Brent Donnellan, Michigan State University

Brock R. Dubbels, McMaster University

Robert Andrew Dunn, East Tennessee State University

Kevin Durkin, University of Strathclyde

Malte Elson, University of Muenster

Dorothy Espelage, University of Illinois ~ Champaign

Frank Farley, Temple University

Thorsten Fehr, University of Bremen

Christopher J. Ferguson, Stetson University

F. Richard Ferraro, University of North Dakota

Emmanoel Ferreira, Universidade Federal Fluminense

Seymour Feshbach, University of California, Los Angeles

Jon Festinger, Centre for Digital Media

James Alan Fox, Northeastern University

Claudio Pires Franco, University of Bedfordshire

Jonathan Freedman, University of Toronto

Johannes Fromme, University of Magdeburg

Philippe Geril, Ghent University

Sabine Glock, University of Luxembourg

Jeffrey Goldstein, University of Utrecht

Eva Oliveira Gonçalves, Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave

Peter Gray, Boston College

Michael B. Greene, Rutgers University

Mark Griffiths, Nottingham Trent University

Matthew Grizzard, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

John Grohol, Psych Central

Whitney D. Gunter, Western Michigan University

Robin L. Haislett, Texas Tech University

Ryan Hall, University of Central Florida

Karla Hamlen, Cleveland State University

Jessica Hammer, Columbia University

Rick Hartley, University of Texas – San Antonio

Elizabeth Hayward, New York University

Moritz Heene, Ludwig Maximilian University

Rani Desai Hoff, Yale University

Robert Hoff, Mercyhurst University

Stephen Holmes, University of Central Florida

Bruce Homer, CUNY

Aaron Chia Yuan Hung, Adelphi University

Ioanna Iacovides, University College London

Mimi Ito, University of California ~ Irvine

James D. Ivory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Adrienne Holz Ivory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Kevin Jackson, RMIT University, Vietnam

Jeroen Jansz, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Daniel Johnson, Queensland University of Technology

Kristine Jørgensen, University of Bergen

Faltin Karlsen, The Norwegian School of Information Technology

James C. Kaufman, University of Connecticut

John Kilburn, Texas A&M International University

Daniel King, The University of Adelaide

Dana Klisanin, Evolutionary Guidance Media

Julia Kneer, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Carly A. Kocurek, Illinois Institute of Technology

Hartmut Koenitz, University of Georgia

Kyle Kontour, Montana State University – Billings

Rachel Kowert, University of Muenster

Nicole Krämer, Universität Duisburg-Essen

Tanya Krzywinska, Falmouth University

Krishna Kumar, West Chester University

Kenneth Lachlan, University of Massachusetts ~ Boston

Petri Lankoski, Södertörn University

Robert E. Larzelere, Oklahoma State University

Olli Tapio Leino, City University of Hong Kong

Roger J. R. Levesque, Indiana University

Mark Lewis, SUNY Empire State College

Anthony M. Limperos, University of Kentucky

Holin Lin, National Taiwan University

Jonas Linderoth, University of Gothenburg

Anders Sundnes Løvlie, Gjøvik University College

Amy Lu, Northwestern University

Esther MacCallum-Stewart, University of Surrey

Mike Males, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice

Charlotte N. Markey, Rutgers University

Patrick Markey, Villanova University

Frans Mäyrä, University of Tampere

Catherine McBride-Chang, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Alan Meades, Canterbury Christ Church University

Dawna-Cricket-Martika Meehan, Miami University’s Center for School Based Mental Health Programs

Jean Mercer, Stockton College

Konstantin Mitgutsch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Boris Mlacic, Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar

Ro Mohseni, Universität Osnabrück

David Moshman, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

Barbara Müller, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich

Shane Murphy, Western Connecticut State University

Glenn W. Muschert, Miami University of Ohio

Charles Negy, University of Central Florida

Mark Nielsen, The University of Queensland

Cheryl Olson, Independent Media Researcher

Jim Parker, University of Calgary

Hal Pashler, University of California ~ San Diego

Julian Petley, Brunel University

Bernard Perron, Université de Montréal

Oscar Peters, University of Twente

Tamara Peyton, Pennsylvania State University

Daniel Pietschmann, Chemnitz University of Technology

Steven Pinker, Harvard University

Jan L. Plass, New York University

Nathaniel Poor, Independent Researcher

Patrick Portz, RWTH Aachen University

Andrew Przybylski, University of Oxford

Thorsten Quandt, University of Muenster

Joost Raessens, Utrecht University

Dennis Ramirez, University of Wisconsin – Madison

Niklas Ravaja, Aalto University

Christina Regenbogen, University of Bremen

Leonard Reinecke, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Peter J. Rentfrow, University of Cambridge

Richard Rhodes, science writer and Pulitzer Prize winner

Albert “Skip” Rizzo, University of Southern California

Christian Roth, VU University of Amsterdam

Martin Roth, Leiden University

Thomas Henry Rousse, Northwestern University

Dana Ruggiero, Bath Spa University

Pamela Brown Rutledge, Media Psychology Research Center

Richard Ryan, University of Rochester

Alyea Sandovar, Fielding Graduate Institute

Joanne Savage, American University

Mike Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State

Christina Schumann, TU Ilmenau – Institut für Medien und Kommunikationswissenschaft

Karen Schrier, Marist College

Felix Schroeter, University of Hamburg

Daniel Schultheiss, Ilmenau University of Technology

Marcus Schulzke, State University of New York at Albany

Seth Schwartz, University of Miami

Digdem Sezen, Istanbul University

Tonguc Ibrahim Sezen, Istanbul Bilgi University

Todd K. Shackelford, Oakland University

Josh Sheldon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

John Sherry, Michigan State University

Daniel Simons, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Marko Skoric, City University of Hong Kong

Gillian Smith, Northeastern University

Ian Spence, University of Toronto

Kurt Squire, University of Wisconsin – Madison

Karen Sternheimer, University of Southern California

Marko Siitonen, University of Jyväskylä

Dean Keith Simonton, University of California, Davis

Ian Sturrock, Glyndwr University

Kaveri Subrahmanyam, California State University – Los Angeles

Joanne Broder Sumerson, St. Joseph’s University

Raymond Surette, University of Central Florida

Joshua Tanenbaum, Simon Fraser University

Morgan Tear. The University of Queensland

Anne Mette Thorhauge, University of Copenhagen

Angela Tinwell, University of Bolton – UK

Hakan Tuzun, Hacettepe University

Jan Van Looy, Ghent University

Antonius J. van Rooij, IVO Addiction Research Institute

John A. Velez, Ohio State University

Matthew Ventura, Florida State University

Edelyn Verona, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Gerald Voorhees, University of Waterloo

Edward Vul, University of California ~ San Diego

Frank Waddell, Pennsylvania State University

Annika Waern, Uppsala University ~ Sweden

Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, University of Amsterdam

Nia Wearn, Staffordshire University

Danny Wedding, Alliant University

Karin Wenz, Maastricht University

Johanna Weststar, Western University ~ Ontario

Lauren White, Fielding Graduate University

Matthew M. White, Penn State University

Dmitri Williams, University of Southern California

Teena Willoughby, Brock University

Tobias Winnerling, Düsseldorf University

Donghee Yvette Wohn , Northwestern University

Michelle Wright, Masaryk University

Talmadge Wright, Loyola University Chicago

R. Michael Young, North Carolina State University

Jose Zagal, DePaul University

Nelson Zagalo, University of Minho

Simmons, J. P., Nelson, L. D., & Simonsohn, U. (2011). False-positive psychology: Undisclosed flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant. Psychological Science, 22(11), 1359-1366. doi:10.1177/0956797611417632

The policy prohibits all forms of tobacco use including e-cigarettes and a variety of smokeless products on Stetson buildings, structures, grounds, parking lots and in university and personal vehicles while on Stetson grounds.

“I am proud that Stetson University residential campuses will be completely smoke- and tobacco-free next August,” said President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D. “Stetson is committed to providing a safe and healthy living, learning and working environment for our students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors.”

Stetson began implementing smoking restrictions in 2007 by banning smoking near buildings and air vents. The new policy is the result of several years of research, focus groups and a university task force that determined that smoking was inconsistent with the values of the university.

Stetson will offer a variety of resources to help members of the Stetson University community quit smoking, including a series of free education programs about smoking and free resources for those who want to quit, including cessation products and classes. The university task force determined, “Our university commitment to health and wellness, one of our shared values, requires us to protect non-smokers but also to support smokers in reconsidering a behavior that has been scientifically proven to have serious long-term health consequences.”

Compliance with this new policy rests with all members of the Stetson community. Community members are empowered to respectfully inform others about the policy and the ongoing effort to enhance awareness of and encourage compliance with this policy.  Violation of this regulation may result in corrective action under the Student Code of Conduct, Human Resources Policies and Procedures, or other applicable University Regulations or Policies. Visitors refusing to comply may be asked to leave campus.

Stetson will use the next 10 months to continue to educate the Stetson community and visitors about the new policy with a series of informational sessions, health fairs, human resource training sessions, student tours of campus, in marketing materials and on its website at stetson.edu/breathe-free.

Based on Homer’s Odysseus, this opera is a tragedy in one prologue and three acts, with a happy ending! “Not even the will of the gods could keep Ulysses from the country he loved, or from the heart of a beautiful queen,” explains Russell Franks, director of Stetson’s Opera Theatre.

This is a presentation by Stetson University’s Opera Theatre under the direction of Franks, and in conjunction with conductor, Anthony Hose, with members of Stetson University’s Symphony Orchestra. The cast is comprised of students from Stetson University’s School of Music who come from all parts of the United States including Lake, Marion and Butler counties in Florida.

In addition to the performance on Stetson’s campus, this opera will also be performed on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 3 p.m. in the Community Building of Mount Dora, 520 N. Baker Street, Mount Dora.

Tickets for the Oct. 18 performance can be purchased in advance or at the door. General admission is $10; seniors, $8; youth (middle and high school with ID), $5. It is free to Stetson students, faculty and staff with a Stetson ID.

For more information please call Stetson’s School of Music Concert Line at (386) 822-8947, or the School of Music at (386) 822-8950. Visit www.stetson.edu/music to see the full concert schedule for 2013-14. Check out www.stetson.edu/cultural-calendar for all university music, theatre, art and lecture schedules.

“Four years ago, the Stetson community embarked on a strategic planning process that resulted in our 2011-14 Strategic Map,” says President Wendy B. Libby. “That process and its outcomes will be valuable resources in planning our next Strategic Map, as together we think boldly and innovatively about Stetson’s role in higher education and prepare our students for significant lives.”

Over the past few years, Stetson has exceeded enrollment goals, increased its financial health, enhanced academic programs, hired new faculty and staff, and created a more vibrant campus environment for students.

“This is an important time in the life of Stetson University,” says Provost Beth Paul. “Strategic planning offers us wonderful opportunities to bring our community together for rich, creative discussions that inform our strategies and move Stetson forward. It’s an inclusive process that allows us to prioritize our thinking, articulate our goals, identify new or reallocated funding that supports key initiatives, and invest in action that elevates our university to new heights.”

Tim Fallon and Stacey Zawel of TSI Consulting Partners, Inc., will assist Stetson in strategic planning efforts this year. The process kicks off next week with open discussion sessions, focus groups and an online survey, which will help us assess our strengths and weaknesses as well as the critical issues we face and the key priorities we should establish in our Strategic Map.

Mark Your Calendars!

There will be several opportunities this year to offer input into the next Strategic Map:

“Seeing Stetson In Context” Open Discussions

It’s a time to think big, toss ideas around, examine major trends in higher education and assess the opportunities that lie before us. Plan to attend any of these one-hour discussions. Take a look at Resources posted on the University Planning website, and bring your own material for conversation!

10-11 a.m., Oct. 14; 124 LBC

3-4 p.m., Oct. 14; Faculty Lounge, CUB

10-11 a.m., Oct. 15; TBD

4:30-5:30 p.m., Oct. 15; Faculty Lounge, CUB

Online Survey

Next week via Stetson Announce, we’ll launch a short, anonymous, open-ended survey that asks for your thoughts on Stetson’s strengths, critical issues we face, and key priorities we should establish. Your participation is important! Your input will help shape our 2014-19 Strategic Map.

The University Planning Website

Pertinent strategic planning documents, including a timeline of the 2013-14 strategic planning process, are posted at https://www.stetson.edu/other/planning/ . Please check back often for information updates and new resources.

As an undecided major, Medlin ended up falling for what he dubs the “coolest” major: psychology. After graduating from Stetson in 1975, Medlin then earned the Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He returned to his alma mater in 1981, and has been teaching in the same psychology department that had inspired him so much, years before when he was a young college student.

“There were so many ties, so many good memories,” Medlin said. “My high school sweetheart and I got married while we were students at Stetson. Coming back to Stetson was coming home again.”

At that time, a legacy of two generations, Cochran and Medlin both had the young, enthusiastic student, Chris Ferguson, in their Stetson classes.

In 1993, Ferguson graduated from Stetson with a degree in psychology. “As a student, I always thought how cool it would be to return to Stetson,” he explained. “I had an amazing experience learning under such wonderful professors and enjoying the social atmosphere.”

And, this fall, Ferguson, Ph.D., did just what he had thought about doing. Having the opportunity to come back to Stetson was “a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said. “There was no question, I had to take it.”

For Ferguson, like Medlin, returning to Stetson was as if he were “coming home.” Ferguson, a leading expert in examining the effects of media on behavior, such as video game violence, is now the chair of Stetson’s Psychology Department.

“It’s really amazing to think about; it speaks to the community of Stetson,” Ferguson said with enthusiasm. “It really says something to have two generations of students return to Stetson to teach.”

And it seems there is potential, Ferguson explained, for the streak to continue. “One of the students in my social psychology class mentioned her interest in being a professor,” he said. “If she came back to Stetson, we’d then have four generations, which would be just unfathomable!”

By George Salis

Beyond Access and Affordability: An Education of High Value

You can also read this blog written by President Libby on Huffington Post, posted 10/2/13. 

With such weighty words as access and affordability lingering in the air after President Obama’s bus tour last month, it’s easy to get caught up in the higher education mantra and its vagueness. The phrase paints visions of low unemployment rates and an educated workforce unconstrained by student debt.

But access and affordability are not enough to get the world where it needs to be. For one, it becomes too easy to think we can solve the world’s issues with quick degrees at a low cost, with less consideration for quality of the learning – that is, the deep learning that comes from reflection, application, iteration and rigor.

We devolve into education as transaction; we might as well get the empty calories from a vending machine. Tomorrow’s workforce raised on the educational equivalents of fast food, chips and candy bars. Is this how we will shake up education?

A better strategy is to lead our discussions with a global concern for the substance, purpose and outcomes of education – without which access does not matter.

In contrast, UNESCO’s new Education for All Global Monitoring Report Team analysis focuses on the need for quality education, highlighting the linkages between it and the reduction in mortality rates, increased tolerance for differences, and economic growth. How can we talk about access to higher education when worldwide UNESCO estimates that more than 250 million children still may not be able to read or write by the time they reach fourth grade?

In our own country in particular, one in three public school fourth-graders taking the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test performed at or below the “Basic” level (NAEP).

A Values-Driven Education

In at least the richest nation in the world, literacy in our children cannot be optional, nor can we shrug aside issues of poverty, violence or discrimination in which education and the prospect of “having prospects” so clearly have a role. Embedded in education must be concern for the character of our citizens to combat this indifference, so we make the right and important choices as we care for our sick, teach our children, grow our food and lead our companies.

Quality education is about far more than the 3 Rs and its liberal arts underpinnings that teach valuable skills like critical thinking and problem-solving. Education, at its best, is threaded with values – those shared ideals that champion and protect what’s important to us, and that elicit the finest within us. While values education may happen in the home or community, there is a critical role for schools and universities to play as we impart new knowledge – and with it, provoke the discourse that instills personal and social responsibility.

At Stetson University, our values are the foundation of all we do as we dare our students to live a life of significance. Our values are the expression of who we are and what we believe in; even before our students start classes, they are involved in community service programs. And our Bonner Scholars program is built around leadership experiences and long-term relationships with organizations in need. We are sixth on Washington Monthly’s list of master’s universities that contribute to the public good. Each September we immerse ourselves in Values Day, where we cancel classes and engage in a full slate of workshops for students, faculty and staff across our university.

On Values Day especially, we embrace and espouse the values we’ve agreed on as a community: personal growth, global citizenship, intellectual development, and at the heart of them all, personal and social responsibility. We discuss the evolution of civic engagement, and why it matters, and what our Center for Community Engagement does and how it integrates our curriculum with our community. A session explores Mayan culture, examining their practices and beliefs, which challenges our assumptions and prompts us to look at our own culture with fresh eyes. The world is both a bit bigger and smaller the day after Values Day.

Quality Outcomes

I do firmly suggest that education should lead to a job, but more importantly it should also lead to a life – a personally satisfying life in a society we want to live in. Where all individuals and organizations – as part of their mission and values – devote time, energy and innovation to a cause or entity without even considering ROI, because the benefits are priceless and wide-reaching. I am well aware that this smacks of idealism, but that’s a badge I am comfortable wearing.

Access to a quality, affordable education interwoven with values takes us to this level and beyond ourselves – beyond mere success and into a more meaningful realm: significance. Leadership expert John Maxwell advocates that you “can’t have true success without significance; significance comes when you add value to others.”

Education can be a powerful change agent. In a world where human slavery still exists and clean water is not a universal right, we are in desperate need of reprioritization and a recommitment to values. Our values are, after all, our fallbacks as well as our guideposts, and what unites us in times of crisis when there is no logic or experience to show us the way.

Surely measuring our students’ random acts of kindness and the impact of civic engagement on our communities is just as important as quantifying the number of graduates we send out into the world and the salaries they make. A global, values-driven society – that’s the legacy I’m most interested in seeing education preserve.

By President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D.

]]> http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/10/an-education-of-high-value/feed/ 0 http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/10/weapons-of-mass-distraction/ http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/10/weapons-of-mass-distraction/#comments Tue, 01 Oct 2013 05:00:33 +0000 Mary Anne Rogers http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/?p=8767 “Distracted Driving” is receiving a lot of attention these days, particularly the alarming statistics of death and injury caused by drivers who are talking or texting on cell phones. Forty states have already banned cell phone use while driving and, starting today, Oct. 1, Florida will do the same.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 3,000 people annually are killed as a result of distracted driving. They also cite that teens and young adults are the largest proportion of drivers who are involved with fatalities directly related to cell phone use while behind the wheel: a whopping 21 percent of all car crash fatalities of 15 to 19 year olds can be blamed on driving while using a cell phone.  A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) showed that someone texting, dialing or grabbing the phone while driving is three times as likely to crash than a driver who is not distracted (www.Distraction.gov).

It could be argued that Florida is slow to jump on board with this initiative and some argue that while passing the law is a good first step, it may not be enough. “It’s important because it is the first step towards creating a primary law,” said Joe Steward, Community Traffic Safety Team Program Coordinator in DeLand (District 5, Florida Department of Transportation). “Honestly, it will not make a big difference. Florida law applies only to secondary violation…and the law also does not even apply to drivers in stopped vehicles. Those of us who grab our iPhones to check an email the minute traffic slows or whenever we stop at a light can still text legally when behind the wheel.” In other words, breaking the law that begins today is a secondary offense, requiring an officer pull over an offender for another traffic infraction (e.g., speeding, running a stop sign) before issuing the $30 fine.  And being able to use your phone while stopped at a signal or in a traffic jam isn’t sitting well with those who wish to enact tougher legislation on the matter.

If the stats and police enforcement don’t scare some “straight” then watching a recent documentary short by Werner Herzog might do the trick. “From One Second to the Next” is a 35-minute film that debuted on YouTube this summer. Four major wireless carriers—AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint—partnered on the film project that stemmed from Herzog’s work on 30-second commercials for anti-texting and driving. It has scored millions of views and made a significant impact on raising awareness about distracted driving. The raw emotion of the film comes from people who have been impacted as the driver at fault, the victims left with shells of their former lives, or the family members who’ve needlessly lost loved ones. They are unified in their message: don’t text and drive.

by Trish Wieland

]]> http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/10/weapons-of-mass-distraction/feed/ 0 http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/09/blackfish-at-athens-theatre-monday-p-m/ http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/2013/09/blackfish-at-athens-theatre-monday-p-m/#comments Mon, 30 Sep 2013 05:00:43 +0000 Mary Anne Rogers http://www.stetson.edu/portal/stetson-today/?p=8750

Blackfish, the award-winning documentary that tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity, will be screened tonight, Monday, Sept. 30, 7 p.m. at the Athens Theater in a special engagement, free of charge, for the Stetson University community. John Jett, Ph.D., visiting biology professor at Stetson, who worked closely with director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite on this film, has helped make this special screening possible for his Stetson colleagues, including faculty, students and staff and their friends and family. The Athens Theater is located at 124 N. Florida Ave., in downtown DeLand.

Jett is prominently featured in this film, having worked as a whale trainer at Sea World years before joining the ranks of academia. His interviews featured in the film are among the emotional interviews that explore the effects of captivity on killer whales. Blackfish compiles shocking footage of many personal interviews  that represent an important point in the history of the captive marine mammal industry.

“SeaWorld and other marine parks have historically based their business model on expertly controlling the flow of information in a way that best fits their monetary interests,” said Jett. “Because of Blackfish (and other works, such as David Kirby’s, Death at SeaWorld), they no longer control the message. The cat is now out of the bag. Blackfish has forced the conversation to begin evolving from one of a manufactured fairytale (“The whales love us and they want to do tricks…”) to that of being honest and accurate. The documentary is unprecedented in the 40 years orcas have been in captivity, in that for the first time in the history of this issue, former orca trainers have come forward to provide an honest look behind the curtains.  The scene is often quite ugly so it’s obvious why the industry has never wanted the public to know the truth.  All of us associated with Blackfish are proud to affect a better life for the animals who have been so tragically exploited for profit.”

Blackfish explores the whales’ extraordinary nature, their cruel treatment in captivity and the lives and losses of the trainers brought on by the pressures inherent in the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry.

“Killer whales are far too sophisticated socially, and their environmental demands too great for life in a concrete box,” Jett explains. “Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite deserves much credit for presenting the evidence in a balanced, compelling and non-lecturing way. The industry will be forced to evolve as the public becomes increasingly educated on the issue.”

Visit blackfishmovie.com to learn more about the documentary. For more information about the Sept. 30 screening, contact Stetson University Marketing at (386) 822-8920.

“Most of the pieces on display capture commonplace scenes of the New York and New Jersey suburbs and countryside not far from New York City, where the artist lived at this time,” said Favis, professor emerita of art history and curator of Stetson’s Vera Bluemner Kouba Collection.

“The works were drawn with a new type of particularly vibrant and versatile colored pencils that enabled the artist to combine his interest in the expressive qualities of color with his immediate response to subjects observed from nature.”

Bluemner was born and educated in Germany and came to the United States in 1892 to work as an architect. By the first decades of the twentieth century he became interested in modernist experiments in art and turned his attention and, eventually, his practice to painting.

“The exhibit features colorful artworks from the time when the artist was solidifying his decision to abandon his architectural career in favor of painting,” Favis explains.

Her talk will review the history of Stetson’s extensive collection of works by American Modernist Painter Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) and discuss the importance of the colored pencil sketches made in 1910-1911 in the evolution of the artist.

This exhibit, which will be shown through Dec. 2, continues the mission of the Hand Art Center to display and interpret works from Stetson’s extensive collection of artwork by Bluemner.

The lecture, which is open to the public, free of charge, will be held in Room 25 of the Instructional Media Center, at Stetson’s duPont Ball Library, 134 E. Minnesota Ave. For more information, please contact the Hand Art Center at Stetson at (386) 822-7270.